An Overview of National Basketball Association (NBA)
The NBA was established in June 1946 and Maurice Podoloff was the first president. The NBA was originally called the Basketball Association of America and had 11 teams.
NBA stands for The National Basketball Association and is a basketball league comprised of professional basketball players. The NBA has 30 teams from North America and features the foremost players in the world. The teams are broken into two conferences; the Western and Eastern conference and each of these have 3 divisions. The NBA season has 82 games in total and usually runs from late October to mid April. The NBA is the 2nd most popular sport in the US after NFL Football and is a popular sport for those wanting to place wagers on these games. NBA betting is not only popular for US bettors but for bettors all around the world.
Types of NBA Bets
The most popular NBA bets are money line, point spread and the score of a game. The most popular bet is the point spread. The point spread is the rating or handicap given to each team. The underdogs have points added and the favourites have points taken away. Bettors can make use of the spread to get in the range of -110 odds for a majority of the NBA games.
Money Line Bets
Money line bets are bets on which team will win the game and there is no point spread. Because no point spread is used the odds are adjusted with the favourites using a negative indicator and the underdog a positive indicator. When betting on a favourite to win the team is not required to have a point spread, they will just need to win.
Under/Over Bets
Total or under/over bets are where bettors try to predict the overall combined score of both teams. The betting sites will post a number and bettors must then choose a number that they think is higher or lower. If the score is too high than bettors will bet the under bet and visa versa.
Parlay Bet
A parlay bet is when bettors combine more than one single bets onto a ticket. To win a parlay each bet must win or the bettor will lose the whole parlay. An example of a parlay bet would be to bet the point spread and the money line and an over/under bet all on one ticket. Most sportsbooks will offer increased odds for parlay bets.
Futures Bets
Futures bets, are bets on games that have haven’t happened yet. These wagers can be placed on the ultimate winner of the NBA Championship as well as divisional champions and East and West champions. Futures bets are made available long before the season and continue for the duration. By choosing the underdog to win bettors will get better odds by placing a bet before the start of the NBA season. If bettors place a wager on a favourite to win it is best to wait until the season has started to ensure that the team is performing well before placing any bets on NBA, NRL and even AFL premiership betting.
Prop Bets
Prop bets are fun and include placing a wager on such things as which team will be the first to score or which player will be the first to score. The majority of online sportsbooks will have a range of different prop bets, particularly for the bigger games.
Understanding how the NBA works and the various types of bets on offer will allow a bettor to have the necessary tools to make a well informed wager.