WATCH Bulls vs. Hawks Online Live Stream: NBA 2016 Top Conference Rivals & Rankings

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

The Chicago Bulls battle it out on the court against the Atlanta Hawks in Week 17 of the regular season on Friday, February 26 at 8:00 p.m. EST from the Philips Arena in Georgia. 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 in mid-season, both Chicago and Atlanta maintain rather neutral spots in Marc Stein's official NBA power rankings for ESPN.com (out of a total 30 teams):

Hawks (12): "It's up to the slumping Hawks to sort out their leaky defense (of late) and beat Golden State on Monday to prevent the champs from becoming the first team in NBA history to win 50 times in its first 55 games of the season. This is the second straight season, actually, that the Warriors (68.6 percent) and Hawks (65.9) rank as the league's top two in terms of percentage of field goals assisted."

Record: 31-27 (8th in Eastern Conference).

Bulls (15): "Weekend wins over the Raptors and Lakers hiked the Bulls' record to 7-14 since Jan. 9, which is still the worst mark for any playoff team in that span thanks largely to a big defensive drop off over the past six weeks. To survive Jimmy Butler's absence, Chicago could sure use more of what it's been seeing from Derrick Rose lately, as well as another Doug McDermott eruption or two."

Record: 30-26 (6th in Eastern Conference).

Tonight's big game will be broadcasted live on your local ESPN sports channel and CSNC or FSSE.

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 Bulls and Hawks.

Official NHL team websites: Bulls and Hawks.

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