Getty The 76ers will face the Pelicans without Ben SImmons.
The New Orleans Pelicans kick their 2021-22 campaign off hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at Smoothie King Center on October 20.
The game (8 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia for those who live in the 76ers market and Bally Sports New Orleans for those who live in the Pelicans market. It will also stream live on NBA League Pass for everyone out of market.
Here’s a full rundown of how you can watch a live stream of the 76ers vs Pelicans, with your options depending on where you live:
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If the Game is in Your Market
FuboTV
Note: This option is for viewers in the 76ers market
You can watch a live stream of NBC Sports Philadelphia (live in local markets) and 100-plus other live TV channels (TNT not included) on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the 76ers vs Pelicans live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch most games on-demand within three days of their conclusion, even if you don’t record them.
DirecTV Stream
Note: This option is for viewers in the Pelicans markets
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” Bally Sports New Orleans (live in local markets) is included in “Choice” and up.
You can sign up right here:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch the 76ers vs Pelicans live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
If the Game is out of Your Market
Amazon Prime’s NBA League Pass Channel
Note: This is ultimately the same as regular NBA League Pass (more info on that below), but with this option you’ll be able to watch games on the Amazon app, which tends to be available on more devices than the NBA app
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market NBA game via Prime Channels. You can try both Amazon Prime and the NBA League Pass channel at no cost with a free trial:
NBA League Pass on Amazon Prime
Once you’re signed up for the Prime NBA League Pass channel, out-of-market viewers can watch the 76ers vs Pelicans live or on-demand on the Amazon Video app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, various smart TV’s, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via the Amazon website.
NBA League Pass
Again, this is mostly the same as the Amazon Prime option above, with the big difference being you’ll watch on NBA’s platforms rather than Amazon’s:
Once signed up for NBA League Pass, out-of-market viewers can watch the 76ers vs Pelicans live or on-demand on the NBA app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or 5, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, Android tablet or other compatible device.
You can also watch on your computer via the NBA website.
76ers vs Pelicans Preview
The Ben Simmons saga that took up the bulk of the summer has spilled into the regular season, with Sixers head coach Doc Rivers announcing on Tuesday that Simmons would be suspended for this game. Rivers tossed Simmons from Tuesday’s practice, and tensions are high on the team heading into the opener.
The team’s star center Joel Embiid was curt in his response to questions about Simmons, suggesting a team rift that may be quite deep.
“I’m trying to win,” Embiid said about Simmons, via ESPN. “And to win, you have to have that relationship with your teammates. I do have that relationship with all my teammates. But at the end of the day, our job is not to babysit somebody. We get paid to produce on the court, go out, play hard, win some games … that’s what we get paid for. We don’t get paid to come out here and try to babysit somebody. So that’s not our job, and I’m sure my teammates feel that way. We’re really focused on just winning and playing as a team.”
On the other side, the Pelicans have a new head coach in Willie Green after finishing with a 31-41 record last year. New Orleans finished 9th in the NBA in scoring (114.6 points a game) and 22nd in the league in points allowed, with 114.9.
Improving on defense is a primary goal for the Pelicans this year, according to their new head coach.
“This may sound crazy, but just being better than we were last year,” Green said. “Protecting the paint is going to be key for us. Keeping teams off the free-throw line. Contesting at a high rate. Contesting 3s. And just being aggressive is really just our mentality. No matter what building we go in, but especially at home.”
“The past two, three years — since I’ve been here — defensively, we’ve been horrendous,” Pelicans reserve Josh Hart added. “So that’s something we need to change. Especially if we want to get to our goal, the playoffs, this year. That’s what we have to do.”
Here’s a look at the predicted starting lineups for both teams:
76ers Predicted Starting Lineup: Tyrese Maxey (G) Seth Curry (G) Danny Green (F) Furkan Korkmaz (F), Joel Embiid (C)
Pelicans Projected Starting Lineup: Devonte’ Graham (G) Nickeil Alexander-Walker (G) Garrett Temple (F) Brandon Ingram (F) Jonas Valanciunas (C)