The 2025-26 NBA regular season officially tips off on October 21st, commencing with a marquee doubleheader on NBC and Peacock featuring the Rockets at Thunder (7:30 p.m. ET) followed by the Warriors at Lakers (10 p.m. ET). This season also marks the return of the NBA to NBC under a new 11-year, $76 billion domestic rights deal, which will reshuffle national broadcast nights and introduce streamlined streaming access for fans.

Back in early October 2024, it’s fair to say there wasn’t a huge amount of buzz surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers going into the NBA season. The Cavs were viewed as a decent team, but they were a long way off from being touted as a championship-level team. That NBA Championship didn’t materialize, of course, but the Cavs did come storming out of the block in the early season, becoming only the fourth team in the history of the NBA to start a season 15-0.

The point, as such, is that there are always surprises across a season, particularly so at the beginning of the campaign when teams and players might still be carrying some offseason rust. New coaches, teammates, and tactics might take a while to gel, or they may not work out like everyone expected. 

In light of that, we wanted to pick out some of the possibly tricky games to call across the first week of the upcoming 2025/26 season, looking at matchups that are both tight in the NBA game spreads and some that might just be tougher than they look. These are the kind of games that could give us some important clues as to teams’ hopes as the season progresses. All games take place from October 21st to October 28th. 

Warriors @ Lakers October 21st 

In the 2022-23 season, the Warriors won 44 games; the Lakers won 43. The next season, the Warriors won 46 games; the Lakers 47. And last season, the Warriors won 48 games, and the Lakers managed 50. The Lakers go into the 2025/26 season with slightly higher hopes than GSW, much of which is down to the buzz around Luka Doncic wearing a yellow  & purple uniform for a full season. Despite one of the world’s best players arriving in LA, there are still questions over how this roster will gel and how certain egos complement each other. As for the Warriors, you just can never write off a Steve Kerr team. This one is really tight on the spread, suggesting sportsbooks don’t have a clue how it will play out either. 

76ers @ Celtics October 22nd 

An absolutely fascinating tie here for a variety of reasons. The Sixers were arguably the most disappointing team in the NBA last season, starting with genuine hopes for a deep Playoff run but ending with a turgid 24-58 record. The Celtics failed to reach the heights of the previous Championship-winning season, a fact made worse by the injury to Jayson Tatum. Now both teams are reset, and we basically don’t know what will happen. The betting odds for the season put them as mid-tier teams with hopes of sneaking into the Playoffs. It’s amazing what can happen in a short time, with the Celtics, in particular, tagged as a possible “dynasty” less than a year ago. This game might say a lot about the ambitions of each going forward. 

Nuggets @ Timberwolves October 27th 

Fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder will head into this season buzzing, secure in the knowledge that the champions are hot favorites to retain. While that favorite status is not in doubt, it’s unclear as to the identity of the top challengers to OKC in the West. Going by the sportsbooks’ odds, it’s the Nuggets and Timberwolves, both of whom were vanquished by the Thunder in the Playoffs last season. We said previously that making predictions about a season can be futile, but there are a lot of fans who believe this will be the season where Anthony Edwards truly comes to the fore for the Wolves. They went 4-0 against the Nuggets last season, something that Nikola Jokic and his teammates will want to address. 

Opening Night is also accompanied by a full slate of digital enhancements: the league’s updated NBA App and reimagined NBA TV platform debut this season, aiming to offer fans 24/7 access to content, at-home viewing options, and built-in “Tap to Watch” features.