For many years, states were prevented from legalizing sports betting by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, aka PAPSA. PAPSA was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018, paving the way for legal sports betting in the United States. As of August 2022, Connecticut, Arizona, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Indiana, New Hampshire, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Tennessee, Wyoming, Washington D.C. and Virginia have all legalized online sports betting.
Numerous other states have legal sports betting, but only in-person. Those states include Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, North Carolina, New Mexico and Mississippi. Most states have at the very least introduced bills to get the process started, so it could only be a matter of time before the vast majority of states have legalized betting on the NBA.
As of August 2022, The following states all have a legal and regulated sports betting industry, where you can wager on the NBA:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Best online NBA betting sites and mobile apps
Selecting a sportsbook to do your betting is extremely important. They aren’t all the same, and each sportsbook will have different odds and promotions. Each site will have their own unique quirks and offerings, and it can’t hurt to look around at each individual sportsbook before settling on a new betting home.
It’s also a good idea to have multiple accounts at different sportsbooks, so you can shop around and compare odds. One site might have better odds or better parlay payouts, but another could be better equipped for live bettors. There are already a lot of great operators out there, and with legalization spreading across the country, the number of options for bettors will only continue to increase.
Check out Pickswise’s NBA Picks for every single game this season!
How to bet on NBA'
In the NBA you’ve got plenty of options for betting. You can bet on the money line, the point spread, the total in the game or even a whole slew of player props. Just find the best odds by shopping around at different sportsbooks for the wager you want to make, and you can then add it to your bet slip to lock it in.
The key to betting NBA games is finding teams that are undervalued in the market, and that’s where Pickswise can help. Here at Pickswise, we’re a one-stop shop for everything NBA, as we put in the time and crunch the numbers to come up with the best free picks around. Check out our NBA predictions all season long, since we’ll be providing free picks on the side and total of every game. We’ll also have tons of free prop bets, same game parlays and regular parlays, so don’t miss out!
Ways to bet on the NBA'
The NBA is one of the most popular sports to bet on, with almost endless markets for you to make a wager. Volume in NBA betting is especially high during the playoffs. You can place a wager on every single NBA game that takes place, while futures markets are also available. With futures bets, you can bet on markets such as a team to win the NBA Finals or a player to win MVP.
In the next section, we’ll be taking a look at some of the most popular markets. Each one pertains different strategies and angles to exploit, and the money line and point spread can be treated as entirely different handicaps. Let’s break each one down, starting with money line NBA betting.
Money line betting in the NBA is as basic as it gets. You’re simply betting on which team will win the game. With money line betting, you will typically have one team as the betting favorite and one team as the underdog. The favorite will be identified by a ‘-‘ minus sign, while the underdog will be identified by a ‘+’ plus sign next to their odds. For example, the Raptors might be an underdog in a game against the Bucks. You’d see something like Raptors '+175′ and Bucks '-200.’
There will always be a gap between the two odds, so you’ll never see Raptors '+200′ and Bucks '-200.’ That gap is the ‘vig’, and it’s how oddsmakers make their money. The bigger favorite a team is on the money line, the bigger favorite they’ll be on the point spread as well. If you bet an NBA team on the money line there are no 'pushes', since teams can't tie. Overtime is included in all forms of NBA betting, but that’s not true for every sport. In some sports like soccer there will be a third option you can bet for the tie.
Money line betting comes with different strategies than point spread betting. On a money line, you might be more inclined to back a conservative defensive-minded team that will grind out games, but not win them by large margins.'
If you’ve ever had a bet on an NBA game there's a good chance it was on the point spread. Bookmakers offer one of the teams with a head-start of a certain number of points. For example, you might have the Raptors +6.5 and the Bucks -6.5. That means that for the Raptors +6.5 to win, they need to win the game or lose by 6 points or fewer. For the Bucks -6.5 to win, they need to win the game by 7 points or more.
Handicaps are often framed with half-point lines, to avoid the possibility of a tie but when full-point lines are offered, such as Spurs -3.0, there is a chance the bet will be declared a push if the Spurs win by exactly 3 points and the bet is void (you get your money back).
Point spreads in the NBA will shift in the runup to tip-off, and can be quite volatile. NBA betting is like any other financial market – price point is everything. Getting the best number on a point spread is the key to long-term success.
Sometimes when handicapping an NBA matchup you might have a good idea about whether it will be a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game, but no such strong opinion about which team will win. In those cases, a bet on the total points might be your best option.
Oddsmakers will give their assessment of how many total points the teams will score between them and you bet higher (over) or lower (under) on that number. The figure can vary by a fair amount. Slower NBA teams might still see totals in the 200-210 range, while the faster teams can nowadays see their totals creep into the high 230s.
Factors include how a game will be officiated, the strength of the offenses and defenses in the game and the playing styles of the teams. A slow-paced team that relies on their defense will see their totals set quite a bit lower than a three-point shooting team that loves to run and gun.
Player prop markets are offered by almost every sportsbook and present a chance to support a player to have a good or bad game in a variety of different stat categories.
Oddsmakers offer over/under prices on individual players’ points, rebounds, assists etc. Pretty much everything you can think of. There are also 3-point field goals made props, players to record triple-double props, you get the idea. If you think a game is going to be played at a very fast pace, then taking the over on some points and assists could pay off.
Similarly, if you think a game is going to be a defensive struggle with lots of missed shots, that could bode well for the over on rebounding props. It’s another area where knowledge of the individual matchups can pay off. One team could have elite perimeter defense, but they struggle to defend around the rim because of a lack of size. In that case, you might want to target that team by betting the over on opposing teams' centers. Certain players are going to play better against certain defensive schemes. Others might always perform well in front of a home crowd but struggle on the road. Those are all things you're going to need to pay attention to when betting NBA player props.
At Pickswise, we have picks on NBA player prop bets throughout the entire season
In addition to player prop bets, you can also make team prop bets in the NBA. Those include things like how many total points one of the teams will score, or how many three-pointers they’ll hit in a game. They can also include alternate spreads. An alternate spread allows you to alter the point spread, while getting better or worse odds depending on if you gain points or lose points. If the Lakers are -5 over the Kings, a sportsbook might allow you to bet an alternate spread of Lakers -11 at +200 odds. Team prop bets aren’t quite as popular as player prop bets, but there are still plenty of opportunities for value.'
Futures bets can be some of the most fun wagers you can make on the NBA. Rather than finding out if you win or lose on any given night, a futures bet at the start of the season allows you to ride with a wager for all 82 games and into the playoffs. You can bet on futures markets, such as the NBA Championship winner, at any point during the regular season as well.
Aside from betting on who wins the NBA championship, there are plenty of other futures markets available. You can wager on a team to win their division or their conference. Futures bets can often offer huge payouts if you pick the right longshots. In the 2020-21 season for example, the Suns were as high as 80/1 at many shops to win the championship, and they made it all the way to the NBA Finals.
One of the most popular futures bets in NBA betting are season win totals. Oddsmakers will set over/under lines for how many regular season games all 30 teams will win. You can take the over on teams you’re high on coming out of training camp, and the under on teams you expect to flop. Then you’ve got some skin in their game with each of their matchups. There are also player prop futures markets. You can take the over on Luka Doncic's points per game for an entire season, then sit back and root for the Mavericks to play in shootouts every night.
Head over to our NBA futures page to'find out our best futures bets
Parlays are high-risk and high-reward. They provide the allure of a big payday, but as a result are much harder to cash. A parlay involves stringing multiple bets together on one ticket. You need each ‘leg’ of the ticket to win in order for your parlay to be a winner.
For example, if you bet a Bucks, Clippers and Magic money line parlay, all three of those teams would need to win for that to cash. If two of them win and one of them loses, your bet is ruled a loser and you’d win nothing. If it does hit, you’d get a much bigger payout than if you'd bet on those teams individually.
It’s often popular to parlay big favorites together. Since most recreational bettors don’t want to lay -250 juice to back a large favorite on the money line, they might instead combine two or three -250 favorites together in a parlay. Others will sprinkle a few bucks on an eight-team underdog parlay every week, hoping to one day hit a jackpot. They certainly can be fun, and can sometimes be wise in the right situation, but it’s important not to get carried away. Generally speaking, oddsmakers want you to bet parlays and long-term it probably isn’t the best way to make money. But they sure are exciting.
Looking to bet an NBA parlay? Check out our parlays page for today’s best picks
Teasers are an interesting concept that more or less blends point spread and parlay betting. You still have multiple legs that all need to cash like in a parlay, but in return for that added difficulty, you get extra points against the spread. Say you bet a 2-team, 5-point teaser. That means you take whatever the point spread is for those two teams, and get 5 extra points. Suppose the Rockets are +4 and the 76ers are -8. If you put them together in a 5-point teaser, your bet ticket would have the Rockets as +9 and the 76ers -3, instead of the normal spreads. In exchange for getting that extra 5-point cushion, both the Rockets +9 and 76ers -3 would need to hit for your teaser to cash.
For the NBA, the most popular teaser options are 4, 4.5, and 5 points, but you will occasionally see 7 points at some shops. Many sportsbooks differ in the odds they offer on teasers, so it’s important to shop around. Many of the best shops will give you -110 on a two-team, 4.5-point NBA teaser. If you have a three or more team teaser, keep in mind that ties reduce most of the time. So if you have a four-team teaser and one of the legs pushes but the other three win, you'll still get paid out like you just bet a three-team teaser.
However much you think you know about a game, you will know a little more once it gets started. This is where live betting comes into play. Hearing the crowd noise rather than having an estimate or seeing how a player looks on the court instead of using an injury report are two examples of how seeing some of the action can add extra precision to your handicap. In almost every way, live betting will provide you with better information than you had before the game.
Right off the bat, you’ll often be able to tell how a coach is planning on managing the game and how well an opponent is prepared for what’s being thrown at them. Some coaching staff are much better at making in-game adjustments to their gameplans than others, who either never learn or don’t have the flexibility in personnel to be able to change what they’re trying to do.
You can also identify spots where regression is likely when live betting. Say the Warriors are a touch unlucky at the start of a game, where they suffer a couple of bad calls while their opponent nails a couple of lucky 3-pointers. You can get value by live betting on them when your eyes tell you they weren’t actually playing poorly and have the ability to overcome the deficit over the course of the game. Many sportsbooks also allow bettors to cash out existing bets in the middle of the game, so if your team is up big you can take your money and run rather than worrying about a late comeback.
NBA betting trends'
Trends can be very important when betting on the NBA. Since there are a whopping 82 games in a season, we can compile data with some pretty large sample sizes. Trends rely on historical data that might help predict the outcome of a future game. For example, if the Timberwolves have a strong trend where they’re 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 games as home underdogs, it might be time to pounce.
Other common trends include how a team usually fares at the end of a long road-trip, or in primetime games. Bettors might fade Paul George in big nationally televised games, because of his perceived reputation for faltering under the bright lights.
Trends can be important to monitor, and they can tell you who to fade just as often as they’ll tell you who to back. Many bettors like to ‘fade the public’ by betting against the teams that are heavy public sides. It’s also important to not rely on trends that might not mean much. Correlation doesn’t equal causation, after all. If someone is trying to sell you on a bet because a team is 5-2 ATS the last 7 games they’ve played 3 days after it last rained, you might want to pass.