The new season of NBA, one of world’s most popular sporting competitions, kicks off on Tuesday, 29th October, with bet365 bringing the competition directly to customers in UK, Ireland and Denmark via their premium live stream service.

Reigning champions Miami Heat, who have been made 2/1 favourites for the title, welcome Chicago Bulls (9/1) to the American Airlines Arena in the opening match of the new campaign.

Superstar LeBron James will be hoping for a bright start as he searches for his third MVP title on the bounce, with Loul Deng of Great Britain looking to spoil the party.

Meanwhile, two Los Angeles teams square off against each other on the opening night, as out-of-sorts Lakers welcome constantly improving Clippers. With Dwight Howard leaving during off season and Kobe Bryant unlikely to feature, Lakers will have mountain to climb in their opening game. Even with Pau Gasol likely to shine in Bryant’s absence, Lakers are no less than 30/1 at the moment.

Buoyed by the arrival of aforementioned Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets are hoping for another impressive start and are priced at 11/1 for the title. Rockets are widely tipped to roll over outsiders Charlotte Bobcats without even breaking a sweat.

All things considered, Miami appear to be the main candidates for the trophy once again, with LeBron James likely to remain in the spotlight for years to come. However, Oklahoma City do look more than capable of reaching the final stages, especially if Kevin Durant continues his rich vein of form.

At the moment, bet365 has a number of outright markets available for punters looking to predict the outcome of the NBA Championship, but once the competition starts you can also expect plenty of in-play markets as well. Given that their customers now have access to free live streams of each and every NBA match, this can prove to be a winning combination this term.