The NBA season is off to the races and the first Saturday of the year has arrived. While there is not the all-day basketball that we will soon see, there is still a loaded 10-game slate as teams begin their early fight for supremacy.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets will kick off the slate with a 5:00 EST matchup on NBA TV. In addition, the Houston Rockets will face off with the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks will face the Phoenix Suns, and the night will be concluded with the Sacremento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers as the headline matchups.
These are my picks to win every NBA game straight up, tiered by confidence level and ranked within each tier. You can bet on any of these games at DraftKings Sportsbook.
NBA October 26th Confidence Picks
High Confidence
Boston Celtics over Detroit Pistons
The Boston Celtics look unstoppable to start the season. The defending champions have even further leaned into their perimeter attack attempting 106 total three-point attempts across the first two games after leading the NBA with 42 three-point attempts per game last season. While teams have begun to replicate their style, it is impossible to match their level of talent at the wing positions and find effective stretch big men the way Boston has. The Detroit Pistons are beginning to move in the right direction as an organization, but there is a notable gap in talent compared to the Celtics. Expect Boston to produce another blowout tonight.
Minnesota Timberwolves over Toronto Raptors
The Minnesota Timberwolves are still playing through the growing pains of their offseason roster changes. But they defeated the Sacremento Kings 117-115 on Thursday and will have both the rest and talent advantage in this game. The Toronto Raptors are fresh off a 115-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night despite battling some notable injuries. Immanuel Quickley has been ruled out for the game due to a hip injury, Bruce Brown is out indefinitely, and RJ Barrett is questionable after missing last night’s game. Expect Minnesota to be prepared for whatever version of the Raptors shows up on the court and take care of business. Anthony Edwards should be the clear-cut best player on the floor and have no issues leading the team to a victory.
Cleveland Cavaliers over Washington Wizards –
The Cleveland Cavaliers enter this matchup with a 2-0 record having won both games by a combined margin of 42 points. They have yet to be truly tested on the season, facing the Pistons and Raptors, and this matchup with the Wizards will not change this. Donovan Mitchell remains his all-star self, Evan Mobley is showing some intriguing flashes of development, and no starter is averaging over 30 minutes through the first two games. Washington should not be the true bottom-feeders they have been in years past but expect the talent gap to be evident in this game and for the Cavaliers to take care of business.
Oklahoma City Thunder over Chicago Bulls
The Oklahoma City Thunder took a massive step forward last season, earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and securing the outright top seed in the Western Conference. They then added to their talent by bringing in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein and have their sights set on an even deeper playoff run. Oklahoma City won their opening game over the Denver Nuggets in comfortable fashion and will have the rest advantage in this game. Chicago has looked solid to start the year and is coming off an 11-point victory over the Milwaukee Bucks last night. But the Thunder are plenty familiar with the shortcomings of Josh Giddey’s style of play and there are far more concerns in Chicago’s ability. Expect the Thunder to continue on their journey to be the NBA’s most elite and for the Bulls not to be able to provide enough of a challenge.
Denver Nuggets over Los Angeles Clippers
Both of these teams enter with a 0-1 record and are in search of their first win. The Denver Nuggets have not looked to have quite the same bite since their championship run with Jamal Murray being at the forefront of the conversation. However, they still have a clearer style of play and Nikola Jokic is capable of elevating any team around him. The Los Angeles Clippers were unable to get the victory in the home opener and will now travel to Denver in hopes to change this. While the Clippers have a more defensive-oriented roster that is willing to scrap, their lack of offensive weapons will be an issue as the season goes on. Expect this to show face in this game and for the Nuggets to capitalize on the best home-court advantage in the NBA.
Medium Confidence
Miami Heat over Charlotte Hornets
The Miami Heat will be searching for their first victory of the season and have a great chance to do just this. The Charlotte Hornets are coming off a 21-61 season last year, but have shown some signs of life to start this season. LaMelo Ball is off to an impressive start to the finish but also is listed as questionable with a tailbone contusion. While the Hornets are an intriguing story to keep an eye on, this game is about what version of the Miami Heat shows up. This is a game that they can and should win, but the alarms should begin to start sounding if this is not the case. Their lackluster showing in the season-opener has dropped them to a medium-confidence play for this matchup despite having superior talent.
San Antonio Spurs over Houston Rockets
There will be plenty of eyes on this matchup between a pair of Texas teams. Both the Spurs and Rockets crack the list of intriguing young teams looking to take a step forward. Houston sits at 1-1 through the opening two games while the Spurs are 0-1. While the jury is out for where these teams will land in the standings at the season’s conclusion, give the Spurs the inside edge to win this game. Houston will be on the second night of a back-to-back while San Antonio has not played since Thursday. Victor Wembanyama will be a difficult matchup for any team, especially when factoring in Alperen Şengün’s style of play. Expect the Spurs to have the inside edge and get their first victory of the 2024-25 season.
Los Angeles Lakers over Sacremento Kings
The Los Angeles Lakers have looked extremely impressive through their opening two games. JJ Redick has provided more motion to the offense and Anthony Davis has played like an MVP candidate through the opening two games, leading the NBA in scoring at 35.5 points per game. They will now face off with a Sacramento Kings team that fell short to the Timberwolves in their opening matchup. While Sacramento’s offense will be a challenge, the Lakers look like a true contender in the early games. Expect them to continue to prove this as and for Redick to only be at the start of the changes he is looking to make with their style of play.
Coin-Flip Games
Dallas Mavericks over Phoenix Suns
Both the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns have deep playoff aspirations this season. Phoenix enters with a 1-1 record while the Mavericks are 1-0 thus far. The Suns offense looks much sharper with much more ball movement this season after their isolation-centric style of play ended up restricting them last year. In contrast, Dallas leans on Luka Doncic’s isolation ability heavily and will continue to moving forward. Doncic has plenty on his plate but has proven capable of managing this role. Expect the Suns to bring their best punch, but this is a true coin-flip matchup against the defending Western Conference Champions.
Memphis Grizzlies over Orlando Magic
After a nightmare season last year riddled with injuries, the Grizzlies have already picked up some notable knocks to start the year. There are eight players listed on the injury report ahead of this matchup. It has been 1,074 days since no player has been on the Grizzlies injury report. Vince Williams Jr, Luke Kennard, GG Jackson, and Luke Kennard have already been ruled out while John Konchar is doubtful and Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr are each questionable. The Magic are an exciting young team that has impressed to start this season. Keep an eye on the injury report before making a decision on this game.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is seanbarnard) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and cannot access any non-public information.
