WATCH Rockets vs. Thunder 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 Houston Rockets battle it out on the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Week 13 of the regular season on Friday, January 29 at 8:00 p.m. EST from the Chesapeake Energy Arena. 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, both Houston and Oklahoma City maintain very impressive top spots in Marc Stein's official NBA power rankings for ESPN.com (out of a total 30 teams):

Rockets (8): "As much as the Clippers clearly wanted to exile Josh Smith, you have to wonder if they'll regret helping the Rockets. Houston is the one place J-Smoove seems to fit (and maybe the only team willing to take him), but it's not hard to picture the Rockets rising to No. 5 in the West by season's end and forcing a first-round showdown with none other than Doc Rivers' Clips."

Record: 25-23 (7th in Western Conference).

Thunder (3): "Let's help coach Billy Donovan out with some bulletin-board material after a rough night in Brooklyn: Even with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook simultaneously playing some of the best ball of their lives, ESPN's Basketball Power Index says there's a 74 percent chance that the Warriors and Spurs meet in the conference finals... and a 94 percent chance one of those teams wins the West."

Record: 35-13 (3rd in Western Conference).

Tonight's monumental game will be broadcasted live on your local NBAt sports channel and RTSW or FSOK.

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 Rockets and Thunder.

Official NHL team websites: Rockets and Thunder.

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