It's tipoff time! After a wild offseason that's created some true dream teams, including Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the Clippers and Russell Westbrook and James Harden reunited on the Rockets, the NBA's 2019-2020 season is finally underway. The coming months of NBA action are not ones you'll want to miss, so we've compiled a handy guide on how to watch NBA games online.
NBA action kicks off tonight with a pair of hotly anticipated matchups: the New Orleans Pelicans vs. Toronto Raptors at 8pm ET/5 pm PT, and the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT.
Better yet, you don't need cable to catch all of the action live. Here's how to live stream NBA games online.
Watch NBA games online with NBA League Pass, NBA Team Pass and NBA TV
The NBA offers a variety of first-party services for watching NBA games online.
NBA TV is the official channel of the National Basketball Association, offering a variety of live games per week in addition to additional programming. It's available as part of several cord-cutting services, but can also be purchased on its own for $59.99 per year.
NBA Team Pass is good for cord-cutters who want to follow their favorite team outside of their home market. This $199 annual service provides access to every game for your team of choice.
NBA League Pass provides access to "hundreds of live games from around the league," as well as an archive of classic games and the option to watch select matchups in virtual reality. This tier costs $199 per year.
NBA League Pass Premium contains all of the perks of League Pass, but with no commercials. This version of the service costs $249 per year.
Watch NBA Games online on streaming services
The majority of NBA games air on ESPN, TNT, ABC and NBA TV, all of which are available on most major streaming services. Here's a quick breakdown of your top options.
Bypass NBA blackouts with a VPN
Some online users suggest that if you use a VPN to make it look like you're located in Europe or some other country where there are no local NBA teams, you'll be able to watch any game you want live.
We've evaluated many VPN services, and our top pick is ExpressVPN. It meets the VPN needs of the vast majority of users, offering outstanding compatibility with most devices and impressive connection speeds. It's also affordable at $12.95 per month. (Signing up for longer periods of six months or a year reduces the cost even more.)
