Getty Gordon Hayward of the Charlotte Hornets
The New Orleans Pelicans (4-4) will host the Charlotte Hornets (3-5) at the Smoothie King Center Friday.
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. But if you don’t have cable, here’s how to watch a live stream of Hornets vs Pelicans online for free:
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FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN 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 Hornets vs Pelicans 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.
You can also watch the game live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can use your FuboTV credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space.
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 30-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” bundle. It’s the cheapest streaming service with ESPN, plus you can get $10 off for the first month, and get Showtime, Starz, and Epix included for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the Hornets vs Pelicans live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
You can also watch the game live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can use your Sling credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 10 hours of cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN 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 Hornets vs Pelicans 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.
You can also watch the game live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can use your Hulu credentials to do that.
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).
Vidgo
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 65+ other TV channels on Vidgo, which you can use for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can watch the Hornets vs Pelicans live on the Vidgo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Vidgo website.
You can also watch the game live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can use your Vidgo credentials to do that.
Hornets vs Pelicans Preview
The Hornets are coming off a 102-94 win over the Hawks on Wednesday. Gordon Hayward scored a career-high 44 points while also hauling in seven rebounds in the victory. “I never scored 40 in high school,” Hayward told ESPN. “People were finding me all night.”
Hayward went 4-7 from three-point range, and he scored or had a hand in 11 of his team’s final 19 baskets. “I was proud of Gordy,” said Charlotte coach James Borrego, per the Associated Press. “He understood we needed pressure taken off our offense tonight, and he took the pressure.”
New Orleans is fresh from a 111-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Forward Zion Williamson had a game-high 29 points, and he was one of six players scoring in double figures for the Pelicans. Center Steven Adams had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds, but New Orleans hit just over 18 percent of its three-point shots, and could not string together four complete quarters of solid defense.
After George Hill hit two go-ahead free throws for OKC with 12 seconds remaining, a final shot by Nickeil Alexander-Walker rattled out, and the Pelicans came up empty handed.
“Our defense stunk tonight. There’s one number. That’s 27 fast-break points. To me, the number should be 10. No more than 10. They averaged 7½ coming in,” Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said, per Nola.com. “That bulls**t has been going on too long with this group. Dig in and play defensively. We scored 110 points. If you can’t win scoring 110 points, there’s something wrong.”
The New Orleans head coach also noted that it was now or never for his team to set its mind right. “We’re either going to dig in and be a good defensive team and have a chance to be a good team, or we’re going to play the kind of defense we’ve played the last three games and we’ll be mediocre or worse,” Van Gundy said.
The primary storyline heading into this game, however, surrounds the Ball brothers, who will be playing their first-ever NBA game against each other. Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball is averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds a game, and his younger brother LaMelo, in his rookie season with the Hornets, is scoring 12.1 points per contest, while also hauling in 5.1 boards a game.
The two brothers have played each other informally, of course, which the younger Ball remembers like this: “Nobody took it easy,” LaMelo told the Charlotte Observer, adding: “That was probably the most competitive basketball, right there in the backyard. Fighting, scrapping, falling on concrete. Parents getting scared when their kids went back there. It was something you had to witness, for real.”
Now, fans everywhere will be able to witness their first professional clash, and it should be both an entertaining and intriguing matchup.