NBA Betting Online Guide & Latest Odds

NBA Point Spread Example:

Here’s an NBA online betting example — the Lakers are the favorites, hosting the Warriors. The bookmaker expects the Lakers to win by 8 points or more. This would be styled as such:

• LA Lakers (-8.5)
• Golden State Warriors (+8.5)

The (-) signifies the game’s favorite, while the (+) signals the underdog. The (8.5) is the point spread; the amount by which bookmakers expect the Lakers to win.

In this example, if you were to wager on the Lakers spread, you would need them to win by more than 8.5 points (i.e. by 9 points or more) in order for your bet to pay out.

Conversely, a wager on the Warriors would pay out if the team either won the game outright, or lost by 8.5 points or less (i.e. by 8 points or less.)

If the Lakers won the game 110-108, the Warriors would “cover the spread” because even though they lost, they did so by fewer than 8.5 points.

NBA Moneyline Example:

Here’s an example of a NBA betting moneyline — the LA Lakers have odds of -250 on the moneyline against the New York Knicks, while the Knicks are +200 against the Lakers. Again: the (-) signals the favorite, the (+) signals the underdog.

In this example, a $100 wager on the Lakers would pay a profit of $40 if they won, while a $100 wager on the Knicks would return a profit of $200 if they won. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.

For more on how to read odds, you can always check our guide to sports betting.

NBA Point Total Example:

The Lakers play the Knicks, and the total is set at 199.5. This type of wager would typically be listed as such:

Lakers v Knicks (Totals)

• Over 199.5 (-110)
• Under 199.5 (-110)

Again, the numbers in brackets signal the odds of each wager in basketball betting. In this instance, both wagers are set at -110, indicating an even bet.

The Lakers win with a final score of 110-100. This is a total combined score of 210 (110 + 100), which means the over would pay out (210 > 199.5).

NBA Live Betting Example:

It’s halfway through the second quarter, and the Lakers are leading the Warriors 20-10. Leading up to the game, the oddsmakers had the Warriors as heavy favorites, meaning they were expected to win and were offering a low payout.

However, now that the Lakers are up by ten points, they have become the heavy favourite. With live betting, bettors can wager on the Warriors with live odds that will be adjusted to reflect a higher payout.

NBA Parlay Example:

The Lakers are playing the Knicks, and the Warriors are playing the Bulls. You place a parlay bet on the Lakers moneyline and the Warriors moneyline.

In this instance, your wager would pay out only if both the Lakers and the Warriors win their games. If they do, your payout would be your wager size, multiplied by the Lakers odds, multiplied by the Warriors odds.

If any event in your parlay loses, your entire wager loges.

NBA Futures Example:

For example, it’s unlikely that Russell Westbrook is going to be this year’s MVP, so his payout odds on the NBA 2020 MVP futures bet would be quite high. Giannis Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, was having a strong 2020 campaign, and has a solid chance of winning this year’s MVP. His odds – and payout – would be much lower.

NBA Player Prop Bets

The standard for NBA prop bets link to the performance of individual players in a given game: How many total points will LeBron have? Which player will have more rebounds? How many threes will Steph Curry hit?

NBA Team Prop Bets

Another popular way to bet props are NBA team props. These focus on team performance: how many total games will the Raptors win? Which team will score first? Which team will be the first to score 20 points?

NBA Draft Prop Bets

Again, props on the NBA draft are pretty straightforward. These props involve which NCAA and NBA G-league players will be selected to which team, the order of draft picks and even what players will wear, drink or say during the televised draft.

NBA Playoff and Championship Finals Prop Bets

Simply put, NBA playoff and championship props are placed during playoffs and finals, and typically focus on things like which team will win, what scores will be, and often includes other props like over/unders, (which team will have a higher or lower score), and moneylines on the entire championship.

NBA All-Star Weekend Prop Bets

Now, All-Star weekend props are where it gets really fun—These props range from the most prominent celebrity presence, to over/unders, winner and total scores from the All-Star weekend events like the skills challenge, three-point content, slam dunk content and the actual All-Star NBA game.