How To Bet On The NBA: Basketball Betting Guide & Tips

While most basketball bettors will be looking to wager on the NBA or NCAA, some sportsbooks allow you to bet on Summer League or foreign leagues as well.

Regardless of league, let’s look at the different types of basketball bets available through online sports betting.

NBA Moneyline

The moneyline is the most straightforward way to bet on basketball. You’re betting on which team will win the game outright.

The team doesn’t need to win by a particular amount of points or even in regulation. A one-point overtime win counts the same as a 20-point blowout.

Sportsbooks assign moneyline odds to each team based on their likelihood of winning and to balance the handle on both sides.

Minus odds indicate a favorite, while plus odds indicate an underdog. The larger the number, the bigger the underdog/favorite.

For instance, if oddsmakers heavily favor the Boston Celtics in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics might have -300 odds. In this case, you would have to wager $300 on Boston to win $100.

If oddsmakers list the Lakers as +300 underdogs, you stand to profit $300 with a $100 wager.

NBA Spread

The spread is another common basketball bet available on sportsbooks. It represents the expected margin of victory for the winning team and margin of defeat for the losing team.

The spread helps create roughly even odds (usually around -110) for both teams in a game, even if one team is an obvious favorite to win. 

Sportsbooks assign a certain number of points for the favorite to “cover,” or win by, for the bet to cash.

For example, say the New York Knicks are favored by 10.5 points against the Denver Nuggets. In that case, the Knicks must win by at least 11 points to cover the spread. 

The Nuggets would be listed as +10.5 underdogs in that scenario. If they lose by fewer than 10.5 points or win the game outright, they’d cover the spread.

There are typically alternate spreads available for each game, so you can wager on your own spread if you think a team will win by more or fewer points.

NBA Over/Under

A point total, also known as an Over/Under, can be team- or game-specific. You can bet on the total points scored in a game by both teams combined, or you can wager on how many points one team will score.

If the point total of a game between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers is 228.5, you can bet that the combined score will be greater or less than 228.5 points.

Like spreads, point totals usually have close to even odds (-110) on both sides.

A team-specific point total is the same concept, but you’re betting the Over or Under on how many points one of the two teams will score. For example, you could bet on the Heat to go over or under 111 team points.

Like spreads, totals can also be adjusted upwards and downwards.

NBA Parlays

Parlays combine multiple bets into one wager for longer odds and a greater potential payout. These markets can either come from multiple games or the same game.

However, all parlay legs have to hit for the bet to cash. Parlays are thus difficult to hit because they require getting all your bets right, and even the best bettors are typically only successful on little more than half their wagers.

Parlays are more likely to lose than straight bets like moneylines, so you should only bet them sparingly and with smaller unit sizes if you want to preserve your bankroll.

NBA Prop Bets

Prop bets (propositions) are bets on specific outcomes occurring within a game.

They can be player-specific, team-specific or game-specific.

A player prop usually has to do with a player’s stats, like going over a certain point or rebound total. A team prop is a team-specific wager, like which team will score first or last in the game.

A game prop isn’t player or team-specific. It can be the method of the first basket (2-pointer, 3-pointer, free throw) or whether the game will go to overtime.

NBA First Basket Scorer/Method

A “first-basket” bet is a type of prop bet where you predict which player will score the first bucket in a game. Sometimes you can also bet on what type of basket it will be (2-pointer, 3-pointer, dunk, etc.).

Since only one of 10 starters can get the first basket, these bets usually come with relatively long plus odds.

These bets are risky and more likely to miss than hit given how hard they are to pick correctly, so we don’t recommend betting too much on these markets.

NBA Game Props/Margins/Race To

Game props can include a variety of bets, including winning margins, the race to a certain number of points in a particular quarter, or whether or not a game will go to overtime. 

Betting on winning margins is much more speculative than the moneyline or the spread. It requires you to guess by many points a particular team will win by and usually comes with plus odds.

NBA Stat Leaders

The stat leaders bet is not available at every sportsbook, but it can be fun. For example, you can bet on which player will score the most points in a game or who the leading rebounder will be.

This type of bet is a specific type of player prop that’s fairly challenging, as you’re betting on a player to outproduce every other player in the game in that category.

NBA Live Betting

Once an NBA game starts, you can live bet different markets throughout the game. Odds will constantly update depending on the score, amount of time left and other factors.

While many live bets are also available pre-game, there are certain bets only available during the game, like which team or player will score the next basket.

NBA Futures

Future bets are wagers on future outcomes that aren’t decided until the end of the season.

Future bets can be on a player to win an individual award: 

• Most Valuable Player 
• Defensive Player of the Year
• Rookie of the Year
• Sixth Man of the Year
• Coach of the Year

You can also bet on a team to win its respective conference, division or the NBA Finals. You can also bet on a team’s final win total.

Futures odds can change dramatically throughout the season due to a variety of factors, including trades, injuries and performance. With so many variables at play, these markets usually have plus odds.

These bets don’t pay out until the season ends, so bettors are advised not to tie up too much of their betting bankroll in them.

Below are a few basketball betting tips, regardless of whether it’s the NBA, NCAA or an overseas league. These NBA betting tips include shopping around for the best odds, not overvaluing historical trends and utilizing live betting to hedge your bets.

Following sound betting practices can help you build a sports betting bankroll.

NBA Odds Shopping

We recommend looking at different sportsbooks to find the best odds for your desired bet. While there usually won’t be major differences, small differences add up over the course of a season.

For example, one sportsbook might have the Dallas Mavericks as -140 favorites while another might have them as -135 or -145 favorites.

It’s especially important to shop parlay odds, as they can vary significantly based on the sportsbook. Slight differences in game or prop odds can add up over multiple legs.

Avoiding Historical Traps

Pay attention to current trends, but don’t weigh past performances too heavily. It’s often better to focus on recent trends and results rather than old results from early in the season.

Just look at the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks, who finished the year 24-9 after starting the season 26-23. They were one of the best teams to bet on in the second half of the season, but you might have missed that if you were still concerned about their first-half record.

Streaks and momentum matter can sometimes matter more in betting than historical trends, such as a team’s record against the spread last season.

Utilize Live Betting

Basketball is often called “a game of runs,” as teams frequently go on multiple scoring sprees during a game as their shooting goes hot and cold.

Accordingly, it can be wise to live bet favorites that go down early, as they’re likely to catch up as the game progresses.

Live betting can also be a good way to hedge your pregame bet if it looks like your selected team is going to lose.

Don’t ‘Tease’

A teaser is similar to a parlay in that it has multiple legs (bets) that all have to hit to receive the payout.

The difference with teasers is that you can adjust spreads or point totals to your liking, giving yourself more protection is desired.

However, teasers are rarely worth pursuing in basketball, which is too high-scoring and has too many possessions to correctly guess spreads and final outcomes. Teasers make more sense in football, which is lower-scoring and has fewer possessions.

Gamble Responsibly

Remember that sports betting should be fun, so always gamble responsibly and don’t get carried away.

Set a budget, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose and don’t chase your losses. Stick to teams and players you know and focus more on straight bets than parlays, as the former have a higher chance of winning.

Sports betting can be addictive, so limit yourself or seek help if you feel that you may be developing a problem.

In states with legal sports betting, there are often multiple NBA betting sites available, including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars and Bet365.

See which sportsbooks are available in your state and determine which ones you want to sign up for. We recommend joining as many as possible to claim their special welcome offers, which may provide bonus bets (free money to bet with).

To sign up, simply download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store to your mobile device, create an account and deposit some money to fund your account. Then you can start betting on whatever you want, including NBA games.

It only takes a few minutes to create an account and start betting.

Before placing NBA bets, do some research beforehand to see if there are any trends worth betting on. Here are some of our favorite resources for betting on basketball.

Dunks & Threes

This tool provides free and paid options, but the former offers valuable information.

For example, the site lists a team’s net rating, offensive rating and defensive rating, all adjusted for the strength of schedule. Dunks & Threes also offers stats on pace rating, offensive possession length and defensive possession length. 

Beyond those basic ratings, the site compiles how teams shoot and defend from certain areas of the floor. Furthermore, that section also offers insights into how teams distribute their shots between the rim, mid-range and from 3-point land and how they defend those areas.

This information allows bettors to zone in on certain spreads—maybe a team is outperforming their net rating—and identify potentially profitable player props based on how teams defend certain areas of the floor.

To further examine the site, check out dunksandthrees.com. 

NBA Advanced Stats

You can visit nba.com/stats/teams/advanced for many useful stats that can help you handicap games.

Although slightly inferior to Dunks & Threes—the site doesn’t adjust team stats for strength of schedule—there’s one inherent edge on the NBA stats page. Here, bettors can change the time period for all stats. 

For example, bettors can see team stats for the entire season, the most recent game or the most recent month. That way, bettors can weigh recent trends against long-term trends and identify potential betting value.

Team Rankings

This database offers standard statistical measures and useful betting insights for all 30 NBA teams.

On the statistical end—found under the “stats” tab on the left-hand side—bettors can see wide-ranging metrics from scoring offense and defense to rebounding rate. If there’s a trackable NBA stat, Team Rankings has it available.

Supplementing those statistics are breakdowns of how teams perform at home and on the road as well as team averages for the whole season, the last three games and the last game. 

From a betting standpoint, users can find team ATS records, average margin of victory and the average amount of points the team covers the spread by. Bettors can also see the Over/Under percentages for all teams and the average amount of points a team clears the total by. 

For this information, visit teamrankings.com/nba. 

Basketball-Reference

Basketball-Reference (basketball-reference.com) has tons of useful information to look at, including splits, game logs, advanced stats and more. It’s free and easy to use, making it an invaluable tool for basketball bettors.