NBA 20-21 Season Preview Podcast - 22 December 2020

The Dunkel Index takes a look at the upcoming NBA season and analyzes the first two days of games in Bob and Ben's latest podcast.

The season begins on Tuesday with a pair of games starting with the Brooklyn Nets hosting the Golden State Warriors. In this highly-anticipated matchup, Kevin Durant will make his first appearance since his ACL injury in the 2019 Finals. He also happens to make it against his former teammates from that series in the Warriors, who are trying to come back from a miserable 15-50 season that saw star Steph Curry miss most of the campaign. Curry will make his return as well and Dunkel is recommending a play on the Warriors plus the points in this one.

In the second contest, the defending-champion LA Lakers will begin defense of their title against the city-rival LA Clippers. The Lakers made some notable additions to their roster with the signings of Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder, and look primed to make a run at a repeat. The Clippers are trying to erase the bad taste left from blowing a 3-1 series lead in last year's playoffs against the Denver Nuggets.

That was followed with the replacement of head coach Doc Rivers with assistant Tyronn Lue. While the Lakers look like the more solid long-term bet, they have had trouble handling the Clips in head-to-head matchups with Lue's group holding a 7-0 ATS edge in the last 7 contests. Dunkel is recommending a play on the Clippers plus the  points.

The Wednesday matchups are headlined by a marquee contest between Eastern Conference rivals as the Milwaukee Bucks face the Boston Celtics. The Bucks have been disappointed the last two seasons after finishing with the best record during the regular season only to exit early in the playoffs. But Milwaukee comes in energized after signing reigning-MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to a long-term extension.

They also look to take advantage of a Celtics team that is dealing with the loss of Gordon Hayward to free agency and Kemba Walker sidelined with a knee injury. Dunkel has the Bucks favored to start the season with a road victory. Check out all of Dunkel's opening-day picks by visiting the NBA picks page