Night two of the 2026-27 season is the first full slate, 11 games and 22 teams opening at once, and almost every one of them comes with a new face. Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his Miami debut against LaMelo Ball's first game for Minnesota. Cooper Flagg starts his second season in Houston against a Kevin Durant who's starting his 19th. And the Lakers open a season without LeBron James on the roster for the first time since 2018, hosting Stephen Curry in his 18th. Those three get the full write-up and a free card. Kawhi Leonard's return to Toronto, Tyrese Haliburton's first game back from his Achilles and the other six games each get a card in Tome Intel. All times are Eastern.

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Miami Heat | 7:30 PM ET | ESPN

Milwaukee went 32-50 last season, fired Doc Rivers, and in June sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami. Wednesday is the first look at what the Heat built around that trade: Giannis and Bam Adebayo in the same frontcourt, with Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell on the perimeter. Neither big man is a volume shooter, so the question all season will be how much room Miami can create for two players who do their best work in the paint. Vladislav Goldin is questionable with an ankle sprain; Myron Gardner and Dru Smith are cleared.

Minnesota went the other way. The Timberwolves dealt Julius Randle and Naz Reid to get LaMelo Ball from Charlotte. Ball averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists last season, and the trade turned a frontcourt-heavy roster into a guard-first one built around him and Anthony Edwards, two All-Stars from the 2020 draft class. Rudy Gobert is still the anchor behind them. The depth is thinner than it was: with Donte DiVincenzo out after Achilles surgery, the Wolves are short a rotation guard on the night they need bodies to throw at Giannis.

That's the matchup to watch. Edwards and Ball want to run and shoot, and Miami's two bigs want to drag the game into the paint. Whichever team sets the tempo probably decides whether that 242.5 looks right or rich, and the line has drifted two points toward the road team since it opened.

Minnesota wins if Ball and Edwards push the pace and make Giannis and Adebayo defend in space, and Gobert keeps the Heat off the offensive glass.

Miami wins if Giannis gets downhill early, Adebayo's passing finds cutters against a Wolves team still learning its rotations, and the Heat win the possession battle.

Lean Miami -1.5 (Toss-up).

Dallas Mavericks @ Houston Rockets | 8:30 PM ET | NBA League Pass

Cooper Flagg won Rookie of the Year at 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists on a Dallas team that finished 26-56, and he did some of his best work against this opponent, averaging 18.8 points in four games against Houston. Year two looks different around him. Kyrie Irving is not on the injury report after missing all of last season with a torn left ACL and a calf setback during rehab, Dusty May coaches his first NBA game after the jump from college, and Zaccharie Risacher arrives as the third option. The frontcourt is the problem: Dereck Lively II (foot surgery), Santi Aldama (knee surgery) and Caleb Martin are out, and Jett Howard is questionable.

Houston won 52 games and lost in the first round with Kevin Durant available for one game. Durant, who turned 38 last month, opens his 19th season on the floor after averaging 26.0 points on 41.3% from three, and this time he has Fred VanVleet back to run the offense after a full season lost to an ACL tear. Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson give Ime Udoka two of the more versatile young players in the league, and Marcus Smart was added for the postseason. Steven Adams, the center behind the league's best offensive-rebounding team last season, is questionable with calf tightness.

With Lively and Aldama out, Dallas has little size to keep Şengün and Adams off the glass, and that's where a 9.5-point line gets built. The other side of it: Irving and Flagg are the kind of shot-makers who can keep a road team within a cushion that large, even on a night the rebounding goes the wrong way.

Dallas wins if Irving looks like himself, Flagg takes the next step against a defense he handled as a rookie, and the Mavericks survive the glass.

Houston wins if VanVleet's return makes Durant's night easier, Şengün feasts on a frontcourt missing its two best bigs, and the Rockets turn second chances into a comfortable margin.

Lean Dallas +9.5 (Strong).

Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Lakers | 10:00 PM ET | ESPN

For the first time since 2018, the Lakers open a season without LeBron James on the roster. He left in free agency for Philadelphia. The franchise rebuilt around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves with nine new players, including center Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and former Warrior Kevon Looney. That much turnover showed in the preseason: Reaves called it growing pains from a lack of reps together, and the Lakers ranked second-to-last in rebounding during exhibitions. Kessler is cleared to go with a finger splint, Sexton is questionable with a calf strain, and Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero are out.

Golden State brings back nearly the same group it finished with, which is both the strength and the worry. Stephen Curry, 38 and entering his 18th season, played 43 games last season with a sore right knee and is listed as probable after turning his right ankle in practice. Draymond Green is there. Jimmy Butler (ACL), Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski are out, and Kristaps Porziņģis is not with the team, which leaves a thin frontcourt to deal with Kessler on the glass.

The Warriors beat this team in Las Vegas in the preseason, but that game doesn't count. The cushion is the story: 6.5 points is a lot for a team still learning its own sets to lay against one that has been together for years.

Golden State wins if Curry's ankle holds up, the Warriors' ball movement punishes a Lakers defense with nine new players, and Green keeps Kessler busy enough to limit second chances.

Los Angeles wins if Dončić controls the game the way he does most nights, Kessler owns the boards against a short-handed Warriors frontcourt, and the new pieces find each other early.

Lean Golden State +6.5 (Lean).

Watch who sets the tempo in Miami, whether Dallas can keep Houston off the glass without its two best bigs, and how Curry's ankle looks in Los Angeles. In between, Kawhi Leonard suits up for his first regular-season game in Toronto since 2019 and Tyrese Haliburton takes the floor for his first game that counts since the 2025 Finals. That's 11 cards on the side tonight, three free and eight in Tome Intel. We'll have the recap Thursday with every card graded, free and Intel alike.