With the 2025-26 NBA season in full swing, the league is already seeing a lot of buzz and excitement for what’s to come throughout the schedule. The first big event is the NBA Cup, a six-week in-season knockout tournament where each team has a chance to win it all.

The Dallas Mavericks face the Detroit Pistons in a regular season NBA game on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 in Mexico City.

Here's how to watch 2025-26 NBA games online without cable, including ways to livestream basketball for free this season.

While NBA Cup games broadcast on TV across NBC and ESPN, the in-season tournament can also be streamed on web-based streaming cable services — like DirecTV, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV — some of which even offer free trials. Games are also streamable on Prime Video and Peacock.

The "Tap to Watch” initiative provides fans direct access to live national and local games, including on all broadcast partners.

For the first time since 2002, NBA basketball will air on NBC. If you were a ’90s kid, John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock ” was the soundtrack of your basketball-watching experience, the perfect melodic intro that remains synonymous with hoops.

There are plenty of options for fans to catch the start of the new season, including the return of the NBA on NBC - the first time since 2002.

New users can get three months of NBA League Pass free, an NBA League Pass discount, with the all-new DraftKings promo code