The opening night of the 2025-26 NBA season is nearly here. On that night, Tuesday, October 21, two games take place. We look at the first game of the 2025-26 NBA season, which sees the Houston Rockets visiting the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Rockets finished the 2024-25 NBA season in first place in the Southwest Division with a 52-30 record. Houston drew Golden State in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. While that series went seven games, the Warriors were the team that moved on to the second round of the playoffs.
The Thunder had the best record in the NBA Western Conference and overall in 2024-25, posting a 68-14 mark. The Thunder swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, defeated the Denver Nuggets in seven, and then dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. Oklahoma captured its second NBA title and first since moving from Seattle with a seven-game series win over the Indiana Pacers.
The last team to defend the NBA championship was Golden State, who won in 2022 and 2023. Make sure to check out our list of the best NBA betting sites, as well as our guide to NBA playoffs betting.
| Teams |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Rockets | +245 | +240 | +250 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | -300 | -290 | -300 |
| Rockets +7.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Thunder -7.5 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Over 226.5 Points | -115 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 226.5 Points | -105 | -110 | -110 |
The Oklahoma City Thunder had the best record in the NBA during the 2024-25 season, finishing the regular season with a mark of 68-14. The team’s winning percentage of .829 was one of the best in NBA history, and the highest since the Golden State Warriors set the all-time mark of .890 in 2015-16 when they went 73-9. The difference between the Thunder and the Warriors was that Oklahoma won the NBA Final after their fantastic regular season, going 16-7 in the playoffs.
The Thunder enter the 2025-26 campaign with a target on their backs, but the team should be ready for whatever comes its way, as almost all of the players from last year will be on the court for this season’s title defense. The team’s 13 top players in minutes per game are all signed for the coming year. That includes the team’s best players, reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren.
The team hoped to have Nikola Topic, the 12th pick in the 2024 Draft, on the court to open the 2025-26 season. He missed last season with an ACL injury, but his debut is delayed following, wha the team is calling a testicular procedure. Topic is expected to be out four to six weeks. The club’s 2025 top pick (No. 18), Thomas Sorber, is out for the year with an ACL injury.
Despite being the youngest team in the NBA last year, the Thunder had the highest point differential in NBA history (12.9) and the most double-digit wins in a single NBA season (54).
Expectations are incredibly high in OKC this year.
The Houston Rockets finished the 2024-25 NBA season with the second-best record in the West (52-30). However, the team bowed out in the first round of the playoffs, losing to the Golden State Warriors in seven games. The second-place finish represented an enormous improvement over the two previous years, in which the Rockets had placed 14th and 11th. While the team had to be happy with the regular season, the loss in the first round of the playoffs did not seem to sit well, and the team made some changes.
The big addition to the Houston Rockets roster was Kevin Durant, the centerpiece of a seven-team trade that also saw the team picking up Clint Capela from Atlanta while trading Dillon Books, Jalen Green, and future draft picks to Phoenix. The addition of Durant did not cost the team too much in young talent, as the Rockets kept Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Reed Sheppard.
While there is no question about Durant’s talent, there are questions about how he’ll fit on the Rockets’ roster. This will be his 18th NBA season, and Houston is counting on him to be the final piece of a puzzle for a deep run in the playoffs. The jury remains out on whether the soon-to-be 37-year-old can deliver.
The big loss for the Rockets was the off-season injury to Fred VanVleet, who was third in scoring on the team last year with 14.1 points per game. VanVleet suffered a torn ACL and could be out for the entire season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are too deep and too talented for the Houston Rockets. There are no questions surrounding the team that will take the court for the Thunder on Tuesday night. The same cannot be said about the Houston Rockets.
The betting pick is for the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Houston Rockets in the first game of the 2025-26 NBA season.
With the start of the 2025-26 NBA season upon us, make sure to check out our list of the best betting sites and sportsbooks available for your NBA wagers.
About the Author
Trent's your man when it comes to all things sports. He covers a wide range of sports for Sports Betting Sites, and has been published in some pretty reputable outlets, such as USA Today Sports, Vice, Bloody Elbow, Fight! Magazine, UFC 360, and Narratively. Trent's got the inside track on all the happenings in the world of sports.
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