NBA DFS picks, Opening Night lineup advice from daily Fantasy pro who’s won over $2 million
The 2025-26 NBA season is here, with opening night taking place on Tuesday, October 21. There is a two-game slate that will see Rockets vs. Thunder at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by Lakers vs. Warriors at 10 p.m. ET. The first tip has a plus/minus of 227.5, while the last is 225.5. Top NBA DFS picks such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Stephen Curry are ready to start the season, while an old face in a new place will make his Rockets debut in Kevin Durant. He’s been a fixture on NBA DFS rosters for years, but with the high price he’ll command on daily fantasy basketball sites, would you be better off seeing how he performs with his new team before listing him under your NBA DFS salary cap?
The roster of big-name players like those above means you’ll also need to find value in the NBA’s daily fantasy player pool. With Houston’s Fred VanVleet (ACL) out for the year, players like Reed Sheppard or Aaron Holiday could form a productive NBA DFS stack alongside Durant. Before making any NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS tips, player rankings, stacks and daily top fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.
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McClure is a DFS professional with over $2 million in career winnings. He is also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine that uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking into account factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries. This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values on sites like DraftKings And FanDuel and create optimal lineups that he shares only on SportsLine. They are a must-have for any NBA DFS player.
McClure turned his attention to NBA action on Tuesday and locked in his top daily fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by going to SportsLine.
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Best NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, October 21
For Tuesday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Doncic, who is listed at $11,000 on DraftKings and $11,700 on FanDuel. Doncic will participate in his first NBA opening night in a Lakers uniform, and he’ll do it without LeBron James (sciatica) by his side. If the preseason was any indication of what Doncic could do without James available, then Doncic would justify his NBA DFS price tags as he led the NBA preseason in scoring. This came after a dominant series with the Slovenian national team at EuroBasket this summer, when he averaged the most points by any player at the event in over 35 years.
The five-time All-Star is just as productive in big NBA games, as his 28.2 points with the Lakers last season were slightly higher than his average in Dallas to start the year. Doncic must be excited that a matchup with the Warriors is happening on NBA opening night, considering his best game of the 2024-25 season came against the Warriors. In a game in late December, he had a triple-double of 45 points, rounding out the scoring with 13 assists, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
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Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein ($5,400 on DraftKings and $5,800 on FanDuel), who has a points + rebounds + assists combo line of 23.5. During his first year in OKC, Hartenstein posted career highs across the board. He averaged 11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 blocks while knocking down 58.1% of his field goal attempts. He has added motivation to face Houston on Tuesday since the Rockets were his original team before unceremoniously cutting him after two seasons.
This certainly shows that revenge is a motivator for Hartenstein as he saved some of his best performances for the Rockets last year. His 16 points per game against Houston was his most against any team (min. two games), and the Rockets’ shooting woes allowed opposing big men to pile up rebounds. Houston was bottom 10 in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage a year ago, and while Durant will help solve some of that problem, there should still be plenty of defensive rebounds for Hartenstein to grab on Tuesday. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday, October 21
McClure is also targeting a player who could stand out on Tuesday due to a dream matchup. This choice could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who does DFS pro Mike McClure lay out his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday? Visit SportsLine now to see the optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, tips and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career earnings, and find out.
