Oct 20, 2025
·Max Meyer
The NBA officially tips off this week, and who isn’t pumped for another exciting regular season? Here at the SeatGeek blog, we’ll be able to measure that fan excitement with our weekly blog, “The Heat Check.” Every Monday, we’ll highlight the five hottest NBA games of the week by average resale ticket price (including taxes and fees) at SeatGeek so that way you can see what the upcoming marquee matchups are.
1. Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Oct. 21
Average resale ticket price at SeatGeek: $760
This is the nightcap of the first day of the NBA regular season, as this battle tips off from Crypto.com Arena at approximately 10 p.m. ET. This game is still the highest draw of the week despite Lakers superstar LeBron James missing the first season opener in what will be the 23rd season of his legendary career. James is currently dealing with sciatica, and he is reportedly targeting a mid-November return. There will still be plenty of firepower, though, with Stephen Curry entering his 17th season with the Warriors and Luka Doncic playing in his first Lakers season opener after he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks in February of last season.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks on Wednesday, Oct. 22
Average resale ticket price at SeatGeek: $681
Season openers at Madison Square Garden are always a hot ticket, especially when expectations are sky-high for the Knicks. With Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and several other key Knicks returning from last year’s playoff team. They’ll look to start off on the right foot when they host the Cavaliers, who finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last campaign at 64-18. Cleveland swept the season series against New York last year, winning all four matchups.
3. Boston Celtics at New York Knicks on Friday, Oct. 24
Average resale ticket price at SeatGeek: $524
One of the top rivalries in the NBA will have its latest clash from Madison Square Garden on Friday night. The Knicks knocked out the Celtics in six games in last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals. To make matters even worse for Boston, All-Star Jayson Tatum suffered a torn Achilles tendon in that playoff series that will keep him sidelined for at least the majority of this regular season.
4. Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Oct. 21
Average resale ticket price at SeatGeek: $436
The Thunder won its first-ever NBA championship last season and enter this campaign as the favorites to repeat. Oklahoma City is considered to have one of the top homecourt advantages in the NBA, as the Paycom Center is always a tough place for opponents to steal a win. The Thunder only had 14 losses this past regular season, with two of them coming at the hands of the Rockets (Houston was 0-2 at Paycom Center, but 2-1 when hosting the Thunder at the Toyota Center).
Houston also made a major offseason splash by trading for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, who spent the first nine seasons of his decorated NBA career with the Thunder (eight with Oklahoma City, one with the Seattle Supersonics before they moved to Oklahoma City).
5. Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, Oct. 24
Average resale ticket price at SeatGeek: $382
This is another rematch from last season’s playoffs, with the Timberwolves cruising in five games in the first round. Two top MVP candidates will each look for some early-season momentum in this meeting, with Luka Doncic taking on Anthony Edwards. Doncic will have to take on more of the load with LeBron James sidelined to start the season, while Edwards will aim to take another leap as the 24-year-old star enters his sixth NBA season.
Buying NBA tickets at SeatGeek
Do you want to attend the hottest matchups or any other NBA game from the first week of the regular season? SeatGeek makes it easy to buy tickets for any NBA game, and you don’t have to fret thanks to our 100% Buyer’s Guarantee. We’d also recommend using Deal Score when searching for NBA tickets on SeatGeek to make sure that you can find the best price for any game.