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How NBA betting odds work
Want to learn how to bet money on NBA games? Here at OGCA, we consider ourselves experts in all forms of sports betting and can help you get started by showing you how NBA betting odds work. To that end, let’s talk about how to read NBA odds by reviewing the betting line for Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals:
The Suns are the five-point favourite in the game. This means to win a bet against the spread, they need to win by more than five points. Our odds calculator below will show you that it will take a C$110 bet to win C$100. But if you were confident in the Bucks and go for the moneyline, had they won, a C$100 bet would have resulted in you winning C$290 (a C$190 profit plus what you originally staked).
Try out our NBA odds calculator below to work out other types of odds, betting stakes and potential winnings:
NBA best bets & betting options
Novice bettors among you may not be aware of the many ways in which you can bet on the NBA. Of course, to stand the best chance of winning, you need to be able to recognize the various NBA bet types for wagering real money.
Check out some of the most popular below:
Moneyline bets
A popular form of basketball wagering, the moneyline bet is simply wagering on which team will win. But to really understand how it works, it helps to have moneyline NBA betting explained.
When you make this type of bet, you’re betting that one team will win outright, so you may just want to pick the favourite. Betting on the underdog is the riskier choice, as oddmakers have already predicted this team isn’t going to win. Then again, the rewards are always greater.
For instance, had the Bucks won Game One of the 2021 NBA Finals, a bet on the moneyline would have resulted in you winning C$290. On the other hand, fans that bet on the Suns needed to bet C$222 to win C$100.
Point spreads
To account for one team being better than the other on paper, sportsbooks will set a point spread to level the playing field. The better team, represented by a minus sign, has to win by more than the point spread offered by the sportsbook.
Meanwhile, the underdog – represented by a plus sign – has to win the game outright or lose by an amount smaller than the point spread. Bets like this are often referred to as ‘against the spread’ (ATS).
Take the example we used earlier. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Suns were expected to win by five points. Since they won by 13, bettors that backed the Suns to win against the spread won their wagers.
Over/under bets
Rather than picking one team to win, bettors will sometimes feel more comfortable going for an over/under NBA bet – also known as a totals bet. Instead of choosing a winner, you decide whether you think the final combined score will be more or less than a given number.
For example, for the NBA Finals game, the total was listed as 219.5 points. You could therefore choose for the combined total to be over or under that amount.
Props bets
NBA prop bets, or proposition bets, are wagers fans can make on aspects of a game other than the final outcome. It’s not unusual to see over 100 of these bets for any given game during the regular season. Prop bets will almost always be listed as totals (over/under) bets.
Some common prop bets are:
- Alternate spreads
- Who scores first basket for each team in the game/each quarter/each half
- Halftime score
- Score by quarters
- How many shots a player or team will make/miss
- Number of three pointers by a particular player or team
- Number of assists/rebounds by a particular player or team
NBA futures bets
As you’ve probably guessed, NBA futures are bets made on the outcome of events happening in the future. Some of the more popular futures bets include betting on conference winners, division winners, the NBA championship winner, as well as various awards.
Parlay betting
NBA parlays are a great way to increase your winnings, but be aware that they also mean taking on additional risk. The potential to win will increase exponentially with each leg you add to the bet.
A leg can be a bet on the moneyline for one game, against the spread for another and the over/under from a different matchup. Most sportsbooks will also let you do same game parlays with each leg consisting of different prop bets (number of assists by Player A, points by Player B, and combined assists/rebounds by Player C).
Parlays can be as long as the sportsbook allows, but remember: you can win eight legs of a nine-leg parlay, but losing one leg means you lost the bet!
Live betting
NBA betting continues even when matches are in-play thanks to live betting. Top NBA betting sites will offer you live markets to gamble on, offering odds for things like the spread, moneyline, the final score, etc, as the game progresses. Be aware that odds shift constantly based on what happens on the basketball court.
Sal Vetri's expert NBA betting tips
Our sports expert Sal Vetri has provided the following NBA betting tips, to help you place smart bets and find the best NBA betting picks:
The two most opportunistic times to place a wager on the NBA are the moment the betting lines hit the marketplace and the moment after an injury is announced to a key player for any given team.
- Once the NBA betting lines open, this is the friendliest time to place a bet. The lines are now ‘soft’, meaning there is not much action (money) being placed yet. During this time, you have the ability to get the side of the bet you like before the market and professional bettors influence that line (line movement/changes).
- Moments after an injury is the most advantageous time to place an NBA bet. It’s a common trend for teams not to announce injured/resting players until moments before tip (and sometimes after). This puts Vegas and the books at an extreme disadvantage. Following accounts like Fantasy Labs NBA on Twitter is the best way to get an information edge over the books. Be aware that you may only have two to three minutes to place a bet before the books change the line due to injury/rest.
- Pace refers to the number of possessions per team during a game. When choosing Overs, target games where two teams are in the top-10 in average pace per game. These pace statistics can be found on numerous basketball information sites for free. Now, Vegas ‘attempts’ to incorporate the pace into its lines, but many argue there’s an edge in targeting fast-paced games. In the 2018-2019 season, the NBA saw its fastest paced season by a wide margin. The league average pace rose by over 4 possessions per game. Vegas was inefficient in being able to quantify and keep up with just how fast the teams were playing. Teams will likely continue to play faster, and we can continue to take advantage of the lack of data Vegas is working with when it sets its Over/Unders.
- You can project game pace using the following equation: (Team A Pace – League Avg. Pace) + (Team B – League Avg. Pace) + League Avg. Pace
Shopping your lines is essential in NBA betting. Now, shopping your lines has a few components.
- First, you can shop the vig of the line. The vig is what you see next to each line. For example, (-110) is the vig. You want to make sure that (-110) is the best number you can find. In a vacuum it might seem great, but after some research you may be able to find a (-105) line. This means you only have to bet C$105 to win C$100, compared to C$110 to win C$100 with the original line you found. Less risk. These numbers add up over the long haul of a bettor’s career and can be the difference between profitable years and years of losses.
- The second way to shop in Vegas is by shopping the actual line itself. If you think a favourited team is going to win, then you’ll want to find the sportsbook offering the lowest spread for that favourite. Maybe the first line you see has the Lakers as a -5 favourite. If you are a Lakers backer on this night, it would be smart of you to look and see if any other books are offering a Lakers -4.5 or Lakers -4 line.
- Shopping lines is crucial in NBA betting, as the lines you want are rather easy to find if you put the effort in.
- Vegas is most inefficient at projecting player props, and they just so happen to be the softest lines (least money on them), due to professionals having strict betting limits on these types of bets. The stricter limits for professionals on these types of bets should be a clear indicator that Vegas is not confident it can consistently beat sharp/smart bettors on player props.
- Start by identifying some point guards in high pace games. These guards are usually in an elite tempo environment, where points, assists and rebounds are likely to occur faster than Vegas can accurately project them to.
Best NBA teams to bet on
When picking a team to bet on, either for a certain match or championship, we recommend doing your homework and finding out any NBA betting data info and data.
For the regular season, a review of last year’s playoffs and regular season is a great place to start. That way, you can get a good idea of the teams ready to compete now, the teams to watch and which ones might slide down.
The current NBA champions are the Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to their win, the Los Angeles Lakers were defending champs. In recent years, the most successful team has been the Golden State Warriors. They appeared in the NBA Finals from 2015-2019, winning three times. The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are tied for the most wins with 17 each.
Regularly looking at expert picks and NBA betting predictions is also great way to increase your chances of winning real money. Some of the NBA basketball betting tips we recommend here at OGCA are looking at team form, NBA rankings, head-to-head history and player injuries.
NBA stats & info
- Training camp starts— September 28, 2021
- Regular season starts— October 19, 2021
- All Star Game—February 20, 2022
- Regular season ends—April 13, 2022
- Playoffs begin (first round)—April 16, 2022
- NBA Finals begin— June 2, 2022
- NBA Finals will end no later than June 19, 2022
- 2022 NBA Draft—June 23, 2022
More on basketball betting
FAQs
The NBA, or National Basketball Association, is the top pro basketball league in North America. It features 30 teams, with 29 being from the USA and one from Canada (Toronto Raptors).
