Basketball is one of the most important team sports in the world. After all, who has never heard of the NBA?

This popularity is also reflected in sports betting. All major bookmakers offer events in this sport.

That’s when you ask yourself: how do you find good bets in a sport as dynamic and volatile as basketball?

Or what are the best tips to help me make good NBA predictions?

Luckily for you, Aposta Legal has all the answers for you. And we’ve created this article to guide you to profits in your games on the court!

The 2022/2023 NBA season is in its final stretch and the decision is between Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets, after a series of electrifying matches that brought us to the current moment of the competition.

So, if you want to know how to bet on Basketball, follow us until the end of this text!

Basketball Betting Sites

Basketball, like football, is present on the main betting sites .

Some bookmakers may offer better opportunities than others, especially in terms of odds, bonuses and number of markets.

To make your comparison easier, we recommend 7 good places to bet on basketball:

How to bet on basketball? The basics of the sport

We have 2 teams facing off, each consisting of 5 starting players.

The goal of each team is to have more points than the other at the end of the game. These points are obtained through baskets.

Each basket can be worth 1 to 3 points. It depends on where the ball is thrown!

And how long does a match last? It depends!

Typically, each game lasts 4 quarters of 10 minutes each. In the NBA, each quarter or half lasts 12 minutes.

New Basketball Brazil – NBB

Brazilian basketball was once one of the biggest in the world. Today, despite the loss of prestige, it is still followed in the country.

Since 2008, the main national competition is the Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB). It was created to replace the National Basketball Championship.

The idea was for the tournament to be independent and managed by the clubs, a management model inspired by the NBA.

Today, it has 16 teams, with the current and greatest champion being Flamengo, with 7 titles.

World Basketball Legends

The passion for basketball in the United States is similar to the love that Brazilians have for soccer.

In this sense, it is normal that many of the sport’s greatest legends are from the USA or came from the NBA.

One of the main examples is Michael Jordan. The eternal “scorer” of the Chicago Bulls conquered the world with his game.

He stood out in his career for his jumps and dunks from the free throw line. He was nicknamed Air Jordan at the time for this.

In addition to Jordan, several other stars were formed by the NBA :

• Shaquille O’Neal;
• LeBron James;
• Kobe Bryant;
• Magic Johnson;
• Stephen Curry.

In Brazil we have 2 national myths that are respected and celebrated across the planet: Oscar Schmidt and Hortência Marcari.

Main markets

The variety of markets available for basketball depends largely on the size of the league and the games.

The most popular ones have more markets, while the lesser-known ones tend to have fewer options, but this is common in any sport.

Below you can see 6 markets with wide earning possibilities!

1. Moneyline

Basically, it is betting on who will win the match between the 2 teams. In some cases it can be called 1X2 or Win/Draw/Win .

This is because not all matches, as a rule, result in a draw. And of course, this fact can change the layout of the odds .

Or, in some cases, one bookmaker chooses to add the draw as a betting option, while others do not.

At BetWay we have the Moneyline and Win/Draw/Win for the Bulls vs. Wizards. In both you bet on the final result of the match.

The difference is that in the first case a draw comes into play, with odds of 13.25. Super high compared to football!

On the Moneyline, without a draw, the odds for the Bulls and Wizards decrease. So, in terms of possible winnings, wouldn’t it be better to bet on 1X2?

2. Handicap

Handicap is considered one of the most popular markets in basketball. Perhaps even more so than in football.

It is widely used because in many matches the difference in quality between one team and another is quite high.

Using Handicap in basketball is a smart bet because it allows you to:

• Value gains;
• Safe earnings.

But how is this possible? Let’s analyze the confrontation between Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers to understand.

In the 1X2 market we see that the Blazers’ odds are low!

This 1.25, compared to the Warriors’ 4.80, indicates a very likely victory for the Portland team.

If you follow the NBA and know the statistics, you can confirm that the Blazers’ chances of winning are really high!

But is it worth making this bet with odds of this value?

What we can do is apply a Points Handicap to Portland. This makes things more exciting and attractive!

Oops! The Blazers’ odds went up from 1.25 to 2.25.

Of course, they now start the game fictionally with minus 12 points.

In other words: your bet will only be a winner if Portland beats the Warriors by at least 12 points.

Just make sure that the bet is really valuable. Just because the odds are going to go up doesn’t mean you should bet.

3. Over/Under

In Over/Under we bet that the match will be above or below a certain score.

Two very strong teams tend to score a high number of points. And the same can happen between a high-quality team and a less good one.

Unlike Football, where the Over/Under is +/-2.5 or 3.5 or 4.5 or 5.5, in Basketball the range is wider.

4. Half-time/Full-time result

A less used market, at least compared to the previous 3. But it is present in most bookmakers.

Here you can bet that a team will be victorious at half-time and at the end of the match.

Or you might believe that Team B wins at half-time, but Team A wins at the end. There are many variations!

In the image above, in the match between Cleveland Cavaliers (CC) and Charlotte Hornets (CH), we had at least 6 possibilities in the market.

5. Margin of victory

In this market you must bet on the margin of points that one team will have in relation to the other at the end of the match.

As a rule, the higher this margin, the higher the odds of the bet.

Classics tend to be very competitive, which means that the margin of points between Team A and B can be small.

In the Wizards vs. Bulls example above, you can bet on either team to win by a 6-point margin.

A third option, which may be attractive, is to bet that the match will have any other outcome.

Remember that this match is rated as a close one. The Bulls only have a slight advantage.

Ask yourself if there is value in this type of bet. If there isn’t, it might be best to look for a better guess!

6. First to reach “X” points

Some people consider this market challenging. We believe that with good research it is possible to make it safer.

In it, we predict which team will reach 10, 20 or 30 points first. The number of points stipulated varies from site to site.

Let’s take a look at the picture. The Blazers were priced at 1.55 to reach 10 points first.

When we look at the 15 points, we see that the Portland team’s odds dropped to 1.48. The Warriors’ odds went up from one case to the other.

Once again: within the same Basketball market there are variations that a bettor needs to be prepared to notice.

Basketball betting sites

Earnings in basketball? See 6 tips!

Applying knowledge from another sport to basketball betting may not work. You should pay attention to the specifics of the sport.

We can help you find these specific points. And that’s exactly what our 5 tips below are based on.

1. Follow live events

Basketball is a dynamic sport. Anyone who follows the games knows that anything can happen in a matter of seconds, and this characteristic has a strong influence on sports betting.

Therefore, choose to place bets in real time , following the game’s movement and understanding which markets have the best opportunities.

The bookmaker Stake is broadcasting the entire competition live.

This way, you can watch the games and make your predictions without having to take your eyes off the computer screen.

Whenever a live event is available, the play screen icon (▶️) will appear on the left side of the odds. Just click this button and watch the broadcast!

2. Focus only on the NBA

We are talking about a competition that you will easily find information about. Armed with this information, you will be able to better prepare your strategy.

Of course, nothing stops you from following a smaller championship. The NBB itself is great and can give you good bets!

There are many leagues spread across the world. Even within a sport, each one can have its own specific rules.

3. See in which state of the country the game will be held

If you do choose to make your NBA predictions, pay attention to where in the United States the games will take place.

In many cases, a team travels across the country for a match. This can be quite exhausting and has an impact on the team’s performance.

Especially if we are in the Playoffs of the competition, as we will see below.

Taking this into account, especially in the NBA, can make you realize when a supposed favorite to win can be surprised.

4. See if the teams have “Scoreboard” players

Statistics play a fundamental role in the analysis of Basketball games, but mainly in relation to who scores the most points.

Identifying the teams’ “scorers” can give you an advantage in more than one market. Examples include:

• Over/Under;
• Handicap;
• 1X2.

For example, some teams may not have a LeBron James. In other words, there is no prominent name in the scoring.

Confrontations in which “scorers” participate can provide another good market, which is precisely which player will score the most points.

Here is another investment opportunity in Basketball betting for you!

If you need help with statistics, see Basketball data at:

• Basketball Reference;
• NBA Stats.

5. Follow the preview of the playoff matches

A match preview is extremely important. Through it, we can get a rough idea of ​​what to expect from the match.

The Playoffs are the final phase of the basketball tournaments. In the NBA, there are 16 teams that qualified from the first phase competing for the title.

The tendency is that from game to game the coach and team’s strategy will change, as each match is a real decision.

We cannot forget that at this stage the wear and tear of traveling to games is greater. This can reduce favoritism and balance the court.

Just be careful: a match preview is someone else’s analysis. You need to have your own, depending only on your knowledge.

Use your skills in live betting on basketball, for example. We already know that in-play betting allows you to find value bets!

6. Note if teams always try to score 3 points

Teams that try to focus more on scoring 3 points deserve to be distrusted by the bettor.

Of course, hitting a sequence of 5 3-pointers gives the team a big advantage. However, we know that this rarely happens.

The problem is that every mistake gives the other team a chance to score. Conceiving consecutive rebound points can undermine a team’s confidence.

This type of behavior, therefore, can be more harmful than beneficial to the bettor. Try to avoid betting on teams like this.

Conclusion

When we talk about basketball, it is common for us to immediately think of the NBA.

Interestingly, we don’t see this in many other sports. If you think of football , you think of 5 or 6 competitions, not just one.

But why is this important for sports betting?

The NBA is by far the biggest basketball competition. And this is also visible on the websites of the sportsbooks.

To have a better chance of success, it may be better to focus on the most relevant competition in the sport.

Not just for betting options! There is more information and data about NBA teams, as the media coverage of them is huge!

Attention: of course, betting on a smaller championship, such as a European national championship, can bring you advantages – as long as you specialize in it!

However, we want you to be a safe basketball bettor. And for that, we trust that a strategy focused on the NBA may be the best.

Basketball Betting Sites