What Channel Does Basketball Come on Tonight

The NBA season is only about a month old, but Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are already lighting up the league. Meanwhile, the upstart Washington Wizards are making some noise in the East. Can the Wiz continue to build off of their hot start or will the New Jersey Nets pull away from the pack?

NBA fans looking to follow the drama and stream their team's games will need access to a few channels to catch every second of the season. ABC and ESPN will combine to televise 101 games, TNT will air 65 and NBA TV will have 107.

All out-of-market games will continue to air on NBA League Pass, which will be 50% off this Black Friday weekend. Fans will be able to get the basic League Pass with NBA TV subscription for $115 for the season while the Premium bundle with NBA TV will fall to $140. To get the deal, fans will need to add in the codeNBALP50US when buying a subscription directly from the NBA's website. The code will be active from Friday, Nov. 26, at 12:01 a.m. ET through Monday, Nov. 29, at 11:59 p.m. ET, the NBA says. Those who have a cable subscription may also be able to find a similar deal through their provider.

Of course, fans of the home team likely need their local regional sports network to watch their team play, as League Pass is only for out-of-market games. This means that you won't be able to able to watch the local team if you live in the same area where your team plays.

While you absolutely don't needcable to watch basketball this year, it still might be the easiest and cheapest choice depending on where you live.

Read more:NHL in 2021: How to watch and stream hockey without cable

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors during a recent game.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Live TV streaming services vs. cable

Die-hard sports fans are beholden to regional sports networks, or RSNs, that carry the majority of the games for their local team. These RSNs are usually included in local cable packages, so most cable subscribers never have to worry about gaining access to the broadcasts on these channels: They can simply turn on the TV and watch the game.

Cord-cutting basketball fans have a tougher path. Because of rights agreements, most live TV streaming services like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV don't carry many RSNs. DirecTV Stream is the exception. It has nearly every RSN, particularly the Bally Sports channels (formerly Fox Sports) offered by Sinclair, but you'll need to spring for its $85-a-month plan.

Read more: DirecTV Stream review: Expensive, but the best option for streaming NBA and NHL

Ultimately, depending on your location, getting a cable subscription that includes ESPN, TNT and the local RSN might actually be cheaper and easier than streaming -- especially if it's bundled with the home internet you'll likely be getting anyway.

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NBA League Pass, NBA TV and blackouts

For NBA fans looking to watch a ton of out-of-market basketball, a subscription to NBA League Pass has a lot to offer. You can get the whole NBA slate for $199 for the season, with commercials and one device, or $249 for the season with in-arena feeds instead of commercials, and the ability to watch on two devices at once. Those interested in following only a single team can buy a Team Pass for $119 for the season.

The key catch here is "out-of-market." Most fans are in-market, meaning they follow the local team, and unfortunately for them RSNs have broadcast exclusivity in the region that they cover. That means local NBA games are blacked out on NBA League Pass.

If you're living in Los Angeles, for example, you won't be able to watch Lakers or Clippers games on NBA League Pass. The same goes for Knicks fans in New York, Bucks fans in Milwaukee and so on. The only way to watch most of those home team games in your home market is to get a service that has the local RSN, namely Spectrum SportsNet, Bally Sports SoCal, MSG Network or Bally Sports Wisconsin.

Services like NBA League Pass use IP addresses to block out games in viewers' regions -- you'll just get a black screen if you try to watch those games. That's why League Pass is ideal for those who want to follow one or more of the teams based in cities other than their own, aka out-of-market teams, but for local fans it's not as useful.

In another twist, the NBA TV network will broadcast 107 games this season that will be considered national for those out-of-market. This means that you will still be able to watch your local team play on your RSN, but viewers around the country will need NBA TV in order to watch the game -- it will be blacked out on League Pass.

Luckily, League Pass subscribers have the option of adding NBA TV to their package for an extra $60 a year or $7 a month. This is most likely one of the cheapest ways to get NBA TV for the out-of-market fan.

YouTube TV is the only live TV streaming service that includes NBA TV in its base channel lineup. DirecTV Stream, FuboTV and Sling offer the channel only on higher-priced tiers or in special add-ons; see below for details.

DirecTV Stream: Best for fans of the local team at $85

For those determined to watch their local basketball team without a cable or satellite TV subscription, a live TV streaming service is the best bet. While it is pricey, DirecTV Stream is the best option for most people, particularly those where the local games air on Bally Sports networks.

Below is a chart of all of the NBA teams in the US and their corresponding RSNs.

Note: None of the (US-based) services carry the RSN for the Toronto Raptors. Fans looking to watch Fred VanVleet and co. need to use NBA League Pass to get all the games that are not either on your local RSN or on a US national broadcast.

RSN availability by team and streaming service

Team	Network name	DirecTV Stream	FuboTV	YouTube TV	Hulu Plus Live TV	Sling Blue
Atlanta Hawks	Bally Sports Southeast	Yes	No	No	No	No
Boston Celtics	NBC Sports Boston	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Brooklyn Nets	YES Network	Yes	No	No	No	No
Charlotte Hornets	Bally Sports Southeast	Yes	No	No	No	No
Chicago Bulls	NBC Sports Chicago	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Cleveland Cavaliers	Bally Sports Ohio	Yes	No	No	No	No
Dallas Mavericks	Bally Sports Southwest	Yes	No	No	No	No
Denver Nuggets	Altitude	Yes	No	No	No	No
Detroit Pistons	Bally Sports Detroit	Yes	No	No	No	No
Golden State Warriors	NBC Sports Bay Area	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Houston Rockets	AT&T SportsNet Southwest	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Indiana Pacers	Bally Sports Indiana	Yes	No	No	No	No
Los Angeles Clippers	Bally Sports SoCal	Yes	No	No	No	No
Los Angeles Lakers	Spectrum SportsNet	Yes	No	No	No	No
Memphis Grizzlies	Bally Sports Southeast	Yes	No	No	No	No
Miami Heat	Bally Sports Sun	Yes	No	No	No	No
Milwaukee Bucks	Bally Sports Wisconsin	Yes	No	No	No	No
Minnesota Timberwolves	Bally Sports North	Yes	No	No	No	No
New Orleans Pelicans	Bally Sports New Orleans	Yes	No	No	No	No
New York Knicks	MSG	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Oklahoma City Thunder	Bally Sports Oklahoma	Yes	No	No	No	No
Orlando Magic	Bally Sports Florida	Yes	No	No	No	No
Philadelphia 76ers	NBC Sports Philadelphia	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Phoenix Suns	Bally Sports Arizona	Yes	No	No	No	No
Portland Trail Blazers	Root Sports Northwest	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Sacramento Kings	NBC Sports California	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
San Antonio Spurs	Bally Sports Southwest	Yes	No	No	No	No
Utah Jazz	AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Washington Wizards	NBC Sports Washington	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Some key takeaways:

• The RSNs above are typically only available to local subscribers. Refer to the individual service's details below to find out if you live in a place where you can receive a particular RSN.
• DirecTV Stream's $85-a-month Choice package includes NBA TV and all of the RSNs for basketball, with the exception of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Sixers fans hoping to watch Joel Embiid pulverize the competition will have to look elsewhere.
• They could jump over to FuboTV, Hulu Plus Live TV or YouTube TV, which all carry NBC Sports Philadelphia, but fans of other teams will mostly be out of luck. FuboTV only offers 10 RSNs for basketball, while Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV only have six. Sling TV doesn't offer a single RSN.

One other note: If you don't recognize the name of some of these channels, don't worry. As mentioned, the Fox Sports RSNs have been rebranded as Bally Sports, because the channels are no longer owned by Fox but Sinclair, which has since partnered with casino group Bally's to rename them.

DirecTV Stream: $70, $85

Carries ESPN, ABC, NBA TV, TBS, TNT and most RSNs

DirecTV Stream is expensive. It's the priciest of the five major live TV streaming services, but it's also the one with the most RSNs. Its cheapest, $70-a-month Plus package includes ESPN, ABC, TNT and TBS. You'll need to move up to the $85-a-month Choice plan to get any available RSN as well as NBA TV. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels and RSNs are available in your area.

Best options for nationally broadcast games

Aside from DirecTV Stream, the odds are long that a live TV streaming service carries the RSN for your local team's games, which makes the other four services better bets for watching nationally televised games.

Sling TV: $35, $50

Carries ESPN, TBS, TNT, and NBA TV

Sling Blue currently lacks a single RSN to watch basketball. You can, however, use Sling to watch some national broadcasts. Sling TV's Orange plan includes ESPN, and both plans offer TBS, but neither of them gives you access to ABC. NBA TV is available as part of the Sports Extra add-on, which costs $11 a month for either the Blue or Orange plan, or $15 for the combined Orange-and-Blue plan. The individual plans cost $35 a month each, and the Orange-and-Blue plan costs $50 a month. You can see which local channels you get here.

Each live TV streaming service offers a free trial, allows you to cancel anytime and requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out ourlive TV streaming services guide.

What Channel Does Basketball Come on Tonight

Source: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/nba-streaming-guide-2021-how-to-watch-your-team-this-season-without-cable/

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