The second half of the NBA season is when many people jump into NBA betting for the first time. The NFL is over for the year, and people are still attempting to get their fix as far as gambling is concerned. With games on every night and plenty of coverage, it’s a natural migration to try out winning consistently in another sport.
NBA betting lines work a little bit differently than some of the others out there, mostly because it’s such a high-scoring game. Knowing how betting lines work and how to approach an NBA game makes a huge difference from a success standpoint.
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NBA Betting Line Basics
The NBA has a pointspread much like football games. The spread tends to be a little bit different because there’s a chance of a team (or both) scoring 100 points or more. With that said, points are scored 1, 2, or 3 at a time (as opposed to touchdowns and field goals in football). That means the betting line doesn’t get too out of hand, especially with just 30 teams in the NBA.
There are no ties in the NBA, which is a positive as far as betting outcomes are concerned. Like most other major sports, the pointspread and money line are the most common options to place money down.
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Pointspread
A point spread is recognizable instantly because of the + and – next to the number. The team that has a pointspread with a + has a little more wiggle room, as they win the bet by either winning the game, or losing by a fewer number of points than what is indicated on the pointspread line. Teams with a – must not only win the game, but win by a greater number than the points indicated.
An example of a pointspread setup is something like:
Los Angeles Lakers +2.5
Boston Celtics -2.5
The standard format in the NBA is placing the home team on the bottom, and the away team on the top. In this scenario, the Celtics are a pretty small 2.5-point favorite. This means the following results would yield the corresponding betting results.
Lakers 100 (wins the pointspread bet)
Celtics 98
Lakers 100 (wins the pointspread bet)
Celtics 102
Lakers 100
Celtics 104 (wins the pointspread bet)
Pointspreads are almost always carrying the “.5” on the end of every number to ensure there are no ties. They also are looked at by some as more enjoyable than money lines because the pointspreads even out the payouts.
Money Line
Betting the money line in the NBA might seem a little bit simpler for first-time gamblers. That’s because they simply have to pick the winner in the game to win. However, the payouts change depending on the quality of the team with the money line.
There are positive and negative numbers next to teams in money line odds as well. A negative number will indicate how much money someone must wager to win $100. A positive number shows how much money a person wins if they place a $100 wager. Everything works proportionally depending on the actual wager.
Betting on the favorite is always going to be a little tougher to win significant amounts of money. As an example, if a team is -170, the gambler has to place a $170 bet to win $100. Some money lines get much more extreme than that, especially when mismatches occur.
Alternative NBA Betting
NBA games are broken up into four quarters, and many take advantage of placing bets on specific pointspreads in those quarters. There’s also an opportunity to place money on the first half of the second half. This type of in-game wagering is a good opportunity for those who are following the game. They get a chance to see how the two teams are playing, and might get a better idea of how everything else will play out.
There are also plenty of NBA prop bets that pop up, especially during the playoffs. The most common prop bet is predicting how many points a particular player scores in a game. There are also opportunities to place money on other counting statistics, at least for the major players. Instead of being stuck on team wins and losses, all it takes to win these bets is for a particular player to do well.
Finally, gamblers love the opportunities to look at parlay betting from time to time. It is a way to combine multiple games and get some juiced odds as well. Of course, they all have to be correctly predicted to cash in on those odds.
What are the Trickiest Aspects of NBA Betting?
Perhaps the biggest challenge with NBA betting these days is the amount of time players miss games for various reasons. During an 82-game schedule, teams are always trying to keep their players as fresh as possible. The schedule in the middle of the season gets particularly challenging, and coaching staffs may decide to rest players even if they are healthy.
One of the most grueling parts of an NBA schedule is back-to-back games on the road. There’s even a term for losing these games, known as a “schedule loss.” A team might be better than their opponent on paper, but it’s hard to beat anyone in the NBA on a back-to-back night while traveling.
A major key to success in NBA betting is to hold off as late as possible to place a bet. There are always late scratches from the game that could make a significant impact on the result. If a star player on a team can’t play that night, the pointspread could change by a few points. Teams missing two or three key players could see a 10-point swing or more.
Playoff betting is a bit more predictable, as all teams are looking to play at full strength. No late scratches happen in these games unless a true injury or illness occurs. Regular season games don’t matter as much, especially towards the end of the year. That’s why it’s not uncommon to see teams hold a player out. Some teams are trying to actively lose so that they can get a better draft spot. Others are resting their players because they already have a playoff spot wrapped up, so their motivation to win isn’t there either.
All in all, there are too many injury risks out there for NBA players to place individual game bets early on. Only if there seems to be a crazy line out there would it make sense. For people wanting to make picks a bit more in the future, they can look at future bets for the season.
Future bets allow for people to predict the MVP winner, NBA champion, and so much more. The downside is they don’t pay out super quickly, but it’s worth the wait if it ends up being a good choice. Locking in odds early on will usually provide better opportunities, so pay attention to how everything shifts.
Finding Success in the NBA
Like any sport, betting in the NBA takes dedication to become great at it. The most successful gamblers aren’t going to pick up interest in the NBA, and then automatically win consistently. Take the time to make smaller, smart bets at first before jumping all the way in.
The great thing about the NBA is that games are on every single night. Pay attention to the schedule to see which teams are more rested. In the second half of the season, that’s particularly key.