Every night of the 2025-26 NBA season gives us a fresh set of games and numbers to pick apart. This daily column digs into the best sides and totals on the board, using in-depth basketball analysis, betting trends, and our VSiN NBA betting splits to spot value. We’ll also be tackling these slates relentlessly on our live VSiN programming, which is why basketball fans should really consider a VSiN Pro subscription. Below you’ll find some NBA picks and predictions for October 24.
Milwaukee Bucks at Toronto Raptors – 6:30 pm ET
Last season, Milwaukee was 5-13 straight-up when playing as a road underdog. The Bucks now take on a Raptors team that should be a real factor in the Eastern Conference, and they’ll be doing it in Toronto’s home opener.
The atmosphere inside Scotiabank Arena should be pretty electric, and the Raptors have the type of team that can feed off it. Brandon Ingram struggled a bit in his first game with Toronto, scoring only 16 points on 7 for 16 shooting from the floor and 0 for 2 shooting from 3. However, his presence as an isolation killer opened things up for everybody else. RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl combined to score 61 points and missed only nine shots between the three of them. The Raptors simply did a great job of generating good looks, putting up 138 points despite shooting only 6 for 25 from deep.
This game, I expected Toronto’s offense to look good against a Milwaukee team that isn’t anything too special defensively — especially with some positive regression due from 3. Then, on the other end of the floor, I like the Raptors to do a decent job of slowing down a dangerous Bucks offense. Toronto was one of the best defensive teams in basketball in the second half of last season, as Darko Rajakovic turned up the ball pressure significantly. Doing that against this Milwaukee team should yield good results, as the Bucks don’t play many traditional point guards. They’re rolling the ball out to Giannis Antetokounmpo and letting him do everything.
Bet: Raptors ML (-120)
Washington Wizards at Dallas Mavericks – 8:30 pm ET
Dallas’ 94.4 points per 100 possessions against San Antonio on Wednesday was the worst mark of the new season, and Washington’s 112.6 points per 100 possessions against a mediocre Milwaukee defense wasn’t anything to write home about either. This Mavericks team should be very good defensively this year, but the offense will be below-average until Kyrie Irving returns. Dallas will also try to slow games down, muck them up, and try to grind out wins. Meanwhile, Washington might want to speed things up, but this team was last in the NBA in adjusted offensive rating (106.2) last year.
This just feels like a game that could be very, very ugly. The Mavericks might be able to up their offensive efficiency against this bad Wizards defense, but I don’t anticipate it getting out of hand. Meanwhile, Washington will likely struggle to get easy looks against Dallas’ length.
The Under was also 10-8 in the 18 games the Wizards played as road underdogs of 6.5 to 12 points last year. It was also 15-9 in the games the Mavericks played as home favorites.
Bet: Under 228.5 (-114)
