WATCH Mavericks vs. Bulls Live Stream Online: NBA 2016 Conference Rankings, Playoff Updates

Basketball's back for the official 2015-2016 NBA season, so get ready, MstarsNews readers!

The Dallas Mavericks battle it out on the court against the Chicago Bulls in Week 11 of the regular season on Friday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m. EST from the United Center in Illinois. Read on to see where fans can watch and listen to a live stream of the highly-anticipated Friday evening basketball game online and catch up-to-date feeds and coverage on highlight plays and scores.

Now heading into mid-season, Chicago maintains an impressive top spot in Marc Stein's official NBA power rankings for ESPN.com, while Dallas lags just a bit behind (out of a total 30 teams):

Bulls (5): "Las Vegas seems convinced that the Jimmy Butler-led Bulls, after going 7-2 without the injured Joakim Noah, have established themselves as the East's biggest threat to the Cavs. Old school plus/minus, which is calculated by subtracting home losses from road wins, points to Toronto, which awoke Monday at a robust plus-7 compared to Chicago's paltry plus-1. Who you got?"

Record: 23-15 (3rd in Eastern Conference).

Mavericks (11): "One area where the West is definitely not down: West coaches still face the usual glut of worthy frontcourt contenders for All-Star berths. Dare we say that Dirk Nowitzki is one of the prime troublemakers, too, averaging nearly 18 points and 7 boards in 30.7 MPG, still the best player, at 37, for a team three or four slots higher in the standings than anyone expected."

Record: 22-18 (5th in Western Conference).

Tonight's game will be broadcasted live on local sports channels FSSW and WGN.

For fans who want to try out a free live stream (which may mean downloading a torrent), click here. Also try this or another option.

Also check out NBA TV for more schedules and game updates.

ESPN, ESPN Scoreboard, and NBA.com are all good sources for up-to-date game coverage and feeds.

More radio listening options for Mavericks and Bulls.

Official NHL team websites: Mavericks and Bulls.

Enjoy the exciting b-ball game from Chicago this evening, and always stick with MstarsNews for additional NBA gameday coverage this week. Which top conference rival will snag the big win tonight?