After the first jumbo slate of the new season unfolded Wednesday night, the Association takes a breather Thursday with a two-game slate that features a pair of teams that played Opening Night and another two that are cutting the ribbon on their 2025-26 seasons.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Thursday, Oct. 23 @ 12:00 p.m. EDT:
Oklahoma City Thunder (-7.5) at Indiana Pacers (O/U: 232.5)
Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors (-2) (O/U: 234.5)
The NBA Finals rematch tilts heavily in favor of the visiting Thunder, who gutted out a memorable double-overtime victory against the Rockets on Tuesday night and have a distinct personnel advantage over a Pacers squad that is without Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles). The Warriors are thin home favorites over the debuting Nuggets, and like OKC, Golden State checks in off an Opening Night road win, as they toppled the Lakers on Tuesday.
Both projected totals are encouraging for DFS purposes, and the Nuggets-Warriors tilt particularly stands out due to the fact it's paired with such a narrow spread.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Jalen Williams, OKC (wrist): OUT
With Williams remaining out Thursday, Aaron Wiggins should be in line for a start at small forward considering Alex Caruso (concussion) is also unavailable.
Cason Wallace, OKC (knee): QUESTIONABLE
If Wallace can't play, Ajay Mitchell may be in line for some extra minutes off the bench.
Luguentz Dort, OKC (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Dort is sidelined, Wiggins and Mitchell could be the biggest beneficiaries.
Other notable injuries:
Alex Caruso, OKC (concussion): OUT
T.J. McConnell, IND (hamstring): OUT
Moses Moody, GSW (calf): OUT
De'Anthony Melton, GSW (knee): OUT
Isaiah Joe, OKC (knee): OUT
Elite Players
We have two players with five-figure salaries on Thursday's slate: Nikola Jokic ($12,100) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,300).
Jokic is healthy and ready to go for what should be another season of MVP-caliber production, and he averaged 35.5 points (65.9 percent shooting) and posted 60.9 and 73 FD points in two meetings with Golden State last season.
SGA got his season started with 57.5 FD points over 47 minutes against the Rockets in the Opening Night double-overtime marathon and averaged 51 FD points in the Finals against the Pacers last season.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Stephen Curry, GSW ($8,400)
Curry struggled some from the field Opening Night but still came up with 40.2 FD points, and he should naturally remain highly popular on the two-game slate.
Pascal Siakam, IND ($8,200)
Siakam will shoulder even more usage than usual due to Haliburton's absence, and he notably averaged 41 FD points across 33.4 minutes per contest during last summer's Finals vs. the Thunder.
Jimmy Butler, GSW ($8,100)
Butler got the new season off to a rousing start with a 45 FD-point tally on the strength of a 31-point performance, which should help keep highly rostered at his salary Thursday.
Jamal Murray, DEN ($7,900)
Murray is back for his usual high-usage point-guard role, and he posted 37.1 FD points in 34 minutes during his one meeting with the Warriors last season.
Chet Holmgren, OKC ($7,400)
Holmgren contributed 36.4 FD points via 28-point tally on 9-for-17 shooting in the opener and should be very popular at his salary and with his dual PF/C eligibility.
Key Values
Draymond Green, GSW vs. DEN ($6,100)
Green put together a trademark performance Opening Night, posting 34.9 FD points on the strength of a signature stat line of eight points, seven rebounds, nine assists, one steal and two blocks across 28 minutes. The versatile effort underscored the fact Green remains an integral jack-of-all-trades component of Golden State's attack as he commences his age-35 season, and Thursday, he faces a Nuggets squad he produced tallies of 20.1 and 44.7 FD points against last season. Green's center role will provide him no shortage of opportunities to continue contributing across the stat sheet in a game with an elevated total and projected to be a wire-to-wire affair.
Jonathan Kuminga, GSW vs. DEN ($6,000)
Kuminga opened the season as the starting power forward and immediately made an impact, totaling 37.8 FD points across 33 minutes versus the Lakers on Tuesday night. The ascending fifth-year pro went an excellent 4-for-6 from behind the arc as well after struggling to a career-low 30.5 percent success rate from distance a season ago, and he should be teed up for a similarly aggressive performance Thursday given the expected game environment against a Nuggets squad he posted 22.6 and 34 FD points against in two of three meetings last season.
Aaron Gordon, DEN at GSW ($5,900)
Gordon put together another solid campaign last season – his fourth full one in Denver – as a key complementary figure alongside Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic in the Nuggets' attack. The versatile big man also shot a career-best 43.6 percent from behind the arc and an excellent 53.1 percent overall, and he thrived in the matchup against the Warriors with totals of 29.4, 31.3 and 42.7 FD points in three games. The Warriors finished last season allowing 47.7 FD points per game to power forwards as well, including the eighth-most points per game to the position (23.9).
ALSO CONSIDER: Christian Braun, DEN at GSW ($5,800); Buddy Hield, GSW vs. DEN ($4,000)
