NBA Betting Picks for Tonight - Basketball Betting Sites & How to Bet

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, so it is no wonder that when its major league is in season, the players would flock like crazy. When we talk about basketball’s major league, of course, it would refer to National Basketball Association (NBA).

NBA is the globally renowned premier men’s professional basketball league, consisting of 30 teams. Despite it being somewhat known as a native league of the US, 1 of its team, the Toronto Raptors, actually comes from neighboring Canada. In the United States, its games can be enjoyed through TNT, ESPN, and NBA TV. 

Sports betting on basketball is after football the most popular wagered sport in the US. Most US sportsbooks will throughout the NBA season spoil bettors with great NBA promos.  

In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss more of the essential things you should know about the basketball league. To top it off, we will highlight the betting markets available and some strategies that can help increase your chances of winning this time around.

You may be a fan of the NBA and know how the sports work. However, betting on it is a different story. To prep you, we will list down a couple of things you need to be aware of. 

If you've been following basketball for a while, you may already be aware of the various factors to consider when predicting the outcome of a game. To place a wager, however, you must first understand the NBA betting options and markets, as well as how the NBA odds work.

NBA Over/Under Bets

If you are a new sports fan who is interested in NBA betting but is unfamiliar with the players or teams, over/under bets are a great option. You do not have to bet on a specific team; instead, you must guess the total number of points scored by both teams.

NBA Spread Bets

Point spread bets, also known as handicap bets, are popular among NBA betting enthusiasts. It is said to level the playing field because handicappers give a team a positive or negative advantage in this option to balance out the odds.

For example, if you bet on the Celtics to win a game with a -5.5 point spread, the team must score at least 6 points more than its opponent for you to win the bet. The half points can be largely ignored in this option because they are only there to prevent ties.

NBA Moneyline Bets

Moneyline bets are a straightforward type of betting as you simply pick the winner of a certain match. The moneyline bets will present similar numbers just like the point spread bets where the negative number reflects the potential winner.

For instance, the Spurs are said to have a -140 odds while the opponent has +120 odds. It means the Spurs are expected to win the match.

NBA Prop Bets

NBA proposition betting or prop bets are placed on particular outcomes of a game, such as the first team to score a point in a game or how many three-pointers a player will hit. It might sound like a guessing game, but that’s the fun in it. 

NBA Teasers

For the most part, teasers are similar to parlay/accumulator bets. However, one significant difference between these two betting options is that teasers allow players to adjust the point spread according to their preference and the odds are lower than accumulators. However, it gives a chance to win more money since you combine the odds of many events to form a single betting slip.

Knowing the right kind of bets to place and when to place the bets will help you to make the most of your betting experience. Begin by selecting a reputable legal online sports betting site.. If you sneak a peek at the top right of this site, you will find a dropdown menu for reviews of the providers that Sqore recommends.

Using online sportsbooks comes with many perks as they have a wide range of betting markets and options. These brands offer incredible bonuses and promotions such as welcome bonuses, free bets, and loyalty rewards nonstop all season long, and they usually have NBA special promos.

Security

A good sportsbook must have top-notch security to ensure the safety of your data. The sites that we recommend are major brands that use advanced encryptions and dedicated software to protect their users’ data and privacy.

Variety

Versatility and variety are two crucial factors these days. You would want to pick an online sportsbook that provides many types of betting and is available across various platforms, from PCs, and tablets, to mobile phones. Having an app on top of a website is also a plus, especially the user-friendly ones that ease your betting experience.

Ease-of-access

In addition to a seamless betting experience from one platform to another, betting can be more enjoyable when the provider gives a clear yet intriguing interface. It should also be easily accessible from many states, the more eligible states it lists, the better. On top of it, having ease of access in terms of deposit and withdrawal would also be a plus.

Customer Service

A good sportsbook should provide 24/7 friendly support that can be accessed from various contact options, such as phone, in-app chat, or email.

Below is our recommended top list for NBA sports betting. If you want to get a complete list of ongoing NBA betting promos, then head over to the NBA sports betting promos guide. 

Don’t worry, NBA betting strategy is not rocket science. We have compiled some of the most popular and easy strategies you can use when betting on the NBA to help boost your chances of winning. 

Choosing the Right Time to Bet

Although it is strongly advised to bet around June as the NBA Finals would bring you the best offers from all providers, you can bet on NBA at any time. But first, you must check the NBA game's odds and other factors that can affect the outcome.

To begin with, you should avoid being a passionate gambler. Gambling with your emotions can lead to losses since your judgment is clouded, and you may not factor in details that matter. Therefore, you should only bet when you need to and avoid following your favorite team blindly.

Before you decide to settle for a particular betting market in an NBA game, you must analyze it. To do this, you can check the current form of the team, head-to-head statistics, team news, injuries, pitch condition, and many other factors. 

If you do not have time to perform your analysis, you can get tips and picks from a trusted source. At Sqore, our tipsters consider these different factors and provide great tips with high success rates.

Future Bets and Live Bets

As a player, you can place two main bets in any sport, including NBA games. The first is future bets, which refers to wagering money on sporting events months, weeks, or days before the kick-off. In this option, you will have the time to analyze the game and settle for the best prediction based on your analysis. 

The second bet you can place in an NBA game is live bets. Live betting refers to wagering money on a game currently being played. One of the good things about this option is that you can use the current statistics and happenings of the match to determine the best market to choose.

Both future bets and live betting have benefits. Some players prefer placing bets early because it gives them time to analyze games. Betting early on NBA season can also give you a chance to take advantage of the best NBA odds offered by sportsbooks before they start to drop. 

However, one drawback is that some events may occur before the start of the game that can influence the outcome. For instance, a star player could get injured days before the match, and you may have already placed your bet. Consequently, some bettors prefer to wait until the last minute before they place their bets.

What to Look for When Betting

As mentioned earlier, you need to consider a couple of factors when betting on an NBA game. Here we will explain some of these factors and how they can affect your predictions.

Current Form: Check the current form of a professional basketball team you want to bet on. If the team is on a winning streak, their morale will be high, hence making them a formidable opponent to face. However, if a team is on a losing streak and is playing against a favorite, there is a higher chance that it may lose the game.

Home Court Advantage: In spite of the lack of consensus on the value of the home-court advantage, it is still worth checking before placing your bets. Some conference teams perform better on their home court than when they play away. Besides that, since home teams do not need to travel, they won't experience travel fatigue, as the case is with visiting teams. However, home-court advantage alone is not enough to help determine the outcome of an NBA game.

Rivalry Games: Although several games are played in the NBA season, some others are more challenging than others. Teams with heated rivals make it a lot more difficult for a bettor to predict the outcome. In addition, it is easy to let emotions take control, which you should always avoid. If you are betting on college basketball rival matches, make sure you check the statistics and other information to get the best prediction.

Points Per Play: Another factor to consider is the average number of points scored by an NBA basketball team per game. This is important, especially if you will be placing totals under/over bet. With the PPP information, you can quickly determine a team that will score above or below specified points in a game.

Injuries and Player Factors: The injury of a star player in a team can significantly influence the outcome of their games, so you must read team news to stay up-to-date with injury reports and other player factors.

Odds in basketball work pretty much the same way as with most sports. When sportsbooks set NBA lines, they do so with the public in mind. They assign odds based on a wide range of factors such as those we've mentioned in the previous subsection. The odds let you know how much you can expect to win by placing a particular bet. 

For example, if you bet on a team with a favorable odd of, say +110, it means that you can expect to win $110 for a $100 bet placed. However, if it is a negative odd of -110, your expected winning is $100 for a $120 bet placed.

The NBA Play-In Tournament will take place following the conclusion of the 2021-22 regular season but prior to the commencement of the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, which is April 12-15th to be exact. 

Teams finishing 1-6 in their respective conference standings will be guaranteed playoff participation on April 16th. Those ranked 7-10 will be eligible to compete in the Play-In Tournament.

The No. 7 and 8 teams from each conference will square off, with the winner getting the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The loser will have one more chance to make the playoffs.

The No. 9 and No. 10 teams from each conference will square off, with the victor advancing to face the loser of the No. 7-vs.-No. 8 game. The team that loses the No. 9-vs.-No. 10 matchup is out of the playoffs.

The loser of the No. 7-vs.-No. 8 game and the victor of the No. 9-vs.-No. 10 games will face off next. Meanwhile, the winner of that game will be the eighth seed in the postseason and the one who loses will be eliminated from the playoffs.

Beyond the Play-In Tournament, the NBA Playoffs in 2022 will follow the standard format, with full best-of-seven series all the way to the NBA Finals.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America. 

Since 1937, the two groups had been competing. The NBA took over four teams from the American Basketball Association (ABA) after it disbanded in 1976.

By the early 1980s, the NBA had a lot of money-losing teams, low attendance, declining TV ratings, and little national appeal. Soon, the league was back on its feet thanks to David Stern, the NBA commissioner from 1984, who helped turn it into a global entertainment company. Advertisements that were very aggressive focused on big names like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and, most importantly, Michael Jordan. 

During each season, the top two teams compete against each other to see who will be crowned NBA champion, which then gets to be called "world champion." The Boston Celtics, led by center Bill Russell, won 11 of 13 NBA championships from 1956–57 to 1968–69. 

However, the league in those years only had 8 to 14 teams, and most team owners didn't want to sign African American players at the time. Other great teams were the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s, the Los Angeles Lakers in the '80s, and the Chicago Bulls in the '90s.

Other changes made by the league included limits on player salaries, lucrative broadcast rights for network and cable TV, and more All-Star Game events.

It was split into two conferences, each with three divisions. There were 30 teams, and they were arranged in the following way:

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

• Southwest Division: Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs
• 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