For the next two months, I will be locked in for the NBA Playoffs. I’m a New York Knicks fan, so I’m hoping their season ends in June rather than April. As much as I love basketball, I’m extremely frustrated with the NBA right now. This is the first postseason since the league signed its 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon.
I’m pretty well-versed in streaming services, and I even get confused about where I can find my game. NBA fans should not have to own ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, and Prime Video to watch the playoffs. While I can use my cable TV subscription for ABC, ESPN, and NBC, I’m at the mercy of my connection for streaming games on Peacock and Prime Video. Inevitably, streams might crash. Although your first instinct might be to throw down your laptop, I urge you to stay calm and follow these five tips.
Always have a backup device nearby
Preparation is key
My preferred way of watching a game is to stream it on my Roku TV. Once in a while, I have run into issues with streaming on my TV. That’s why I always make sure to have a backup device nearby just in case things go haywire on my television. Whether it’s a tablet, phone, or computer, always have it within arm’s reach of your position. For me, it’s my MacBook and followed by my phone.
I understand that the connectivity issues can affect all of your devices, even your backups. If something goes wrong, I know that I can fix things a lot faster if I’m working on my computer rather than my TV.
Refresh, Restart, Reinstall
In that order
If your stream of LeBron James’ Lakers vs. Kevin Durant’s Rockets freezes during a crucial moment, wait a few seconds to see if it fixes itself. You’d be surprised by how many times the stream will correct itself. If the gameplay remains paused, the first thing to do would be to refresh the stream. Refreshing is the path of least resistance, compared to the other two options I’ll mention. It may or may not work, but you can do it multiple times within a minute to see if anything changes.
If a refresh doesn’t work, I’ll then restart the app. On newer versions of Roku TV, you can restart the channel by hitting the star button and choosing Restart app. If your app happens to freeze on Roku, then you might have to remove and reinstall it. Highlight the app you want to reinstall and hit the Star button. Hit Remove channel. Then, restart your Roku with a System restart located in settings. After the TV restarts, head to the Streaming Store and reinstall the app.
Though I have a Roku, you can still follow the refresh, restart, and reinstall instructions on other streaming devices, like an Amazon Fire TV Stick or a Chromecast.
Use Reddit
When in doubt, seek help from the forums
Am I advocating for people to seek alternative streams at all times? I am not. However, I understand having to find a quick stream of a game while you fix yours. I don’t want to miss any play of my game, so I’m willing to take a risk by finding a stream on Reddit.
My guess is that many of you would have gone to StreamEast in years past if you ran into problems. No judgment here. You have to do what you have to do to watch Jalen Brunson hit fourth-quarter jump shots. Without StreamEast, your best bet is Reddit. Even if you can’t find another stream, you’ll find other threads on how to fix it or what to do if it crashes.
Follow the Gamecast
A temporary solution
We’ve all been in a tough pinch where our streams aren’t working on our phones as we try to sneak in a few plays at work or an event. If I had to guess how many times I’ve done that, the limit does not exist. I’m not saying it’s the best alternative, but following the Gamecast on ESPN is a viable solution.
You might not be able to see the highlights, but you can read the play-by-play and stat updates as they come in. I’m always checking the box score to see which players need more shots and which ones need to take a seat on the bench. If you pair Gamecast with the constant refreshing of X, that’s a decent solution to hold you over until your stream works again.
Be ready for anything
Who said preparation was only for the players? You can never be too prepared for watching an NBA game. Always have multiple devices at your side just in case one of the streams crashes. Plus, you can always fire up a Netflix thriller or a new HBO Max movie to watch if a game gets out of hand.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
