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Thunder vs Lakers live stream: Can you watch for free?

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder today in what could easily be a first-round playoff preview.

The game starts tips off in under an hour, at 10:30 p.m. ET. It will be televised locally on Bally Sports Oklahoma (Thunder market) and Spectrum SportsNet (Lakers market), and it will be on NBA TV everywhere else. Fortunately, no matter where you live, there are some different options for watch a free live stream of the game.

The Best Way to Watch the Thunder vs Lakers Live Stream

The Sling TV logo against a black background.
Sling

If you want some free options, you can head to the next section. If you want a killer deal for one month, Sling TV has one going on right now. The “Sling Blue” channel package plus the Sports Extra add-on, which includes NBA TV and 55-plus other live TV channels, is normally $51 per month but is currently available for just $26 for your first month.

Moreover, the Paramount+ With SHOWTIME, Starz, AMC+ and MGM+ add-ons are all free for your first month. If you want as much content for the cheapest price possible–for one month, at least–this is the way to go.

Is There a Free Thunder vs Lakers Live Stream?

FuboTV app icon on Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

If you aren’t concerned with any fancy deals or add-ons and you just want to watch the Thunder vs Lakers for free, there are four different ways you can do exactly that:

Fubo: With the “Pro” channel package and the “Sports Plus wid NFL RedZone” add-on, you’ll get about 200-plus total channels, including Bally Sports Oklahoma (local markets only) and NBA TV. This option comes with a seven-day free trial.

DirecTV Stream: There are four different channel packages available. With “Choice” and up, you’ll get 105-plus total channels, including Spectrum SportsNet (local markets; this is the only streaming service with this channel), Bally Sports Oklahoma and NBA TV. This comes with a five-day free trial.

YouTube TV: The “Base Plan” comes with 100-plus total channels, including NBA TV, but Spectrum and Bally Sports are not available. This comes with a five-day free trial, and you can also watch for 20 minutes before signing up.

Prime Channels: If you’re a Prime subscriber (it comes with a 30-day free trial if you’re not), you can watch a live stream of NBA TV via Prime Channels. It comes with a seven-day free trial.

How to Watch the Thunder vs Lakers Live Stream from Abroad

The NordVPN app on the App Store on Apple TV.
Derek Malcolm / Digital Trends

A virtual private network (VPN) is good to have for providing you security and privacy online, but it can also be a key tool for streaming. VPN’s hide your IP address and connect you to a server in a different location, allowing you to stream content as if you were physically located in that location. So, say you have Fubo but you’re currently in Europe, you can connect to a US-based server through a VPN and then watch the game as if you were back at home.

NordVPN is our recommendation due to its reliability, speed and massive number of servers (you can also connect to a server in a different state to get around any potential local blackouts). But if you want to shop around, you can take a look at our guide to the best VPN services available right now.

Tim Keeney
Tim is a long-time sports journalist who has written about everything from the NFL to more popular sports such as chess…
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