It seems like just yesterday that the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title over the Miami Heat. While maybe it wasn’t that short of a time ago, it has only been a little over 2 months since the NBA season came to its conclusion, the shortest off-season of any American professional sports league in history. A new era dawns tonight on the NBA when the Golden State Warriors travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets at Barclays Center to kick off the 2020-21 season. Kevin Durant will make his Nets debut against his former team that he helped lead to a pair of NBA titles before missing last year with an achilles injury. Kyrie Irving was also out towards the end of last season, but the Nets still managed to make the postseason. Meanwhile, the Warriors 15-50 record last year marked their fourth-worst in franchise history. They were able to take center James Wiseman with the second overall selection in this past draft as a result and also traded for Kelly Oubre Jr., who is all the more important after the heart-wrenching loss of Klay Thompson to another season-ending injury. The good news for Golden State? Steph Curry is back and ready to cook up some 3’s.

In the later game, we see the defending champion Lakers look to go for back-to-back titles as they begin their seasonal journey against their in-city rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. Even though it’s only been two months since LeBron James hoisted the Lakers to their 17th NBA title, a LOT has changed since then and these teams have both seen some roster changes. One of the major offseason stories actually came from these two teams when 2020 Sixth-Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell left the Clippers to go to the Lakers. The Lakers also added Marc Gasol, Wes Matthews, and Dennis Schroder, while the Clippers acquired Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum, and Serge Ibaka. With both teams fielding new personnel, it will be hard to predict just what we’ll see at the Staples Center tonight.

Golden State Warriors (0-0) at Brooklyn Nets (0-0)

Spread: BKN -7, GS +7

Total: 235

We really don’t know what the games are going to look like, because we will finally see the full arenas with no fans. We didn’t see that last season, with the playoffs being played in a bubble setting in one arena. The Nets are definitely better than the Warriors, with far more talent overall, but it’s just really a wild-card about how things are going to go. James Wiseman, the Warriors rookie center, hasn’t played a competitive game of basketball in quite some time. He’s starting tonight in the NBA. When Curry isn’t on the floor for the Warriors, they are going to get obliterated. Wiggins and Oubre are going to take a lot of shots, and that is never good when Wiggins is a second-scoring option. Without Draymond there, the Nets are going to pick and roll Wiseman all night. I expect the Nets to score a boatload of points, and normally I’d love the over. With no fans, I just don’t know how that will affect the game on the court. I think the Nets win the game, but with the uncertainty and no fans, I can’t lay the points or take the over.

Official Game Plays:

BKN ML -286, GS +7 -108, UNDER 235 -109

Player Props:

Kevin Durant O26.5 PTS and O4.5 AST

Joe Harris O11.5 PTS

Steph Curry O27.5 PTS

Los Angeles Clippers (0-0) at Los Angeles Lakers (0-0)

Spread: LAL -2.5, LAC +2.5

Total: 219.5

Again, with the number of new players and the extreme uncertainty with the environment around them, it makes it hard to predict these games. Neither LeBron nor Davis has played significant minutes since they won the title, and I think there is volatility there. This is another matchup where I think I would normally take the over, but I simply can’t. The Clippers were my pick to win the title last season, and I think they are poised to come out swinging against their rival. They should be able to take advantage of the weary Lakers, and I think they win the game outright. The Lakers have come out flat in each of the last three season openers, and the underdog has covered the spread in each of the last six games between these two teams. In a game this close, I’d take the points with the Clippers.

Official Game Plays:

LAC ML +118, LAC +2.5 -109, UNDER 219.5, LAL 1Q -1 -104

Player Props:

Anthony Davis O26.5 PTS

LeBron James O25.5 PTS

Kawhi Leonard O26.5 PTS

Montrezl Harrell O5.5 REB

Lou Williams O4.5 AST

Dennis Schroder O14.5 PTS

Paul George O21.5 PTS