NBA ODDS COMPARISON & STANDINGS

We use proprietary technology to scour the internet, looking at every legal U.S. sportsbook, to find the best available NBA odds for each game.

nba BETTING GUIDES

How We Find The Best Odds For You

Here at Sidelines, we use our proprietary software to search through every legal U.S. sportsbooks in order to find the best odds for each NBA game. Using that data, we then look through each sportsbook and find you the best odds today for every kind of bet for each NBA game on the schedule.

The most popular bets you can make on every NBA game

Here’s an example of how a single NBA game looks with your three standard betting types:


Example
Example

Spread: The spread is probably the most common bet to make on an NBA game. Betting on the spread means that if you bet on the favorite, they’ll have to win by a certain amount, and if you bet on the underdog, they’ll have to come within a certain amount of winning in order to cover the spread.

Oddsmakers try to create a spread that will generate the same amount of bets on either side. In this example, the Bucks are listed as “-5”. That means they are 5 point favorites, and will need to beat the Raptors by 5 for you to win a Bucks spread bet.

The Raptors are listed at “+4.5”, which means they need to come within 4.5 points of winning for you to win a Raptors spread bet. The numbers in blue represent the odds. -105 means that you’ll need to bet $105 to win $100 on a Raptors spread bet.

Moneyline: The moneyline is the next most popular. When you bet on the moneyline, you’re just betting on who will win the game, regardless of score. The odds are listed by each team so you’ll understand how likely they are to win.

In our above example, the Bucks are listed at -200. That means they’re expected to win, and you’d need to bet $200 to win $100. The Raptors are the underdogs, and +185 means for every $100 you bet on a Raptors win, you’ll get $185.

The spread evens out the odds by saying the favorite needs to win by “x” amount. The moneyline is either a safer bet with lower returns (if you bet on the favorite) or riskier bet with higher returns (if you bet on the underdog).

Total (over/under): When betting on the total (or over/under), it doesn’t matter who wins the game, only how many points were scored combined by both teams. Similar to the spread, odds makers will set the total number at a mark to generate the same amount of over and under bets on the game. In our example, the total for the over is set at 223.5 and for the under at 224.

It’s showing you numbers from two different sportsbooks to give you an advantage based on which way you’re betting. If you want to bet the over, the lower the total is set at, the easier it is for the over to hit, and vice versa with the under.  

Other popular NBA bets you can make:

  • Futures: A bet on a future event that will be determined at the end of a season. For example, who will win the NBA Finals, the MVP award, or how many wins each team will have.

  • Props: A prop is betting on an event that will happen in a game. For example, a game prop like “who will score the first basket of the game”? Or a player prop like “will Giannis Antetokounmpo score more or less than 28.5 points”? There are endless amounts of NBA props you can bet on in any given game.

  • Parlays: A parlay is a string of bets wagered as one bet. For example, You could like the spread for the Bucks, Celtics, and Nuggets who are all playing on the same night. If you parlayed the spread of all three games, instead of making three separate bets with odds around -110, you make one bet with the odds around +600. If all three teams you picked cover the spread, you win your bet. Parlay bets can be made with many different bet types and even across different sports.

  • Win Margin: Win Margin is betting on the exact amount of points a team will win by. Your odds will vary depending on how wide of a margin you’re betting on, and if you’re betting that the favorite or the underdog will win.

  • Halves and Quarters: For NBA games, it’s also popular to make any of the above bets on just a quarter or a half of the game. On most sportsbooks there’s a spread and a 1st half spread, etc…

NBA ODDS FAQS

Simply put, NBA futures are wagers made on future events such as the winner of the NBA Finals or the Eastern/Western Conference championship.

Like prop bets, futures can also apply to both teams and individual players. When looking for free NBA picks on futures, it is important to keep in mind the speculative nature of futures bets and that many developments throughout the course of a season can affect the odds of a particular bet.

Given the fact that futures are obviously not a short term bet, those looking for NBA picks for tonight or NBA predictions today should probably seek out other betting options

NBA parlays are bets that combine two or more individual wagers into a single bet. Parlays can include any combination of bet types and cover more than one game.

However, in order to win a parlay, all wagers within the parlay must be correct. Due to the complexity involved in parlays, it is not very common to find NBA tips on these types of wagers.

Similarly, tips on NBA predictions usually focus independently on bet types, not combinations. Meaning, if you’re looking for NBA tips, don’t expect to see much in the way of parlays.

Also known as in-game betting, this form of betting is one of the fastest growing options in the NBA betting landscape.

These are wagers made on a game that is already in progress and can be moneylines, spreads, totals, or even props. So, if you’re looking for free NBA picks for tonight, in-game betting is an exciting option that adds a new dimension to your betting experience.

Quarters betting entails betting on the total or spread per quarter.

As opposed to other sports which are split into halves, the NBA’s quarter system allows bettors the opportunity to identify spots where odds are in their favor by keeping track of a team’s tempo and personnel changes due to injury or fouls.

As quarters betting is a type of wager that is less amateur-friendly, free NBA picks and NBA expert picks for these bets are more difficult to come by. Given the dynamic nature of quarters betting, this bet type also doesn’t lend itself well to pregame NBA predictions tonight.

What once would have been a resounding no for anywhere other than Nevada has now begun to change. Quickly too.

At the time the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) in May 2018, Nevada was the only state where people could legally bet on sports via sportsbooks. In May 2020, a mere two years later, some 24 states with sports betting now on the books, with many more states actively considering the issue.

Those wishing to put down money on some simply need to be physically located in a state that allows sports betting. Once there, prospective bettors need to either place a bet at a brick-and-mortar location such as a casino or, if online sports betting is an option, place a bet via the web.

Given the constantly changing landscape of legal sports betting in the United States, some still may be utilizing unregulated and/or offshore online bookmakers to get in on NBA betting action.

While that is each person’s prerogative, not many bettors want the specter of federal law enforcement hanging above their heads while looking for sports bookies.

Anyone wishing to place a bet on the NBA in the US should only do so in states where sports betting is 100% legal and regulated. While each state has different laws in regard to where bettors can wager, it will always be either a brick-and-mortar establishment or a regulated online operator.

Whereas bettors have little to no recourse in the event that an offshore bookie is closed or refuses to pay, state-regulated sportsbooks are beholden to the law.

Payments are made through only safe and official channels and the revenue derived from taxes helps fund state programs and aid communities. For more information on the benefits derived from state-regulated sports betting, be sure to check out your state gaming agency.

The odds for upcoming NBA games are all listed above. You can check which sportsbooks will give you the best odds on the bet you want to make, as well as the odds for various alternate lines.

On every NBA game, you’ll have the option to bet on the spread, moneyline, total, and various other bet types. The way odds work is that the higher the number next to a “-” is, the more likely that event is to happen, and the lower your return will be for betting on it. The higher the number is next to a “+”, the less likely an event is to happen and the higher your return will be for betting on it.

Before each season, every team will get initial odds to win the NBA finals, and you can bet on any one of them to win. As the season progresses and new information is learned, those odds will shift. If you like a team to go all the way, the earlier you bet on them the better your return is likely to be.

Odds for a specific NBA game are generally available on most sportsbooks 24 hours before the game. If both teams had a game the night before that may change the timeline. Odds and spreads can also shift up until the time the game actually starts.

The short answer is yes. You can bet on playoff outcomes all season long and when the playoffs come around, you can bet specifically on who will win each series.