NBA Betting Guide: How, Where & What to Bet on the NBA in 2025
Written by: Eddie Griffin
Last Updated: Mon Feb 03, 2025, 15:37 PM
Read Time: 9 minutes
After another exciting NBA season and a thrilling Olympic men’s basketball tournament, the 2024-25 NBA season promises to be full of thrills and intrigue. If you enjoy watching or betting on the NBA, there’s a lot to look forward to between October 2024 and June 2025.
Last season, the Boston Celtics won their first championship since 2008, defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the NBA Finals.
This season, the Celtics, armed a trio of players who were a part of Team USA’s Olympic men’s basketball gold medal win, as well as NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, will be looking to repeat.
There are a host of teams trying to stand in their way.
In the Eastern Conference alone, the Philadelphia 76ers (who added Paul George) and New York Knicks (who added Mikal Bridges to their group of former Villanova alums) have beefed up their rosters, the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic are on the rise, and the Milwaukee Bucks should contend if Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton can stay in good health.
And the league is stacked with talent, from active legends like the Team USA core of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry, ascending superstars like Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brunson, and Anthony Edwards, and the ever-growing contingent of non-American stars that includes the likes of Nikola Jokic, Giannis, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Franz Wagner, and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who helped France win a second consecutive Olympic silver medal.
It is a great time to be plugged into the NBA as a fan or bettor. And if you are betting on the NBA this season, whether as a newbie or a veteran, our betting guide can be a valuable resource for you this season.
Best NBA Betting Sites: Where to Bet on the NBA
The NBA, which stands for National Basketball Association, is one of the most popular sports leagues both in the United States and globally. As a result, a wide variety of NBA betting odds are available at the best sports betting sites.
Are you interested in betting on NBA game odds or other types of NBA odds? There are many online sportsbooks that are great for doing so, but these are the books we recommend the most:
Best Sites for NBA Betting
Sportsbook Reviews for the Best NBA Betting Sites
If you would like to learn more about one or more of these betting sites, check out our sportsbook reviews for each site.
- BetOnline Sportsbook Review
- Bovada Sportsbook Review
- Betwhale Sportsbook Review
- MyBookie Sportsbook Review
- Sportsbetting.ag Sportsbook Review
Our in-depth reviews evaluate and rate some of the features and factors that many sports bettors take into consideration when deciding where to place bets. Some of those features and factors include betting options, payment options, and sportsbook bonuses and promos.
Basics of the NBA and NBA Betting
The NBA, which has been in existence since 1946, is currently made up of 30 teams. Of those teams, the Toronto Raptors are the only team not located in the United States.
The 30 teams are broken up into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has three five-team divisions.
Current NBA Teams and Divisions
Eastern Conference
- Atlantic Division: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors
- Central Division: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks
- Southeast Division: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards
Western Conference
- Northwest Division: Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz
- Pacific Division: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings
- Southwest Division: Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonion Spurs
Each team plays 82 games in the regular season, which begins in October and ends in April. During the season, the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament, takes place in November and December, as does NBA All-Star Weekend, which takes place in February. The 2025 NBA All-Star Game will take place on February 16, 2025 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, the home of the Golden State Warriors.
Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs, which the seventh and eighth seeds decided by the NBA play-in tournament, which consists of the seventh through the tenth-best teams in each conference’s standings.
Each of the four rounds of the NBA playoffs features best-of-seven series, with the winners of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals meeting in the NBA Finals.
Types of NBA Bets
There are many different NBA betting options. Whether you like to bet on NBA games or bet on NBA futures, you will be spoiled for choice at many U.S. betting sites given the level of betting interest in the league.
Here are some of the types of NBA bets you can make at sportsbooks like BetOnline.
Moneyline and Spread Bets
If you are betting on NBA games, the most popular types of bets to make are sides and totals.
Moneyline and spread betting is also known as betting on sides. Side bets are bets on the outcome of games.
When betting on the moneyline, you are betting on a team to win, with the margin of victory not at all a concern. If they win by even one point, your bet wins as well.
With spread betting, your bet is on the favorite to win by a certain number of points or for the underdog to either win outright or not lose by a certain number of points.
Say the Nuggets are facing the Mavericks at home, and Denver (-5.5) is favored by 5.5 points over Dallas (+5.5). If you bet Denver -5.5, the Nuggets must win by six or more points to cover the spread. If you bet Dallas +5.5, the Mavericks must either win outright or lose by five or fewer points to cover.
Total (a.k.a. Over/Under) Bets
Total betting, which is also known as over/under betting, is another main way to bet on NBA games.
Whereas sides involve the outcome in some way, the outcome does not have a bearing on total bets, which involve how many points are scored.
As with moneylines and spreads, which can be for full games, quarters, or halves, there are multiple types of total bets, including team totals.
When it comes to betting on the total for an NBA game, you are betting on whether the two teams will combine for more or fewer points than the listed total.
Say the total for the game between the Nuggets and Mavericks is 224.5. If you bet on over 224.5, that means Denver and Dallas must combine for 225 or more points. If you bet on under 224.5, that means that the two teams must combine for 224 or fewer points.
NBA Player Props
Prop bets are a big part of betting on the NBA. There are NBA team and game props, but NBA player props are a very active and lucrative market on a nightly basis.
Most NBA player prop bets are over/under bets or “at least” bets. The categories available at most sports betting sites are points, rebounds, assists, and three-pointers, and combination bets involving points, rebounds, and assists are especially popular due to stat sheet fillers like Jokic, Doncic, LeBron, Giannis, and Joel Embiid.
Other Types of NBA Bets
Betting on NBA game odds is how many people bet on the NBA. But futures bets are also a popular market, and you can bet on NBA futures both during the season and in the offseason at sports betting sites like BetOnline.
Some NBA futures markets include NBA championship odds, NBA MVP odds, and NBA win total odds.
NBA Betting Strategies and Tips
Whether you are betting on Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, or another league or sport, there are a lot of strategies and tips that can be applied across the board. Some of those tips include keeping an eye on trends, news, and injury/suspension news, taking note of referee assignments, and knowing when to hedge your bets and pick your spots.
But specific to the NBA and NHL, back-to-backs are something to watch out for. MLB teams play several days in a row, and fatigue can come into play, but the NHL is a better equivalent for the NBA with regards to the impact of back-to-back or travel fatigue.
NBA Betting Resources
As a sports bettor, it is important and wise to make good use of the vast array of resources at your fingertips.
In addition to this betting guide and the NBA betting analysis, predictions, and expert best bets we provide, you can also find free NBA computer picks and compare NBA odds at Betting News.
Additionally, keeping up with the latest NBA stats, NBA standings, and NBA betting trends will help you stay on top of the game and your game.
Other NBA Betting Information
Watch This Video to Learn More About NBA Betting
Other NBA Betting Content by Betting News
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