WATCH Suns vs. Thunder Live Stream Online: NBA 2015 Conference Rankings, Playoff Updates

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

The Phoenix Suns battle it out on the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Week 9 of the regular season on Thursday, December 31 at 8:00 p.m. EST from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma. Read on to see where fans can watch and listen to a live stream of the highly-anticipated New Year's Eve basketball game online and catch up-to-date feeds and coverage on highlight plays and scores.

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

Thunder (2): "We've got tidbits on Kawhi. We've got tidbits on Timmy. And we've got this random but still interesting stat: Tim Duncan has played 1,360 regular-season games and sports a record of 974-386 ... 588 games above .500 And that happens to be equal with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,074-486) for the most games over .500 in NBA history."

Record: 22-10 (3rd in Western Conference).

Suns (26): "Let's see. Let's see if a bench shuffle - firing two assistants instead of Jeff Hornacek - gives the coach new life. The question, though, has to be asked: When does the Suns' front office start coming under scrutiny, given their ill-meshing roster and the fact one of the ousted assistants (Mike Longabardi) was hand-picked by Suns general manager Ryan McDonough."

Record: 12-22 (13th in Western Conference).

Tonight's game will be broadcasted live on local sports channels FSAZ and 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 Suns and Thunder.

Official NHL team websites: Suns 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 Western Conference rival will snag the big win tonight?