Betting on the NBA

NBA betting has hit new levels of popularity since matches were forced to be played behind closed doors in 2021, evident in record attendance figures, the NBA is growing in popularity and with that betting on the NBA has grown with it.

Sports betting markets for the NBA typically vary between outright markets and our live betting options.

Outright markets include the likes of betting on NBA conferences, player award bets and more! While our live match betting markets for the NBA will include the betting markets you would expect to see in-game, including player prop bets, handicap betting and spread betting for a match.

NBA Player Prop Bets

Player Props are short for NBA Player Proposition Bets, for this, a number of specific elements of a game are picked as potential betting markets and bettors can back a player in those individual props.

Examples of Prop bets include but are not limited to: Three Pointers, Rebounds and Assists.

If you're looking to bet on Three Pointers, a little bit of research will tell you the players who attempt the most Three Pointers and the players with the greatest success rate.

Rebounds and Assists require a different style of player, one who is perhaps less likely to take on the shot but reads the game exceptionally well.

With this in mind, you can bet on same game parlays, add multiple player prop bets into an NBA Bet builder for a game, which can be mixed with points scored, point spreads, match winners, tip off and almost any element of NBA games.

Betting on the NBA Eastern Conference

During the regular season, the NBA is split into two conferences, the East and the West, this is the American format for most sports. Each conference is split into 15 teams but in the last four years, four different teams have sat at the top of the Eastern Conference at the end of the campaign.

Typically, when looking to place a bet on the Eastern Conference, you'll be looking to back the team to win the Conference, in 50% of the last six seasons, that was the Milwaukee Bucks who could only muster a 3rd place finish in the conference last season.

Last year, the Boston Celtics were dominant, winning 64 out of 82 games and losing just three games out of 19 in the post season which included the NBA Playoffs, Conference semi-finals, Conference finals and the NBA Finals.

Betting on the NBA Western Conference

Despite the Boston Celtics dominating last season, the Western Conference was significantly stronger than the Eastern Conference. When the conferences went head to head, the Western Conference came out ahead 57% of the time.

Since 1999, a Western Conference team has won 17 NBA finals with just nine winners coming from the Eastern Conference in that time. Typically, it's very rare for Eastern Conference sides to win two-years in a row, making the betting odds for a Western Conference side to win the NBA in 2024/25 a good looking wager.

As it stands, the Boston Celtics are 3/1 to retain their title but if you're looking to back a Western Conference winner, the best odds come from the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder who both sat at 8/1 at the start of the NBA season.

NBA Outright Betting Markets

The NBA is best known for their riveting series of matches in the playoffs. However, some of their most popular betting markets are their outright markets. The most popular outright market outside of the standard 'to win the championship' bet is the NBA MVP betting market.

The MVP is often a player from one of the two teams in the NBA Finals, so be sure to check out the NBA finals odds and see who the best choices for this market could be.

Other markets that are particularly popular are the divisional betting markets, where bettors can bet on the Atlantic, Central, Northwest, Pacific, Southeast and Southwest divisional Champions. The exciting clashes between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks makes the Atlantic Division the standout here for bettors.

NBA Player of the Year Betting Markets

One thing that American sports leagues do exceptional well is acknowledgement of players who have had good seasons. If a player doesn't win a championship, they can still get acknowledgement from awards such as the Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year etc;

The Rookie of the Year award is one that stands out with the likes of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James as just three of the huge names that won this award in their rookie years. In 2024, Victor Wembanyama backed-up his 1st choice draft pick to win the Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Frenchman to do so.

NBA odds for these betting markets tend to appear towards the end of the NBA Championship. However, if you have an eye for talent, you can request odds for specific players earlier on in the campaign.