The 2025-26 NBA season tips off on Tuesday, and the reigning NBA champions have the honor of hosting the first game of the season and receiving their championship rings when the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets, now with Kevin Durant, on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The second half of the 2025 NBA Opening Night doubleheader was scheduled to feature LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry once again with Lakers vs. Warriors at 10 p.m, but with James (sciatica) out, Luka Doncic will take on an even larger role in his first season opener with Los Angeles.
With many of the NBA’s biggest stars, such as Curry, Doncic, Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams taking the court for the 2025 NBA Opening Night, featuring NBA player props in your NBA betting strategy could be a popular approach to Tuesday’s doubleheader. SportsLine’s Inside the Lines team and its projection model has a play on one of these superstars among its Tuesday NBA best bets for NBA player props when online sports betting. The model projects SGA to go Over 1.5 steals in the season opener after averaging 1.7 seals per game last season.
Targeting NBA player props is one way to approach NBA Opening Night NBA betting at online sports betting sites. With NBA props available for almost every player in every game at sportsbooks, the ITL team’s model, which simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, can help you find value to add to your Tuesday NBA picks at various sportsbooks. They can also help new users take advantage of sportsbook promos like the latest Underdog Fantasy promo code CBSSPORTS2 to claim $100 in site credits with a $5 entry:
Built using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques by SportsLine’s Data Science team, AI Predictions and AI Ratings are generated for each player prop.
Best NBA Opening player prop picks on Tuesday:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder, Over 1.5 steals (-117)
- Austin Reaves, Lakers, Under 2.5 made 3-pointers (+130)
- Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder, Under 23.5 points + rebounds + assists (-129)
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder, Over 1.5 steals (-117)
SGA averaged 1.9 steals per game at home last season, recording at least two steals in 31 of 54 games (57.4%), including the postseason, as noted by Stephen Oh, SportsLine’s principal data engineer and the man behind the model. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 1.7 steals per game last season during the regular season and went Over this number in 56% of games overall last year. He averaged 2.4 steals per game against the Rockets and the model projects Houston to have nearly 20 turnovers on Tuesday, leading to SGA breaking through with multiple steals. DraftKings offers the best odds at -117 for SGA Over 1.5 steals. New users receive $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins, plus three months of NBA League Pass free with the 2025-26 NBA season now underway.
Austin Reaves, Lakers, Under 2.5 made 3-pointers (+130)
The Lakers host the Warriors on Tuesday, and Reaves averaged fewer made 3-pointers at home (2.7) as he did on the road (2.8), and hit his Overs in just 50% of home game last season. “The Warriors’ defense significantly improved when they acquired Jimmy Butler and I want to benefit from that factor before injuries start hitting,” Oh said. “When you add in Al Horford, who is used to playing on the perimeter both defensively and offensively, the Warriors may be sneaky great defensively when healthy.” The model projects Reaves right at 2.5 made 3-pointers, so Oh like the value at playing the Under at +135 odds, and BetMGM is offering the best odds on this play. Click here to bet Reaves Under 2.5 made 3-pointers at BetMGM, where new users receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses.
Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder, Under 23.5 points + rebounds + assists (-129)
Although Hartenstein averaged Over this number during the regular season last year, he averaged just 17.8 PRA during the Thunder’s postseason run with the emergence of Jalen Williams and SGA taking on an even larger role come the playoffs. Although this isn’t a playoff game, Opening Night always has a bigger feel to it, and with the players as rested as they’ll be this year, SGA could come out aggressive and dominate the stats again, which could bring Hartenstein’s total down. The model projects an 18.9 PRA total for the 7-foot center, creating value in the Under on Tuesday.
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Want more NBA Opening Night NBA picks?
You’ve seen the model’s NBA picks for some popular NBA player props for NBA Opening Night on Tuesday. Now, get NBA Opening Night projections for every player prop at SportsLine.
Also at SportsLine:
You can see the model’s best bets on the spread, money line, and over/under for Thunder vs. Rockets and Lakers vs. Warriors on Tuesday, including an A-rated pick by the model. Visit SportsLine to see the pick.
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