Peter’s Points: NBA Best Bets Today (Predictions, Prop Bets for Jalen Brunson, Wemby, Pistons, Clippers)
An exciting two-game slate on Tuesday night kicked off the 2025-26 NBA season, but NBA fans and bettors get a full introduction to the season on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
There are 12 games on Wednesday night, highlighted by the New York Knicks hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg making his debut with the Dallas Mavericks against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
There is a perfect spot for bettors to gain some valuable information about several teams and how they will fare in the early weeks of the 2025-26 season.
So, on Wednesday, I’m eyeing a trio of bets, including prop bets for Jalen Brunson and Wembanyama.
There are a few intriguing teams to bet on a side, but I’m avoiding some spread bets until I’m able to get a better handle on rotations and how some of these squads will operate this season. But, there are still two teams that I like on the moneyline for Wednesday’s openers.
Let’s dive into the odds and picks as the NBA season gets into full swing.
Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Jalen Brunson OVER 24.5 Points (-119)
The New York Knicks are going to look a little different in the 2025-26 season with Mike Brown at the helm and not Tom Thibodeau, but it shouldn’t change too much about Jalen Brunson’s role in this vaunted offense.
Brunson scored 31 points and took 25 shots in his final preseason tune up, and he’s now taking on a Cleveland team that he has torched as a member of the Knicks dating back to the 2023 NBA playoffs.
In three games against the Cavs last season, Brunson had 21, 26 and 27 points.
The Cavs lack an elite guard defender on their roster – especially with Isaac Okoro now in Chicago. Does Sam Merrill get the nod on Brunson? Maybe Lonzo Ball? It’s going to be interesting to see how Cleveland matches up with Darius Garland and Max Strus sidelined with injuries.
I don’t love the matchups for Cleveland in this game, and let’s not forget that Brunson is coming off a season where he averaged 26.0 points per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Victor Wembanyama OVER 2.5 3-Pointers Made (+109)
The blood clots are gone, and Wemby is back and ready to stake his claim as an All-NBA player this season.
Last season, Wemby averaged 3.1 made 3-pointers on 8.8 attempts per game (shooting 35.2 percent), and I expect him to be right around that volume again in the 2025-26 season – especially with De’Aaron Fox banged up.
The former No. 1 overall pick went from taking 5.5 3-pointers per game as a rookie to 8.8 last season and his 3-point percentage improved from 32.5 percent to 35.2 percent. That’s a massive step forward for a young player attempting the 3-ball at such a high rate.
Dallas has a lot of options to defend Wemby, but I’m not sure any of them are truly going to stop him from launching 3-pointers. If anything, all the size Dallas has in its frontcourt rotation may make Wemby more prone to attacking from beyond the arc and avoiding all the shot-blockers at the rim.
This line is a steal at plus money for a player that attempts nearly nine shots from deep per night.
Detroit Pistons Moneyline + Los Angeles Clippers Moneyline (+100)
A moneyline parlay to start the season? Why not?!
I think both the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers are in prime spots to pick up road wins on Wednesday.
Detroit Pistons
Detroit has a lot of new pieces on the roster, but it remains one of my favorite bets of the night against a Chicago Bulls team that will be less than 100 percent in this game.
Detroit was 3-1 against Chicago last season, winning the final three meetings between the two teams, and it did attempt to upgrade the roster with Caris LeVert, Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green in the offseason.
While losing Jaden Ivey to an injury to start the season is tough, Detroit still should have the advantage over Chicago, which is down one of its leading scorers in guard Coby White.
Chicago is relying a lot on the development of second-year wing Matas Buzelis, and the Bulls don’t have a ton of proven depth on their roster after a play-in tournament finish last season.
With White out, I’m not sold on Chicago pulling off an upset against a Detroit team that was 10th in defensive rating and 12th in net rating during the 2024-25 season.
Los Angeles Clippers
Last season, the Clippers were 26-11 in the 37 games that Kawhi Leonard played in, and they’re favored by 9.5 points on the road against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
If you’re going to bet on the Clippers, it might as well be early in the season when the team is healthy, as Bradley Beal, Leonard and other veterans are almost guaranteed to miss some time this season.
The bright side is that the Clippers have a ton of depth in the 2025-26 season, as they essentially swapped Norman Powell for Beal, Brook Lopez and John Collins,
Utah is a team that has questions at just about every position but at power forward (Lauri Markkanen) and center (Walker Kessler) entering this season, and it had the third-worst net rating in the NBA in the 2024-25 season when it had far more veteran talent on the roster.
The Clippers had the fourth-best against the spread record in the NBA last season (50-38-1), and I expect them to roll on the road on opening night.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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