Getty Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young.
The Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks are looking for positive starts to a new season after missing the playoffs a year ago as they clash at United Center on Wednesday.
The game starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports Southeast (in Hawks markets) and NBC Sports Chicago (in Bulls markets). But if you don’t have cable, here’s how you can watch a live stream of the Hawks vs Bulls online for free, depending on where you live:
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Fans in the Bulls Markets: FuboTV
Fans in local Bulls markets can watch a live stream of NBC Sports Chicago and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which you can use for free with a seven-day trial right here:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the Hawks vs Bulls live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, 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 the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Fans in the Bulls Markets: Hulu With Live TV
Fans in local Bulls markets can watch a live stream of NBC Sports Chicago and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch the Hawks vs Bulls live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Fans in the Hawks Markets: AT&T TV Now
Note: This option is not free, and, unfortunately, it’s the only streaming service with Fox Sports Southeast
Fans in the Hawks market can watch Fox Sports Southeast and 100-plus other TV channels on AT&T TV Now’s Xtra package. Unfortunately, it costs $124 per month and does NOT come with a free trial:
Once signed up for AT&T TV Now’s Premier package, you can watch the Hawks vs Bulls live on the AT&T TV Now app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV Now comes include with cloud DVR storage.
If the Game is Out of Your Market
Amazon Prime’s NBA League Pass Channel
This is ultimately the same as regular NBA League Pass (more info on that below), but this is the preferred option because you can watch games on Amazon’s platforms rather than NBA’s, which has had some streaming issues in the past.
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised NBA game on the Amazon Prime League Pass channel. You can try both Amazon Prime and the League Pass channel at no cost with a free trial right here:
NBA League Pass on Amazon Prime
Once you’re signed up for the Prime League Pass channel, out-of-market viewers can watch the Hawks vs Bulls live or on-demand on the Amazon Video app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, various Smart TV’s, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via the Amazon website.
Again, this is mostly the same as the Amazon Prime option above, with the big different being you’ll watch through NBA’s digital platforms rather than Amazon’s. There are also a few different pricing options when signing up for League Pass through NBA.com (one-team pass, all-team pass or all-team, commercial-free pass). You can find them all right here:
Once signed up for League Pass, out-of-market viewers can watch the Hawks vs Bulls live or on-demand on the NBA app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, Android tablet or other compatible device.
You can also watch on your computer via the NBA website.
Hawks vs Bulls Preview
There have been some tough times in Atlanta over the last three seasons, but some positivity is surrounding the Hawks as the new season approaches thanks to a solid, young core and some key offseason additions.
The Hawks’ big offseason additions were Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo and Danilo Gallinari. The additions should take a load off the shoulders of Trae Young, who averaged just a shade under 30 points per game last season.
“The fact that he’s going to have less load is going to make his game easier,” Gallinari said. “A lot of situations we’ve seen already, the defense has to play all the weapons we have on the floor, especially all the shooters that we’ve got. I think that is going to open up a lot of space for him.”
The Hawks were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, ranking in the bottom three when it came to defensive rating. They’re looking to change that this season with hopes to end a three-year playoff drought.
“Everyone’s going to talk about what we’re capable of doing offensively,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Everyone needs to talk about what we are doing defensively, and that’s going to be the mindset that we have to have from start to finish. … You’ve got three defensive stoppers and two guys that are liabilities, the liability’s going to get you beat.
“It isn’t the three stoppers that are going to help you win, so our team defense is going to be tremendous, a tremendous amount of focus will be there, a tremendous amount of effort will be there, and a tremendous amount of buy-in has to be there.”
The Bulls had a shakeup of their own this offseason after three consecutive losing seasons, hiring Billy Donovan as their new head coach. While Donovan brings a 243-157 record to the table after five seasons with the Thunder, he knows the Bulls will have their hands full this season.
“We’re going to have to have a lot of resiliency,” Donovan told the Chicago Sun. “We’re going to have to handle adversity. We’re going to have to handle the ups and downs. We’re going to have to maintain a level of competitiveness when things are not going our way. We’re going to have to have a fight as a team. Those are the things we’ve talked quite a bit about, especially only having the opportunity to play against Houston twice and Oklahoma City twice, where you get a little bit of a body of work where you can see in some areas you fell short.
“So much of the NBA is putting the ball in the basket, but I do think there are a lot of things you can control that do impact winning and impact your team.”
Atlanta is a 2-point favorite for the opener. The total is set at 231.5 points.