The discrepancies in skill between the teams that remain at the top of the table and the rest of the league make betting on point advantage the best investment option in NBA basketball.
Point Spread Betting
The point spread helps to even up the playing field between two teams that are very unequal. For example: playing at home, Golden State Warriors have an extremely high chance of beating Philadelphia 76ers. To make the match more interesting from a betting perspective, the points advantage for this game could be Philadelphia +17.5 and Golden State -17.5.
In this scenario, bettors who invest in the 76ers winning will win their bet even if the team loses by 17 points or less. Meanwhile, those betting on the Warriors will have to hope they win by at least 18 points.
Moneyline Bets (who wins)
If you don’t want to bet against the points advantage, you can also bet on the moneyline – that is, which team will win the match, regardless of the score. Let’s take a game in which the San Antonio Spurs are favourites to beat the Houston Rockets at home by -6.5 points. Instead, you can simply bet on who will win the game: the favourites Spurs would have odds of 1.38 (for every $1 wagered, you get $1.38). The underdog Rockets, on the other hand, offer odds of 3.20 (each R$1 wagered pays R$3.20).
Totals Betting (Plus/Minus)
Plus/minus bets – also called “totals” – allow you to place your wager on the final score. This is whether the total points scored by both teams will be UP or DOWN from the number set by the bookmaker. If the site has set the number 181.5, the sum will need to be 182 or more for the HIGH bet to win, and 181 or less for you to win betting on LOW.
NBA Betting Strategies
When it comes to the NBA, home advantage is the determining factor for the outcome of a match. Therefore, always carefully consider the home advantage when calculating the odds of each team. This can be crucial, especially when the visiting team has to travel a long way to play, or in cases where it has played a long sequence of matches over the last few nights and may be suffering from fatigue.
Good timing is also a deciding factor in NBA games, and it is possible to anticipate when they will happen. When an elite team like the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors gets into a good moment, it can often trigger a long winning streak, both against the opposition and the spread. At the same time, it’s not a surprise when weaker teams suffer a tough losing streak. Know how to spot the moment when a team enters a good or bad phase, and be the first to take advantage of the opportunities.
Finding the best bookmaker for NBA
Most bookmakers offer similar betting options for NBA matches. What you need to pay attention to is how the odds vary from one to another, as well as what the extra betting options are. Before you decide where to invest your money, compare the odds at different bookmakers’ websites and check which one is more worthwhile.