NBA Opening Night Schedule, Odds, Previews: Celtics Vs. Knicks, Lakers Vs. Timberwolves

The opening night of the NBA regular season tips off on Tuesday. It begins with the defending champion Celtics taking on the Knicks. After acquiring Karl Anthony-Towns, New York is one of the biggest threats in the Eastern Conference. In the nightcap, the Lakers host the Timberwolves in a matchup between the last two Western Conference runner-ups. Check out NBA betting odds and previews for this two-game slate.

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NBA opening night odds, schedule

Knicks at Celtics: 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

No team has delivered consecutive titles over the last six seasons. During this parity-filled stretch, the defending champion is 4-1 straight up on banner night, with an average margin of victory of nearly 13 points per game. To boot, the Celtics went 37-4 at TD Garden last season, one of two teams in the East and five teams overall to prevail at least 30 times at home.

Conversely, the Knicks positioned themselves to challenge Boston for the top spot in the conference, resigning O.G. Anunoby, trading for Mikal Bridges, and landing a star big man in Towns.

Per the odds table above, the Celtics are Boston Celtics -6 (-115) on Bet365 spread favorites with a total of 221.5 (-108) on DraftKings.

Both frontcourts are banged up. New York won’t have key depth pieces available in Mitchell Robinson (ankle) and Precious Achiuwa (hamstring). Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is recovering from his surgery in June to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. He’ll miss the first few months of the campaign.

Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Xavier Tillman will fill the void. Theoretically, this rotation tweak is a positive for Boston’s defense and a negative for its offense.

Nevertheless, the pairing of All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson and Towns should trigger pick-and-roll mismatches for Towns against less-agile bigs. Search any name, like Towns, in TheLines.com’s BetFinder tool to check out the best odds among NBA player props. If you don’t see specific odds, click the “show all bets” button.

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Timberwolves at Lakers: 10 p.m. ET on TNT

There’s reason to believe the Timberwolves will continue to ascend atop the Western Conference standings despite trading Towns. Last season, Minnesota boasted the league’s top defensive rating and ranked third in net rating. Anthony Edwards is developing into one of the league’s brightest stars, and the deal for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo could pay off in the long run.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have dropped seven straight openers since 2017. This time, it’s the first game under head coach JJ Redick, the former NBA sharpshooter and ESPN analyst with no coaching experience. Their roster construction is similar to last season. Rui Hachimura will enter the starting frontcourt alongside veterans LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Timberwolves have flip-flopped between favorites and underdogs. They’re currently stationed at Minnesota Timberwolves -1 (-110) on Bet365 on the NBA odds board. This spread should generate plenty of two-way action, given these brand names.

LeBron’s son, Bronny James, will unlikely garner many minutes in his first pro season. Yet, he represents the biggest liability among the odds to win NBA Rookie of the Year at BetMGM Sportsbook, priced at +30000.

Additional props are available below. Just click on any of the odds to place a bet.