LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets: How to watch the NBA playoffs for free

Can the Denver Nuggets make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in team history? There’s only one thing in their way: The Los Angeles Lakers. The first game of the NBA Western Conference Finals is tonight, so we’ll get our first peak at the answer soon. The Nuggets are the favorite to win, but they’ll have some history with the Lakers to overcome. The two teams met in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, and the Lakers dispatched the Nuggets in a quick five games. Will history repeat itself tonight?

The LA Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets game is at 8:30 p.m. ET tonight, May 16, on ESPN and ESPN+. Here are all your options for streaming the game online, including some that are completely free if you take advantage of a trial period.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream on FuboTV

FuboTV app icon on Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

One of the ways to watch tonight’s Lakers vs Nuggets game for free is through one of the best live TV streaming services that has a free trial. Allow us to introduce FuboTV. The FuboTV free trial gets you one week of the service completely free. That’s enough time to watch tonight’s game, up to game four of the Lakers vs Nuggets series, and the first three games of the Celtics vs Heat series. That’s because FuboTV has hundreds of channels, including both ESPN and TNT. After your free trial is over, you’ll have to pay $75 per month for 152 channels on the base plan.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream on ESPN+

ESPN Plus on black background.

Tonight’s game is also streaming on ESPN+. Unfortunately there is no ESPN+ free trial, so you’ll have to at least sign up for one month of the base plan, which is $10. There is an easy way to save money if you also like Hulu and Disney+. You can bundle all three services together for only $13 per month, a great deal if you think you’ll use at least two of them.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream on YouTube TV

YouTube TV clock.

YouTube TV is another great way to watch tonight’s game completely free. That’s because there is a YouTube TV free trial that gets you ten full days of the service at no cost. That’s enough time to watch the first four games of the NBA West and NBA East Finals for free. After your free trial is over, the service costs $73 per month for over 100 channels. As an added sign-on bonus, your first three months of YouTube TV will be only $65 each.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream on Sling TV

The Sling TV logo against a black background.

Sling TV is another great option for cord cutters. One of the best features of Sling TV is the ability to choose between two different packages of channels. One is focused more on sports, the other on entertainment. This makes it easier to save money, since you’re only paying for channels you’ll actually watch. In order to get ESPN and tonight’s game, you’ll need the Sling TV Orange package. There is not Sling TV free trial, but you will get your first month for $10 off, making it $30 instead of the usual $40.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream on Hulu with Live TV

Hulu with Live TV is another way to get ESPN. There is no Hulu with Live TV free trial, but you can save some money if you take advantage of the Disney Bundle. This gets you ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu with Live TV all together for $70 per month. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, Marvel or Pixar, this deal is for you. You’re obviously already a fan of ESPN, so getting ESPN+ as part of this bundle is a nice bonus.

Watch the Lakers vs the Nuggets live stream from abroad with a VPN

The NordVPN logo on a purple background.

If you’re not in the U.S. right now, streaming American sports might be difficult. Thankfully there’s a simple solution. If you get one of the best VPNs for streaming, you can connect to a U.S. service and mimic a U.S. internet connection. Your internet won’t know the difference. After that, just sign up for one of the services above and get watching. We recommend NordVPN as the best VPN service overall.

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