NBA Betting Online

THE NBA hardwood is home to some of the greatest athletes on earth and they ply their trade in the best basketball league in the world, the NBA.

With 30 teams and up to 14 games on some days, the American competition provides a smorgasbord for sports fans and punters alike.

The league is broken up into two conferences and six divisions.

Each of the 30 teams plays 82 games, four against each divisional rival, three against the further conference opponents and two against teams from the opposite conference.

The regular season runs from October to April, before three rounds of playoffs whittle down the eight best teams in each conference to just two, who face each other in a seven game finals series that decides who will be crowned champion.

The NBA gives out awards like Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player, among others.
Even though it’s an American game, you can bet on the NBA online, in the comfort of your own home, 16,000 kilometres away in Australia.

And here is a handy guide on how you can do it.

Aussie bookmakers to punt on NBA with

At Ausbet.com.au, we’re all about looking after punters, so we’ve taken the time to scour the internet for the best of the best in a bid to give you as much variety as possible. Be sure to sign up with them all to be able to compare odds to ensure you get the highest return for your bets.

Popular NBA betting markets

Head to head: The bread and butter of NBA basketball betting. It’s pretty easy. All you have to do to win your bet is to get your team home.

Line bets: This is where the handicapper comes into play. The handicapper awards a head start to the underdog and a restriction on the favourite. For example, Cleveland might be -9.5 up against Minnesota, who would be +9.5. It means the Cavs have to win by 10 or more for your to win your bet. If you take the Timberwolves, they can lose the match, provided it’s not by more than nine, and you will still win.

Margin bets: This bet format provides four options, making it harder to win. You need to not only pick the winner of the game, but also whether they will win by either 1-10 or by 11 points or more.

Total game score: How many points will be scored in the game? That’s the question you have to answer here. The bookie is involved here again, deciding a point figure and then you have to pick if the score will finish under or over that number.

Future bets: The most popular future bet is the NBA title winner. You’ll get a market on this almost all year round and you have to pick the one team who will finish on top of the other 29 as the “world champion”. There are also conference and division winner bets, statistical leader bets, and individual award winner bets. Bookies even provide a total season wins option for punters who want to back their teams in to win plenty.

Player props bets: These focus on individual players, usually the stars of the game and can either pit two of them head to head, or provide a figure they need to exceed or fall short of. For example, Warriors sharp shooter Klay Thompson might have a scoreline of 18.5 points. If you bet the overs, he has to score 19 or more, unders, he has to score 18 or less.

Handy tips for betting on the NBA

Don’t spend more than you have: It goes without saying, betting on the NBA should be fun. And you need to be able to cop a loss or two, without breaking the bank. So that means you need to make sure you have covered all your expenses before you go out and splurge your hard earned.

Bet on the big guns: It’s pretty standard that you’re on a winner if you’re punting on any team that features Stephen Curry, Lebron James or Kevin Durant. Kawhi Leonard is also creeping into that conversation. Bet on the stars to get the job done and you won’t be disappointed.

Go with the form: More than any other competition, teams go on seriously big streaks in the NBA. If a team has won or lost six or seven in a row, there’s a very good reason for it and, chances are, they will probably make it eight on either side of the ledger. Follow the trends.

When in doubt, stick with the home team: Like any sport, home court advantage is a thing. Good NBA teams grow another leg at home and are notoriously tough to beat in front of their fans. If you’re wavering on who to pick, go with the home team.

Know your stats: If two teams are ranked in the top five on the defensive end, chances are their total points scored line is going to be too low to mess with. You want those mid range teams, rated from 10-20 to help you out. If a side is the number one scoring team, you know its going to be a high possession match, so the overs come into play.

Aussies in the NBA

• Andrew Bogut – Arguably Australia’s most successful basketball import. Number one draft pick, NBA champion and the centre on the best regular season team of all time.
• Matthew Dellavedova – Crowned the NBA’s dirtiest player, Delly is from country Victoria and plays with all heart as a back up point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Patty Mills – A microwave scorer off the bench, Mills has gone from little used reserve to a spark plug capable of ripping a game apart with a barrage of outside shots.
• Joe Ingles – Versatile Ingles has carved out a role as a starter with the Utah Jazz. Not a stat stuffer, Ingles makes few mistakes and has been voted by his peers as their funniest team mate.
• Dante Exum – A knee injury ruined his 2016 season, but the high draft pick will hopefully be back to fulfil his potential, after a rocky start to his career.
• Cameron Bairstow – The Bulls burly Boomer, Bairstow is a little used reserve with the Bulls.
• Kyrie Irving – This is a cheat pick, but the maligned Cavs’ star point guard was born in Australia, but his allegiance lies with Team USA.
• Luc Longley – Won three titles with the Chicago Bulls and then got paid by the Phoenix Suns during a 10-year career. Was one of the most popular Australian sportsmen of the mid-1990s.
• Andrew Gaze – The most loved figure in Australian basketball history, Gaze won a ring with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.
• Shane Heal – NBA scouts took notice of Heal after he drained eight treys against Team USA at the 1996 Olympics, signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 1996-97 season.
• David Andersen – Spent two seasons in the league, largely as a back up power forward, for the Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Hornets.
• Mark Bradtke – The big centre spent a short stint with the Philadelphia 76ers
• Chris Anstey – Had a three year run with Dallas and Chicago.
• Nathan Jawai – Had the embarrassing moniker of ‘Baby Shaq’ in two seasons with Toronto and Minnesota
• Luke Schenscher – Another big boy who spent time with the Bulls.
• Ben Simmons – hasn’t played a game yet, but is projected as a potential number one draft pick out of college in 2016.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) of America

The National Basketball Association (NBA) of America has regulated the game’s rules and matches for many years, and has kept the standards very high. Watching basketball games is just as popular in Australia as it is Stateside, and just like with all sports, spectators who place NBA bets on the outcome are so much more involved in the game and enjoy it so much more. With the technology of today’s remote playing, Australians can enjoy the ins and outs of NBA betting just as if they were in the United States. Read our basic guide to wagering on basketball here.

Betting on basketball games is quite similar to betting online on other sports events and as with all others, you need to be sure that you do your research. If you have all of the information that you need and take it all into consideration, you can develop a wagering strategy that is consistently rewarding.

You should find out about the recent player and team history and how often they have won, and find out about court conditions among other things. With this in mind, it’s very important to watch the injury reports. In basketball most teams have several potentially dominating members, so any injury in anyone can have potentially huge consequences and change team and game dynamics.

Best NBA Betting Odds

One of the important strategic decisions you need to make is whether to place full action (whole game) or half action (either the first or second game half) NBA bets. In basketball, half action bets can actually be more profitable, and they have certainly proven more popular. If you can, it’s advisable to study the numbers and work out which half time lines are strongest, and then bet on those. As the season progresses, first and second half stats will emerge clearly.

How Does NBA Betting Work?

NBA Basketball betting uses the point spread and over/unders for wagering on teams. Bettors must wager on who they think will win by how many points. Total bets, moneyline and parlay and teaser bets are also available for betting on who will win, who will score first, who will win more than 1 match in succession, and who will win the season.

Online Betting NBA Basketball

The long NBA season starts in October and runs until July, so there are plenty of NBA betting sites opportunities. To get the best returns, you need to decide which NBA bets suit your own situation and the playing situation best. The most common punts are described below.

• NBA betting sites often use a spread to equalise the winning chances of each side, as the nature of the game is such that high scores can get out of control quickly. These can really affect your overall winnings, so you should take some time to look for the best line.
• The Moneyline wager provides NBA betting odds based on who will win, and no point spread is involved.
• Totals are very popular NBA bets and are placed on the combined score of both teams. The number is calculated by the bookmaker and the punter predicts whether the real number will be over or under this amount.
• In the NBA, games are broken into four twelve-minute quarters. You can place NBA bets on who will be covering the spread after the first twelve or twenty-four minutes, called Quarter and First-Half Line bets respectively. Depending on a team’s performance, one of these is usually preferable.
• Halftime lines are only available during halftime, and create new spreads based on what happened in the game’s first half. This real-time betting is very dynamic and keeps things exciting.
• You can use a parlay bet to combine all your NBA bets and enjoy a larger payout.
• Futures bets are exotic and refer to all kinds of outcomes, from who will win the NBA championship to who will be the league’s MVP.

NBA Betting Sites

With a little practice you will become adept at NBA betting, and your enjoyment and rewards will increase exponentially.