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Ideally, fans wouldn’t miss any of the game during the final minutes of a do-or-die playoff game due to technical difficulties.
Unfortunately, fans missed part of the final minute of the Charlotte Hornets’ 127-126 overtime win over the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night because Amazon Prime Video’s stream went down.
The streak ended when the game resumed after a timeout, with the Hornets leading the Heat 125-120 with 48.1 seconds left in overtime. The Amazon Prime Video blackout lasted nearly two minutes, with fans missing 22.1 seconds of game time and a Hornets possession.
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Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball celebrates with guard Coby White after scoring against the Miami Heat in the second half of an NBA play-in tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 14, 2026. (Nell Redmond/AP Photo)
The blackout occurred when Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr recently said he was concerned that the rising prices of streaming games are crazy for sports fans. Carr’s comments come as the NFL, NBA, MLB and other major sports leagues move some of their games from traditional broadcasts to streaming services.
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The blackout was due to a problem with the production truck, an Amazon Prime Video spokesperson told ESPN.
“Our team restored the feed as quickly as possible to ensure fans could see the end of the game. We are conducting a thorough internal review to determine the cause of the outage,” the spokesperson said.
TV BROADCAST TIM BRANDO SUGGESTS SPORTS FANS WILL BE CONFUSED WHERE TO WATCH GAMES AS STREAMING TAKES OVER
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball drives to the basket against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 14, 2026. (Nell Redmond/AP Photo)
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was one of many fans who took to social media to express their displeasure with the service ending.
“Tell me the game didn’t just crash?!!? Did I trip?? WTH,” James wrote to X.
The NBA signed an 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with Amazon Prime Video that began this season, and the streaming service has exclusive rights to all six of this year’s play-in tournament games.
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Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro drives against Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament in Charlotte, NC, on April 14, 2026. (Nell Redmond/AP Photo)
The match between the Heat (10th seed) and the Hornets (ninth seed) was win-or-go-home. With the win, the Hornets will play the loser of the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers and the No. 8 Orlando Magic on Friday.
If they beat the loser of that matchup, they will enter the NBA Playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
