The 2025-26 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season is upon us, with Opening Night set for Tuesday night. The Houston Rockets and NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder meet at Paycom Center, and we’ll have a banner raising. The NBA also returns to NBC, while it debuts on Peacock. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET for the front end of the doubleheader. At 10 p.m. ET, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers meet at Crypto.com Arena.
We analyze Tuesday’s contests for the best bets. Let’s build our bankroll with our best NBA picks & predictions for Tuesday, October 21.
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Tuesday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Houston Rockets (+225) at Oklahoma City Thunder (-275) | O/U 227.5 (-105/-115)
Normally, in the early goings of the season, I like to take it easy, bet lightly, and let some trends develop. We can look to last season’s series, and in some cases that’s fine, but Houston is a completely different team than last season. The champs are the champs, and they’re going to be stout again. However, the Rockets have a new look with Kevin Durant joining the team.
Durant landed in Space City this offseason as part of a crazy seven-team trade, the largest deal in NBA history. Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green shipped out, as well as a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Rockets has agreed to a two-year extension with Durant, too.
Last season in Phoenix, Durant averaged 26.6 points (PPG), 6.0 rebounds (RPG) and 5.0 assists (APG), 1.2 blocks (BPG) and 2.2 3-pointers (3PT) per game. He is 37 years old, but still playing at a very high rate.
Durant gets a crack at his original NBA organization. Maybe people forget, but Durant’s first season was actually with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007-08, the final season in the Emerald City before the team was relocated to OKC.
The defending champs won three of five games last season, while home teams were 5-0 straight up (SU). The Rockets went 3-2 ATS in the five meetings, with the underdog going 3-2, too. The Over cashed in four of the five meetings, too, and that’s the best play in this game.
Let’s side with the Over, and go aggressively on that, and if you’re looking for a side, take the Rockets catching more than three buckets. Go lightly on the side.
Picks: Rockets +6.5 (-105) & Over 227.5 Points (-110)
Golden State Warriors (-136) at Los Angeles Lakers (+116) | O/U 225.5 (-112/-108)
The Warriors and Lakers meet on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, and it’s Steph Curry and Luka Doncic facing each other. That’s must-see TV right there. One big name will be missing, however.
LeBron James will not play in the season opener, as he continues to recover from sciatica on his right side. Austin Reaves is expected to be the biggest beneficiary, as he picks up the slack. DeAndre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart will make their regular season debuts in purple and gold, too.
The Lakers were the No. 3 seed in the playoffs last season, but they bowed out against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. L.A. figures to be hungry for a deeper run in the postseason, but will it face a slow start with LeBron on the shelf early on?
The geriatric Warriors feature Curry at 37 years old, Jimy Butler at 36 and Draymond Green at 35 years old leading the way. Al Horford, 39, also was added to the mix. Still, they have young bucks like Jonathan Kuminga and Brandon Podziemski to give the old men breathers.
Los Angeles won three of four meetings last season, with the Lakers going 3-1 ATS. The Over cashed in each of the meetings, and six in a row in the series, while going 9-1 in the past 10 meetings since May 10, 2023. The only win for the Warriors in the series was a 123-116 victory at Crypto.com Arena on April 3 as a 1-point underdog.
With no LeBron, let’s back the Warriors to get the job done on the road, and we’ll go high on the total.
Picks: Warriors -2.5 (-115) & Over 225.5 Points (-115)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe