{"id":376666,"date":"2025-10-20T14:47:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=376666"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:12:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:12:56","slug":"nba-prop-bets-and-predictions-october-21-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/nba-prop-bets-and-predictions-october-21-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Best NBA prop bets for 2025 season opener: Bet on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Austin Reaves on opening night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NBA opening night arrives Tuesday with a doubleheader featuring four marquee franchises \u2014 and plenty of star players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The latest<\/strong>: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder open their season at home against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Later on, look for Austin Reaves to take on a bigger role in the absence of LeBron James.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-8f1effd0-db18-40a8-916e-091372420d9e\">Check out the best NBA prop bets for opening night on Oct. 21, featuring picks on SGA, Reaves and Alperen Sengun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets and start betting on the NBA today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-0a4ee124-09d4-4260-81c9-fd6fe232dbb3\">NBA prop bets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-479767b6-5872-497b-ac44-239c07c7e3d5\"><strong>Best bet:<\/strong> <strong><strong>Sengun under 6.5 assists <\/strong>(-134)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-479767b6-5872-497b-ac44-239c07c7e3d5\">Facing what is likely the best defence in the NBA, Sengun has no business seeing an assist line this high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder had the league&#8217;s best defensive rating last year (106.6) while ranking No. 1 in steals (10.3\/game) and No. 2 in blocks (5.7\/game). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The defending champs are not a fun bunch to square up against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sengun could be tasked with heightened responsibilities as a passer this year, mind you. Fred VanVleet (knee) is out for the season, and last year, FVV was the only Houston player who outpaced Sengun in assists per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Sengun&#8217;s 4.9 APG average in 2024-25 fell comfortably below what this line is asking of him. And in a daunting matchup, I just don&#8217;t see him getting it done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Bet on NBA player props at NorthStar Bets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Including the playoffs, Sengun went under this assist total in 66 of 83 games last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-479767b6-5872-497b-ac44-239c07c7e3d5\"><strong>Key stat<\/strong>: Dating back to February 2024, this under is 5-1 when Sengun faces the Thunder. He averaged 4.8 rebounds in those games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"cacheembed:119886\">Embed: #119886<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best NBA picks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Gilgeous-Alexander over 31.5 points <\/strong><\/strong>(-114)<\/strong>: Expect to see a lot of points props sitting around this number \u2014 and above \u2014 this season for Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The reigning NBA scoring champ averaged 32.7 PPG last season in 76 games, marking his third consecutive year scoring 30+ points on a nightly basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>SGA led the league in field goal attempts per game and made free throws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Including the playoffs, SGA went 50-49 vs. this scoring prop last year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Houston Rockets ranked fifth in defensive rating last year, so this isn&#8217;t a plus matchup. But SGA is as matchup-proof as any scorer these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the two previous seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.3 PPG vs. the Rockets and cashed this bet in five of eight meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Bet on the reigning MVP tonight<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Reaves over 10.5 rebounds\/assists <\/strong><\/strong>(-106)<\/strong>: Reaves averaged 10.3 rebounds\/assists last season, which makes this line seem pretty fair from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But with LeBron (lower back) sidelined for the Lakers, the over on Reaves&#8217; RA prop is a smash play for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In nine games without LeBron last season, Reaves averaged 6.6 rebounds and 8.3 assists (14.9 RA).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Once Luka Doncic joined the squad in March, Reaves went 5-1 vs. this RA prop in six non-LeBron games (finishing with exactly 10 RA in the one miss).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of personnel, Reaves is 3-2 vs. this prop in his past five matchups against the Golden State Warriors, which includes a 26-10-10 stat line on Christmas Day last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LeBron&#8217;s absence should allow Reaves to be more active as a passer and rebounder, as he&#8217;s demonstrated in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-84329f2b-7888-4034-9979-03e8608897e5\"><em>NBA prop picks made at 1:56 p.m. ET on 10\/20\/2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.ca\/page?key=ej0xMzUyNDU3MiZsPTEzNjY1NzMyJnA9MzExMjU%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NBA opening night arrives Tuesday with a doubleheader featuring four marquee franchises \u2014 and plenty of star players. The latest: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder open their season at home against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Later on, look for Austin Reaves to take on a bigger role in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":376671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-376666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-nba-betting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NBA prop bets Oct. 21, 2025: Picks, predictions &amp; odds | NSB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our best NBA prop bets for Oct. 21, 2025. 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