The NBA preseason is officially underway! On Saturday, two games tipped off including the Minnesota Timberwolves defeating the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets taking down the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. On Sunday, two more games go live with new personnel on the court for the various teams. Here's a look at which 2017 NBA preseason games are on the slate for Sunday, October 1st.
Game previews
In the first of the two matchups, the Atlanta Hawks visit the Miami Heat. Of these two teams, one has to think the Heat have somewhat lofty expectations for the coming season. Even though they were unable to win the Gordon Hayward free agent sweepstakes, they return their key players from last season's near playoff appearance. They'll take on a rebuilding Hawks team featuring rookie draft pick John Collins and veteran guard Jeff Teague.
The second matchup of the day will be the nightcap game as Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers take on DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors.
The two teams will play in Honolulu, Hawaii as the NBA will have different games played around the globe. Toronto returns their two All-Star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan as well as big men Jonas Valunciunas and Serge Ibaka.
The Clippers will begin their early campaign without point guard Chris Paul who signed with the Houston Rockets over the offseason. They'll also be lacking shooting guard J.J. Reddick, but now have new acquisitions with former Rockets guard Patrick Beverly and former Nuggets big man Danillo Gallinari now part of the Clips.
How to watch live
The Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat game is the first on today's preseason game's slate. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. Eastern Time start on NBATV.
It will be followed by a 10 p.m. Eastern Time game featuring the Los Angeles Clippers vs. Toronto Raptors, also on NBATV. There is no NBATV live streaming website or apps, but many cable and satellite companies may offer their customers the ability to watch feeds of available TV channels online.
There are also regional coverage options available for these games depending on one's viewing region. Fox Sports Sun (FSSUN) will have the Heat coverage in the Miami viewing region for the first game. For the second game, Fox Sports Prime Ticket (FSPT) will have the L.A. Clippers coverage. Viewers can watch these teams' games live streaming in their regions if they have access to Fox Sports Go with those specific Fox Sports channels.