Though the NFL has always been thought to have the most interest when it comes to sports betting, the NBA generates a fair amount of legal revenue too. Lots bet on the NBA playoffs, finals, and even drafts. The league has really big fans when the regular season comes around, and games are aplenty. This excitement and support are even more heightened when the playoffs start.
The climax of the NBA season is in the finals, and indeed it is one of the biggest drawcards on the sports calendar as well. Betting on professional basketball at any of the online sportsbooks available in your state is not as overwhelming as you may think. Let’s break it down.
Breaking It Down: NBA Odds
The regular season of the NBA brings with it an opportunity to bet – sportsbooks will disclose the betting lines, and the numbers and odds will change depending on where the money is moving.
Game Lines
You will find basketball odds and lines in every legal sportsbook. We will explain the three most common ones, as it can seem complicated, but it really isn’t once you know.
What is a Moneyline Bet?
A basic explanation is for a punter to pick whichever team they think will win the game. The favorites will have a positive sign in front of the odds (+) and the underdogs will have a negative sign (-). If there is a big space between the two numbers, that sometimes happens in expectation of a mismatch, whilst a smaller gap may be because of a toss-up.
NBA Point Spread
Every sportsbook will decide on a spread. This is a gap that guesses who will win and is something that will inform your betting choices. This number can be included if you are betting on the underdog, or excluded if betting on the favorites. Whatever side you pick, the spread must be covered.
Total Betting for NBA
This is a very popular bet amongst sports bettors. Bookmakers will decide on a number that will be the combined points in totality. Punters must decide if the final total points will be under or over that number.
The odds and lines for the NBA slates may come out the night before or the morning of the contest. Remember, they can always change according to what’s happening in the sportsbooks and how bettors are betting.
The Playoffs
The playoffs consist of sixteen teams in total: eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. After the 2019-20 season, play in rounds was included.
Automatic bids are given to each conference’s top six teams. A play-in tournament will be the deciding factor for the last two seeds – those will be the teams who have the best records from position seven through to ten.
Once the play-in round is complete, the playoffs begin. They have four rounds. The best-of-seven rounds are played and whichever team wins four games first are considered the winners and they go through.
The final rounds are called the conference championships, and the winners of this go on to the Finals.
During the regular season, the most-watched and supported games are those that are televised. During the postseason, all the games are wagered on in a big way.
NBA Finals and Betting
The climax of the NBA season is when the winners from each conference play against each other to determine the final champion. This is also a star game for punters, and there are many ways to bet on the finals. These include wagering on the winner overall, betting on which player will be named MVP and totals, point spreads and money lines for every game.
Futures Betting
Another great option that crops up during the off-season and is more long-term is future bets. These are wagers that usually have to do with the entire season or the playoffs.
You can bet on many different things, such as the accomplishments of certain players, conference winners, rookie of the year and MVP winner, and of course, the team that will win the finals.
So, as you can see, the playoffs are huge for sports betting sites and are given their due attention with a wide variety of bets and options. Once a sports bettor has done a little bit of research, they can really have fun with betting.
Vinod Gill is a writer who specializes in writing content on Sports and Gaming subjects. He is a Digital Marketing Consultant, Blogger, and Co-Founder of Journalreporter.