By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman

TV Answer Man, I want to watch the Lakers in the play-in game. Do you know which channel will have the game and which streamers will carry it? — Bob, Hermosa Beach, California. 

Bob, there will be two NBA play-in games on Tuesday night. The Atlanta Hawks will visit the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. ET to determine the Eastern Division’s seventh seed while the Minnesota Timberwolves will play the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET to determine the Western Division’s seventh seed.

TNT will broadcast both games which will preceded by a 30-minute pregame show at 7 p.m. ET.

The opening game’s winner will face the 2nd seeded Boston Celtics in the first round. The loser will face elimination on Friday, April 14 in another play-in game against the winner of Wednesday’s Chicago-Toronto play-in game. (Time to be determined.)

The winner of the Timberwolves-Lakers game will advance to the opening round against the 2nd seeded Memphis Grizzlies. The loser gets a second chance in another play-in game against the winner of a New Orleans-Oklahoma City play-in game, which will be played on Wednesday night.

ESPN will broadcast the Wednesday games and the Western Division game on Friday. TNT has the Tuesday night games and the Eastern Division game on Friday.

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Now, if you’re not completely confused, let’s look at which TV providers will carry the games.

All major cable and satellite providers have both TNT and ESPN in their lineups. So we’re good there. But among the streamers, Fubo has ESPN, but does not carry TNT. DIRECTV’s streaming service (whatever they’re calling it these days), YouTube TV, Hulu Live and Sling TV all carry both TNT and ESPN.

If your TV provider carries TNT and ESPN, you can also stream the games on their apps with your user name and password.

Bob, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman