The opening night of the 2025-26 NBA season is here. Tonight, Tuesday, October 21, two games take place. We look at the late game on the first night of the 2025-26 NBA season, which sees the Golden State Warriors visiting the Los Angeles Lakers in a Pacific Division matchup.
Golden State finished the 2024-25 NBA season with a 48-34 record, which put the team in third place in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division. The Warriors opened last year’s playoffs with a seven-game series win over the higher ranked Houston Rockets. However, the club fell in the next round, dropping their series to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games.
Los Angeles finished in first place in the Pacific Division last season, going 50-32. The Lakers did not make it out of the first round of the playoffs, losing to the Timberwolves in five games.
The Warriors and Lakers met four times last season, with Los Angeles winning three of those matchups.
| Teams |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | -132 | -135 | -130 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +112 | +115 | +110 |
| Warriors -2 | -113 | -115 | -110 |
| Lakers +2 | -107 | -105 | -110 |
| Over 225 Points | -115 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 225 Points | -105 | -110 | -110 |
The glory days of the Steph Curry-led Golden State Warriors are behind them. However, Golden State, which finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 48-34 record, are in the running to win the Pacific this year a strong opening game against a team in the Los Angeles Lakers that beat them three times in 2024-25, could set the tone for the 2025-26 NBA campaign.
The big change for the Warriors came in early February when the club was part of a five-team deal that landed Jimmy Butler. The team gave up Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and a protected first-round pick in that trade. The move worked out for Golden State, as the team was 25-25 and 9th in the Western Conference at the time. The Warriors ended the year on a 23-9 run, going 22-5 when Curry and Butler were both on the court. If Butler and Curry can remain healthy for the 2025-26 season, there’s no reason to think the Warriors can’t win the division.
The jury is out on third-year player Brandin Podziemski. He had a great rookie season in 2024, but fell off a bit early in his sophomore campaign before picking things up in the second half of the season. The Warriors are counting on him for a strong third year.
The team also agreed to a two-year contract with Jonathan Kuminga, who averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes over 47 games (10 starts) last season.
The Los Angeles Lakers won the Pacific Division via a tiebreaker. To get there, the Lakers went 6-4 in the final 10 games of the regular season. The big addition for the club, Luka Doncic, helped the club greatly, averaging 28.2 points per game while pulling down 8.1 rebounds and dishing 7.5 assists in his 28 games with Los Angeles. The good news for the Lakers is that Doncic will be with the team for a full season in 2025-26; the bad news is that Los Angeles will be without LeBron James to start the season due to sciatica. The news on James broke on October 10. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated in three to four weeks. James did not participate in a full practice during training camp.
The loss of James, who will be playing in his 23rd NBA season, is significant, but make no mistake: the Lakers are Doncic’s club to lead this year, and for at least the length of the three-year, $165 million deal he signed with the club over the summer.
Another player to keep an eye on is Austin Reeves, who is entering a contract year.
Other deals the team made to improve over the summer were free agent deals for 2018 No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, 2021-22 Kia Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, and Jake LaRavia.
James’s health is the question facing the team right now. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists over 70 games in his 22nd season. How many more years can he produce at that level?
The Golden State Warriors were a different team after Jimmy Butler joined the club. After Butler was traded, the Warriors were first in defensive rating over the final 31 games and led the league in free throws per game. Butler adds a lot to the team. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers head into opening night without one of the team’s top two players in LeBron James. Luka Doncic is great and will get the team some wins on his own this year, but this game, against one of the best franchises in the NBA, isn’t one of them.
The betting pick is for the Golden State Warriors to beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors and Lakers scored more than 225 points in three of their four games last season.
The betting pick is for Golden State and Los Angeles to combine for more than 225 points in the 2025-26 NBA season opener.
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