By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

For the third time in 10 days, Sling TV last night experienced widespread streaming glitches and picture freezing, preventing a large number of subscribers from watching shows including game three of the NBA Eastern Conference playoff between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat on TNT.

“We are sorry to report that some customers may be experiencing streaming issues. Thank you for your patience as engineers work to restore services.” Sling TV said in a statement on Twitter at 9:30 p.m. ET.

But Sling subscribers began posting complaints on social media shortly before the 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff between the Heat and Celtics. Some said the streamer displayed error messages every time they tried to watch while others lamented the picture would freeze up for several seconds.

Downdetector.com, which tracks online outages, reported that roughly 1,800 people were complaining on social media about Sling’s technical errors at the height of the problem which was shortly before 9 p.m. ET.  (Sling TV has 2.1 million subscribers.)

Sling experienced similar issues on May 10 and 11 when thousands complained they couldn’t watch NBA playoff games on ESPN and TNT.

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“Dammit @Sling @slinganswers  this is the second time in as many weeks that your damn product isn’t working during the #NBA games. Figure it out. It’s frustrating and inexcusable. Do your job,” ‘It Should Be Better’ tweeted last night at 9:06 p.m. ET.

“Same here Sling has been useless during the NBA playoffs. Please fix the 10-101 error code. I keep getting cut off from watching every few seconds,” complained ‘Capricorn Futures.’

Shortly before 11 p.m. ET, the Sling Twitter customer service team said the issues had finally been resolved.

“Streaming and login issues have been restored. We appreciate your support and patience and will continue to monitor tonight. Thank you,” Sling tweeted.

Sling is not the only live streamer having issues during the NBA playoffs. YouTube TV suffered a technical meltdown last week during a Celtics-Heat game.

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman