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Amazon Prime Video streamed its first NBA playoff game on Tuesday night during the Eastern Conference play-in game between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n
It was a thrilling game as Charlotte\u2019s Coby White hit an incredible three-pointer in the closing seconds to force overtime. With 48 seconds left in the OT period, the Hornets led 123-120. During a timeout, as analyst Stan Van Gundy and play-by-play man Ian Eagle were discussing the situation, the broadcast feed suddenly went out.<\/p>\n
After a few moments of silence, viewers were hit with the dreaded screen showcasing \u201cTechnical Difficulties\u201d and music that you might hear from the glory days of the TV Guide Channel.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, it\u2019s the worst possible thing that could happen to a streaming giant during one of its biggest sports broadcasts to date<\/a>. And it wasn\u2019t just a brief delay either. The feed was out for more than a minute and by the time viewers finally rejoined the action, LaMelo Ball had scored a layup to give the Hornets a five-point lead.<\/p>\n Prime Video\u2019s broadcast went off the air for nearly two full minutes during overtime in Heat-Hornets. pic.twitter.com\/oStTMMprNm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Even LeBron James called it out watching at home\u2026 as did pretty much every other NBA fan that was tuned in.<\/p>\n Tell me the game didn\u2019t just cut off?!!? Am I trippin?? WTH \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/p>\n \u2014 LeBron James (@KingJames) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Thankfully, the feed came back and stayed in tact through an even more incredible ending to the overtime period. Tyler Herro hit on a three to cut the Charlotte lead to two, Miami then stole the ball, and Herro was fouled by Ball shooting another three-point attempt. He proceeded to make all three foul shots to give Miami the lead.<\/p>\n Incredibly, Ball then redeemed<\/a> himself by making a lay-in before Davion Mitchell was frantically blocked at the other end as the Hornets held on for a 127-126 victory in what has to go down as the greatest game in the history of the NBA play-in round.<\/p>\n LAMELO BALL GAME WINNER<\/p>\n HORNETS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com\/ZXfu1wyAe2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This could have been so, so, so, so, so much worse for Amazon Prime Video, though. If that delay would have hit just a few minutes later, fans would have missed the theatrics in the final seconds and potentially even the game-winning basket. Technical difficulties can happen to any broadcaster, but there were already complaints throughout the game that the audio and video feeds<\/a> from Prime Video weren\u2019t synced properly.<\/p>\n Streaming giants are already under a lot of pressure from sports fans for the additional apps and paywalls needed to watch the games of their choice. Now even the government<\/a> is getting involved<\/a> by trying to stop the NFL from moving more games off broadcast television and onto streaming. Amazon has streamed many NFL games just fine without any drama. But almost wrecking an epic NBA playoff game is not going to help the case for streaming giants.<\/p>\n \n\t<\/div>\n\n
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