The NBA is going heavy on Western Conference stars for its opening night schedule.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the opening night schedule will feature a rematch of the Western Conference finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the world champion Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. The second half of the doubleheader will feature the Phoenix Suns facing the Golden State Warriors at Chase Arena in San Fransisco.
Here's a look at the opening odds for both matchups.
Suns Odds Spread Over/Under Moneyline Warriors Odds Spread Over/Under Moneyline
The Warriors will return their core three — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green — this season. They also swung a massive trade early in the offseason that landed them future hall of famer Chris Paul. Paul will being his Warriors tenure facing his former Suns teammates on opening night after taking Phoenix to the NBA Finals in 2021.
The Suns will debut their new lineup with the addition of Bradley Beal at point guard along with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker coming off a rough loss in Game 6 of the second round series against the Nuggets.
Oddsmakers see this as the closer of the two matchups with the Warriors listed as one-point favorites at home as of the time of writing. The Warriors had the best record against the spread at home last season (27-14, +1,067).
Lakers Odds Spread Over/Under Moneyline Nuggets Odds Spread Over/Under Moneyline
L.A. will return most of the lineup that carried them to a surprising postseason run. The Lakers lost to the Nuggets in a series sweep despite being competitive in each game. The Nuggets will also return the core of their championship winning squad. They were nearly unstoppable at home with the second-best record ATS in the regular season (25-15-1, +$792) and a 10-1 record straight up in the playoffs. The Nuggets will have their ring ceremony on this night, which will likely only add fuel to the budding rivalry between L.A. and Denver.