3 Best NBA FanDuel Picks Plays for Tuesday 10/21/25

Basketball is back!

The season kicks off with a two-game slate today as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors face the Los Angeles Lakers.

Here are some of my favorite FanDuel Picks plays for tonight.

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FanDuel Picks is a peer-to-peer fantasy game where you build a lineup of 3-6 athletes and select whether you believe each will reach “more” or “less” than their listed stat projection.

Enter your lineup into contests to compete against other players. Get enough picks correct and you’ll win a share of cash prizes.

Today's Best FanDuel Picks NBA Plays

Jabari Smith More Than 5.5 Rebounds (Mild Pick)

The Rockets are one of the best rebounding teams in basketball, leading the league in rebound rate last season (53.3%). Jabari Smith is a big part of that.

For his career, Smith is averaging 7.5 boards per game. He pulled down 7.0 rebounds per game a year ago, and he did that despite starting in just 39 of his 57 games played.

Tonight, he's going to start, per coach Ime Udoka. Houston is starting four players who are 6-foot-11, so the competition for boards will be fierce, but the starting role -- and solidified minutes that likely come with it -- balances that out.

Smith is going up against an OKC team that rates out extremely well in nearly every statistic. One of the exceptions is on the glass as the Thunder ended last season just 19th in rebound rate (49.6%). In five games against the Thunder in 2024-25, Smith averaged 9.2 rebounds per game and had more than 5.5 boards in all but one contest (a game where he played just 16 minutes).

Luka Doncic More Than 7.5 Assists

With LeBron James sidelined, it should be the Luka Doncic show for the Lakers.

For his career, Doncic is averaging 8.2 assists per game. In his time with LA last season, Doncic averaged just 7.5 assists per night, but with LeBron out today, Luka should shoulder a lot of usage. With James off the court last year, Doncic recorded a whopping 43.2% usage rate, according to FantasyLabs' on/off tool, while dishing out 8.6 assists per 36 minutes.

In the 2024-25 season, Luka faced the Warriors three times and averaged 8.7 assists per game against them.

Jimmy Butler Less Than 5.5 Assists

After joining the Warriors midseason a campaign ago, Jimmy Butler recorded a 20.6% usage rate over 30 games. That was his lowest usage rate since the 2013-14 season, his third year in the league.

Butler faced the Lakers just once last year as a member of Golden State, and he finished with only two assists in that game. He totaled 5.2 assists per game in last season's playoffs.

The Lakers gave up just 3.8 assists per game to small forwards a year ago.

The Warriors and Lakers ranked 19th and 20th, respectively, in pace last year, so this could end up being more of a grind-it-out affair.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.