The chase for glory begins once again in the National Basketball Association, as the new season starts this week. The Oklahoma City Thunder won the second title in their history last season, as they had a historic year, from winning the Western Conference with the best record in the league to beating the Pacers in the 2025 NBA final.
The 2025–26 NBA full schedule was released in August, as the regular season will kick off on October 21, 2025, and end on April 12, 2026. The playoffs will start shortly after that on April 18, while the finals will be played in June. The defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will clash with the Houston Rockets in the opening matchup this Tuesday, as the new Rockets superstar, Kevin Durant, is back to face his former team.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | National Basketball League (NBA) 2025-25 Season |
| 🏀 Venues: | Basketball arenas across the United States and Canada |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 21 October 2025 – 12 April 2026 |
Here’s a look at the 2026 NBA Finals winner odds from the most popular bookies for NBA:
The Oklahoma City Thunder came into last season as the second favorites and won the championship. This year, they enter the new campaign as clear favorites to defend their title. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the top scorer last season, and he won both the regular season and finals MVP awards.
The Denver Nuggets were this close to beating the Oklahoma City Thunder last season, as they lost 4-3 in a thrilling series in the Western Conference Semifinals. They have added some great players to increase their roster depth this season and will contend for the title. The Cleveland Cavaliers also lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Indiana Pacers. The Cavs were big favorites in every single game of this series and lost 4-1.
The New York Knicks have appointed Mike Brown as their new head coach, and he has a lot of experience in the league. They have one of the best starting fives in the league with players like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. The Minnesota Timberwolves have reached back-to-back Western Conference Finals and lost both 4-1, but they could make some noise this season.
The 2025/26 NBA season will stick with the classic and stacked format of 82 regular-season games for each team. The league consists of 30 teams that are split equally into the Eastern and Western Conferences. The top six teams from each conference qualify directly for the playoffs, while the 7th to 10th teams have to win their play-in games for the last two spots. The playoffs consist of the First Round, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals, and all four rounds follow the best-of-seven series format.
The 2025 NBA Draft has produced some talented players who will make their debut in the league this season, including Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and V.J. Edgecombe. There have been some big movements and trades in the off-season as well, as Kevin Durant moved to the Houston Rockets in a huge seven-team trade, while Kristaps Porzingis moved to the Atlanta Hawks to play alongside Trae Young. Myles Turner also signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in a surprising 4-year contract in free agency, while Damian Lillard left them to join his former team, the Portland Trail Blazers.
Here’s a breakdown of the NBA Eastern Conference participants and our thoughts on how each team could finish this season:
| Eastern Conference Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
|---|---|
| Cleveland Cavaliers* | 1st |
| New York Knicks* | 2nd |
| Atlanta Hawks* | 3rd |
| Orlando Magic* | 4th |
| Detroit Pistons* | 5th |
| Philadelphia 76ers* | 6th |
| Milwaukee Bucks* | 7th |
| Boston Celtics* | 8th |
| Miami Heat | 9th |
| Toronto Raptors | 10th |
| Indiana Pacers | 11th |
| Chicago Bulls | 12th |
| Washington Wizards | 13th |
| Charlotte Hornets | 14th |
| Brooklyn Nets | 15th |
* Teams that will proceed to the playoffs.
And here’s our breakdown for the NBA Western Conference teams and our predicted places for them after the regular season ends:
| Eastern Conference Participants | Predicted Finish After Regular Season |
|---|---|
| Denver Nuggets* | 1st |
| Oklahoma City Thunder* | 2nd |
| Houston Rockets* | 3rd |
| Minnesota Timberwolves* | 4th |
| Los Angeles Lakers* | 5th |
| Golden State Warriors* | 6th |
| Los Angeles Clippers* | 7th |
| Dallas Mavericks* | 8th |
| San Antonio Spurs | 9th |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 10th |
| Sacramento Kings | 11th |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 12th |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 13th |
| Phoenix Suns | 14th |
| Utah Jazz | 15th |
* Teams that will proceed to the playoffs.
The Oklahoma City Thunder went back to winning ways 46 years after their first title. The Boston Celtics stand alone with the league-leading 18 championships, while the Los Angeles Lakers are not far behind with 17 titles. The Golden State Warriors are in third place with seven titles, and they have won four of them in the last 10 years. The Chicago Bulls won six championships, and all were in the 90s in the Michael Jordan era.
Here is how the last five NBA finals concluded:
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We will start our basketball betting tips with the Denver Nuggets winning the title. They are a well-coached team and won the championship two years ago, so they have the experience to make another deep playoffs run. The Nuggets have one of the top three players in the league, Nikola Jokic, in addition to some reliable players like Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Cam Johnson.
Denver improved the roster depth by adding Jonas Valanciunas, who will lead the second unit when Nikola Jokic goes to the bench. The Nuggets have looked sharp in the preseason and will have very good chances of winning the title.
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The best betting sites for basketball have some enticing odds on the Atlanta Hawks this season. They are looking like a completely different team after acquiring Kristaps Porzingis and having Jalen Johnson back from injury. The 2024 NBA Draft first pick, Zaccharie Risacher, will also improve even more after a very good rookie season. Trae Young should perform at his top level to get the contract extension he wants, and they have added good role players like Luke Kennard and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
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LeBron James doesn’t have a lot of time left in his career, as he enters his 23rd NBA season at age 40 this year, so the team will give it all to compete for the championship. Luka Doncic is a generational talent and one of the best players in the league, and he will connect well with Deandre Ayton for the alley-oops this season. The Lakers’ defense should improve significantly after signing Marcus Smart as well. Los Angeles won the Pacific Division last season with a weaker team.
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The Boston Celtics finished last season in second place in the Eastern Conference with an amazing 61-21 record. They had the best record in the league in 2024, and they have had more than 41 wins in four consecutive seasons. The line is low for the Celtics this year due to Jayson Tatum’s injury, but he is expected to feature in the mid-season, and they still have great players like Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. They have also traded for Anfernee Simons, who will be a key player for their offense.
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This will be a big season for the Houston Rockets after trading for Kevin Durant. They also still have Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Jabari Smith and signed free agent Clint Capela in the off-season. This team will be stacked after the return of Fred VanVleet and Dorian Finney-Smith from their injuries, so winning more than 52 games won’t be that hard with this amount of talent on the roster.
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Nikola Jokic has won the regular season MVP Award three times in the last five years, and he has been one of the most consistent players in the last few seasons. The Serbian center had the third-most points and rebounds in the league last season, as well as the second-most assists, and he only lost the award due to the phenomenal season of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jokic is on top of the 25/26 NBA MVP odds once again for a reason.
The NBA will see one of the most competitive seasons, as a lot of the big teams are looking ready after the off-season moves, and we will go with the Denver Nuggets. Make sure to use our 2025-26 NBA season predictions and bet them at the best basketball sportsbooks to have more fun watching the event.
