Getty Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
The Philadelphia 76ers will head to TD Garden in Boston on Sunday, October 8 to take on the Celtics in the first of two preseason games.
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The game will be televised on ESPN, but if you don’t have cable or don’t have that channel, you can watch a live stream for free on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream.
Here’s how:
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the 76ers vs Celtics live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include 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.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Fubo credentials to do that.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN is included in all of them, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch the 76ers vs Celtics live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include 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.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your DirecTV Stream credentials to do that.
Sling TV
If you’ve used up all your free trials for other streaming services, Sling TV is the cheapest long-term streaming service that includes this game. ESPN is included in the “Sling Orange” bundle, which is just $20 for your first month:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the 76ers vs Celtics live on the Sling TV app or Sling TV website.
Compatible devices for the Sling TV app include 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), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Sling credentials to do that.
76ers vs Celtics Preview
After his request to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers this summer, all eyes will be on 76ers superstar James Harden, who reported to camp late after not getting his wish. Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse has been noncommittal about whether or not Harden will see action here.
“I do not know,” Nurse said when asked whether Harden will suit up. “I think that we still got a number of people that we’re trying to kind of ramp up to get to Sunday, so I don’t know how that’ll go yet. We certainly got another day [of practice in Boston] tomorrow, and I think tomorrow will be a hard-working, physical day. It’s training camp, so you don’t really kind of pare down going into that stuff. We’re still into getting after it and competing tomorrow, so have to see how everybody comes out after that and see where we are.”
The Sixers coach also noted that preseason play is usually dictated more by the players, how they feel, etc. “Usually at this time, especially the first game, it’s just kind of where they are, a lot of communication with them, how they’re feeling,” Nurse added. “Some guys want the minutes to get to for conditioning. Some guys just want to kind of get started on the minutes and some guys won’t be ready. So, a little bit of everything.”
On the other side, the Celtics are fresh from trading for former Milwaukee Bucks champ Jrue Holiday. Boston also acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis earlier in the year, so Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will have more help in their quest for a championship.
Boston went all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year before ultimately falling to the Miami Heat, and the team is looking to win it all this year.
This will be the first of three preseason games in a span of four days for the Celtics, who are using the game as an opportunity to test drive their new lineup.
“To me, it gives you an opportunity to, we’re gonna have 15, 20 of those or something like that during the season. So, if you(‘ve) got to go through one now, I think it’s a good opportunity to work on stuff, be flexible, have guys available, not available, that’ll happen, so, whatever they give us, we’ll do,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said, also adding he expected “everyone to be active,” so we could see the likes of Holiday and Porzingis, albeit in limited minutes.