The 2025-26 NBA season is upon us!

That means it’s time for our annual tradition of previewing the season, division by division, by asking two very important questions for each team:

What’s the case for the Over?
What’s the case for the Under?

LET’S GET IT.

5. Brooklyn Nets — 20.5

The Nets were a beginning of last season Young Surprise Team to the point they had to blow it up. Now they have a rather confusing assortment of young players.

What’s the Case for the Over?

Like last year, nobody would see it coming.

The Nets had a 10-13 record after the first 23 games last year, leaving teams stunned on a consistent basis. They had to trade away Dennis Schroder to bring on the tank.
Michael Porter Jr. is here now in place of Cam Johnson. To that we say: the only thing better than one Cam Thomas is a second, taller Cam Thomas.
Nic Claxton has seen many iterations of this Nets team and always shows up ready to roll.
The rookies, take your pick! Egor Demin, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf. We honestly don’t know much about these unknowns, but perhaps we will soon.
UNLEASH DREW TIMME.

Head coach Jordi Fernandez in his first season had this team playing with direction and determination. They always played hard. That’s all you can ask and it accounts for a lot.

What’s the Case for the Under?

This team just doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Once again, any team with so many young and unproven guys handling the ball and attempting to set up an NBA offense is a recipe for disaster.
Cam Thomas and MPJ might take chuck ball to an all new level.
One of the players here we liked the most to help round out this roster, Haywood Highsmith, is out for 8 weeks with a knee injury.

Oddly enough, teams should be more ready for the wow factor of how hard Jordi Fernandez gets this team to play.

Nets Final Prediction: It’s a low number but it’s not low enough! Under 20.5 wins.

4. Toronto Raptors — 38.5

The Raptors had a post All-Star resurgence last season and now we get to see what they look like with Brandon Ingram in The 6 for the first time.

What’s the Case for the Over?

The vibes! One thing that is very evident is that this team really likes each other. Vibes and chemistry have forever been an underrated part of the game.

Scottie Barnes and the purple bandits with speed. This team should run an gun with Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett going downhill every chance they get.
Brandon Ingram’s iso scoring could be the missing ingredient.
We believe in head coach Darko Rajakovic. He has a passion for the game that a lot of other coaches wouldn’t dare display.
This team could be Thunder and Pacers LITE, focusing on forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. Those easy buckets can go a long way. Don’t sleep on Jamal Shead and Ochai Agbaji.
Never forget that there was a beginning-of-the-season stretch where Jakob Poeltl had a Wilt Chamberlain switch. Poeltl clocked in back-to-back 30-point double-doubles (!!). One month in, he already had three games of 18+ rebounds and six 20-point double-doubles.

Toronto closed last season with the best defense in the league. The schedule was soft, but still: that doesn’t happen without having something cooking.

What’s the Case for the Under?

From Dec. 5 to Jan. 11 last season, the Raptors won one game. ONE. A record of 1-16 over that five-week stretch with a couple of absolute ransackings to close out 2024.

The 3-point shooting is in question. Bottom-10 in 3-point percentage last year and bottom-3 in 3-point attempts.
Until proven otherwise, we’ll always wonder if Barrett and Quickley are empty stats guys.
There isn’t much size here. Poeltl is the only listed 7-footer, a rarity in today’s game.

The thing about the Raptors top defense at the end of last season that everyone missed was just how cupcake the schedule was: Wizards three times, Jazz twice, Sixers, Spurs, Nets and Hornets.

Raptors Final prediction: We really like to roll with the vibes. Over 38.5 wins.

3. Boston Celtics — 41.5

For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Celtics will not have Jayson Tatum playing on Opening Night.

What’s the Case for the Over?

Mazzulla ball! Head coach Joe Mazzulla will have this team firing 3s and apologizing to nobody for it.

Jaylen Brown gets his big chance to be the alpha with no Tatum. Don’t forget it was Brown who was the Finals MVP and can be the team’s No. 1 option.
Anfernee Simons was doing his best Dame impression in preseason.
Derrick White has continued to improve each year with the Celtics. The same can be said for Payton Pritchard. Does everyone realize that White and Pritchard were both top-5 in made 3s last season?
We have always been fans of Neemias Queta (a very capable power dunker) and he’ll get a lot more burn this season.
Hello, Baylor Scheierman! There was that game last year against the Nets where he scored 20 points in 15 minutes.

Too many teams don’t know who they are, but the Celtics know their exact identity every night.

What’s the Case for the Under?

No Tatum, no Holiday, no Porzingis and no Al Horford. No Luke Kornet even!

That’s kind of a lot of the previous winning ingredients.
Too much Jaylen Brown can sometimes be a bad thing, especially considering he goes through stretches where he has trouble… dribbling.
A lot of one-dimensional players on the roster. If Brown or White miss any time, this team from a 2-way player perspective will be cooked.

We even saw with the last group that in the end their style of play left them apologizing to themselves because they lost all semblance of late-game offense. Chuck ball just ain’t gonna cut it for a full 48 minutes a lot of nights.

Celtics Final Prediction: There is just too much talent missing from the previous formula. Under 41.5 wins.

2. Philadelphia 76ers — 43.5

The Process hit rock bottom last season, but the thing about rock bottom is that the only way to go is up!

What’s the Case for the Over?

The Sixers almost seem due for some good fortune at this point.

One of the biggest ifs in sports right now: IF Joel Embiid can stay healthy. Can he play even 50 games? Can he get back to his MVP wrecking-ball ways?
Tyrese Maxey. The ultimate vibes guy. The biggest smile in the room. The blur up and down the court.
It would be difficult for Paul George to have a more maligned season than last, right?
Rookie VJ Edgecombe is the talk of the town and preseason. All things considered, he looks like the exact type of dynamic guard this team needs.
Don’t forget how red red hot Quentin Grimes was to end last season. And when Jared McCain returns, his 3-point shooting will breathe extra life into this team.

Nick Nurse is going to be out here coaching for his life.

What’s the Case for the Under?

Under in two straight and last year was so bad, it’s hard to shake.

It is unfortunately entirely possible that Embiid’s knees don’t have anything left in the tank.
Jared McCain is already hurt. Paul George is already out as well… It’s starting early!
Even if they are good, they will probably try to rest and stay as healthy as possible if the postseason is a possibility.

If it goes south south early, will they completely abandon ship and clear house?

Sixers Final Prediction: Just like the Clips, we are 100 percent ready to get hurt. Over 43.5 wins.

1. New York Knicks — 53.5

For the first time since 2000, the Knicks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

What’s the Case for the Over?

A new voice in the locker room in Mike Brown who might actually try to keep his guys fresh.

Jalen Brunson, the King of New York, who further cemented himself as a walking living legend, earning his stripes as Captain Clutch and being rightfully named the NBA’s 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year.
Karl-Anthony Towns had his own variety of insane games last season in his first year in NY. People might not realize that KAT had five games of 40+ points and 22 games of scoring at least 30 points. Bodega KAT!
The defense should be tough and sound. Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby are the precise type of wing defenders needed to succeed in today’s NBA and the Knicks have all three.
Deuce McBride deserves credit for being a bellwether player here. When McBride scored at least 10 points, the Knicks went 22-8 last year.
The bench has some new faces in Jordan Clarkson and Yabusele. The Knicks needed additional shooting and rebounding off the pine and brought in exactly that.

There is no place like a rockin’ MSG.

What’s the Case for the Under?

Teams in the first year after Thibs have a long history of underwhelming.

This team might already be worn down from the past few years of Thibs and that long, boisterous run to the East Finals.
For as good as he was in a lot of games last year, KAT would also go through plenty of stretches where you wondered: “Where is KAT? Why doesn’t he want it tonight?”
If Jalen Brunson were to miss any additional time the Knicks crunch time would be cooked.

There is always the possibility of the Giannis rumor mill that could hang over this team and mess with the vibes.

Knicks Final Prediction: This number is a tad too high for us. Under 53.5 wins.

____________________________________

We. Are. Back!

OPENING NIGHT RD II is HERE.

Season Preview Division by Division

We love this game!