How and where to watch the NBA online

Today is the day that NBA fans have been waiting months for, the start of the 2012-2013 season. But for those that don’t have cable, or maybe those looking for more coverage they can take with them, we have you covered with our picks for the best sites to watch pro basketball online.

With the NBA’s regular season kicking off on tonight, it’s time to figure out how and/or where to watch your favorite NBA team. Below are some sites that offer live NBA action streamed to your laptop or to your tv without the need for that pesky cable bill. And it isn’t just cord cutters that can benefit from services like these. We have your back, poor, beleaguered Charlotte Bobcat fan living anywhere other than  North Carolina. These services allow you to watch any game, anywhere. 

Most of these sites offer free streams as long as you are willing to put up with pop-ups and slightly lower quality, but a decent computer and a solid internet connection will have you well on your way.

NBA League Pass

If you have to have it and you’ve got the dough, NBA league pass is the way to go. This is as close as you will get on your computer to the cable experience with the added, bonus of being able to watch the teams you want even when they you are on the road or games are blacked out. NBA league pass offers a few different plans for cable — broadband only, naturally — or mobile. Below are the options for broadband only. 

• PREMIUM: Watch all 30 teams throughout the regular season. 5 Installments of: $39.99
• CHOICE:Choose up to 5 teams to watch throughout the regular season. 5 Installments of: $26.99
• Live HD games, season archives, 4 games at once, live game stats

TNT Overtime

Free. The price is right but the view may not be. It’s something different, but the serious fan may be disappointed as some action can be missed due to the alternate camera angles. TNT only offers this service for select games so you won’t want to depend on it to catch your team every time. Overall it’s worth a look. Use this as a supplement to watching the game on TV or from one of the other sources below. After All, variety is the spice of life.

• Mosaic view is like watching the game through a kaleidoscope and may cause seizures. Best viewed after drinking a six pack of your favorite energy drink.
• Player cam is pretty cool to watch a single player move on the court even when they are not in possession of the ball or shooting. Mostly this is a novelty and won’t feed the need of the dedicated NBA fan. If your favorite player is not selected for the cam view you can vote for them and hope there are other stalkers…er, fans like yourself that are doing the same.
• Backboard cam view is the closest view you can get to the traditional TV feel of the game. It will do in a pinch.
• Action cam – wow…If you are prone to motion sickness you may want to skip this view. A Blair Witch camera style paired with the squeaking of dozens of size 14 sneakers is probably more than the average viewer can handle.

 FirstRowSports

The Best of the free! The streaming is solid, picture is clear, and you can find about any game you want. The trick to mastering this site is to figure out which close buttons to click in order to get to the window that will titillate your NBA itch into submission in the absence of the umbilical cord known as cable. Basically, just click on the little red close buttons until you see your beloved team, then click the expand button and enjoy. There will be pop-ups, but stick with it and its worth the annoyance. 

myp2p

It ranks right up there with FirstRowSports. You can find the game you want and the stream will be fairly solid. Like any stream there may be pauses, pixelated screens, and/or you may not be able to find a link. They were down for a while, but seem to be back up and running strong. 

Atdhe.eu

This site has been showing preseason games without issues. The stream has been smooth, but definitely not HD quality. I felt like Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom dodging booby trapped popups. Luckily ESET was watching my back and caught a couple where I sloppily clicked outside the teeny, tiny almost transparent close box. I don’t recommend trying this site if you are on a work computer or one that you might be afraid to get a virus on. 

Sportshunter.eu

Not as sketchy as Atdhe.eu. Decent Quality of picture and stream. You’ll have to click through some ads to get to the proper window, then just click the expand button after closing popups. Not the best, but it will get the job done. 

A word of caution. Many of the free streaming sites make money from ads and can also be host to a plethora of viruses, spyware, adware etc. Make sure you have your antivirus and spyware updated when using these sites. Use at your own risk.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com