Basketball

NBA Betting Guide 2023 - Free Bets, Predictions, Betting Odds, & Latest Betting Offers


The NBA is the biggest basketball league in the world, and one of the big sports in the USA, with plenty of free bets available for those joining in.

Betting on the sport and this league in particular is fascinating, with many markets to choose from and some bookmakers offering great welcome bonuses and further offers for the big games.

Below you’ll find our ultimate guide to betting on the NBA, including the best bookies to play with, the most exciting markets, and all you need to know about the league itself.

NBA Betting Offers

Bookmakers regularly offer NBA betting offers and you’ll find they hot up the closer you get to the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.

The likes of Paddy Power are particularly well known for this, although you’ll also find many more major bookmakers such as bet365, Betway and more offering them.

NBA Betting Odds & Markets

There are a number of outright betting markets well worth betting on currently, with some brilliant odds being offered by the major bookies.

You can bet on the outright winner of the playoffs right now as well as betting on the winners of the individual playoff rounds and every match from now until the end of the season.

If you like betting on player performances you can do this with a variety of match markets and outrights such as who will be named the Most Valuable Player.

How The NBA Works

If you’re completely new to basketball, then you’re going to want to know about how exactly the NBA works.

The league is made up of 30 teams across the USA and broken down into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.

The conferences are then broken down into three divisions. For the Eastern there’s the Atlantic, Central and Southeast, with the Western made up of the Pacific, Southwest and Northwest divisions.

Each team plays 82 games with an equal number of home fixtures to on the road. The winner of each division progresses to the play-offs, along with the five teams with the best records from each division.

16 teams in total make the play-offs, when it turns into a knockout tournament, playing for the Conference Finals and then the NBA Finals, where the NBA champion is crowned.

How to Get Free Bets for the NBA

The first thing to say about getting free bets for the NBA is that you have come to the right place!

Here at Freebets.com we pride ourselves on providing punters with all the tools they need to have the best chance with their betting.

Betting offers such as free bets are a key part of what we provide including the sort of NBA betting offers you’ll find on this page.

Promotions such as the Paddy Power Weekly £50 Free Bet or the bet365 50% Basketball Bonus are perfect examples of the free bets you can use for your basketball betting.

The majority of these free bet offers are available for new customers so you will have to open a brand new account to take advantage.

Others are long running promotions where the bookmakers reward their loyal customers with free bets periodically such as weekly offers.

With so many games throughout the season, it’s no surprise NBA betting is popular. Between October and June, most online bookmakers will offer a range of NBA odds, from basic match result and outright bets, to points, MVPs and more.

Some of the more popular NBA bets offered by bookmakers currently include:

Match Result/Moneyline

The match result market, or moneyline as it’s commonly known in US sports, is the most popular in basketball and is universally known across all sports.

All it involves is placing a bet on the team to win. If the team wins, you’ll win. If they don’t, of course the bet loses.

Point Spread

Point Spread betting is very similar to handicap bets and essentially involves the favourite of a game having to overcome a points deficit in order for you to win the bet.

For example, if you were to place a Point Spread wager on the Mavericks versus the Knicks, it might look a little like this…

Mavericks: -4.5 (10/11)

Knicks: + 4.5 (10/11)

If you were to bet on the Mavericks, they must win the game by five points or more for you to win the bet.

Total Points

The Total Points market is one that’s seen regularly across betting, including the likes of Football, Tennis and NFL.

Essentially all you’re betting on is the number of points that will be scored in a game. This is usually offered in an Over/Under format. So you could for example bet on there being Over 200 points scored in a game.

The total in this market is of both teams’ points tally combined.

Parlay

Parlay betting is a little more complex and is a bet that involved multiple teams winning within the same wager.

Working in the same way as an accumulator, all the teams within the bet must win in order for you to win.

Futures

The Futures market are focussed on more outright bets such as who will be the NBA champion. You’ll find a number of futures bets available to bet on in the NBA, including:

  • NBA Champion
  • Conference Champion
  • MVP
  • Division Winner

1st Quarter/1st Half

The First Quarter and First Half markets are similar to moneyline betting although they only apply to the first half or quarter of the game.

So you would bet on them entirely separately to the rest of the game, with the scores at the end of the first quarter or half being the score that determines if you win the bet or not.

NBA Betting Tips

Betting on the NBA can be made a little easier by following a few simple tips. You’ll find many experts offering strategies and things to keep an eye on.

Our NBA predictions always offer a few top tips on betting on basketball, while it’s also worth keeping in mind the following…

Start With The Teams You’re Familiar With

If you’re new to NBA betting then the likelihood of you having an in-depth knowledge of every team is slim. When starting out, stick to the teams you’re aware of and build your knowledge of other teams as they play against each other.

You’ll find following a particular team will help you gain further knowledge and allow you to expand the markets you play alongside it, helping provide further value.

Keep A Record Of Your Betting

Record the bets you place, particularly when betting on players and their points scored. It’ll help you create a database of winning and losing bets and make you a savvier bettor over time if you can quickly analyse previous wins and losses.

Analyse The Teams You’re Betting On

It sounds simple but study the teams you want to bet on. Check for injuries, analyse head-to-Head stats and home form versus away. It’ll hold you massively in good stead when deciding what bets to place.

NBA FAQs

Have a question about NBA betting? Below you’ll find a list of frequently asked questions.

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How do NBA betting lines work?

A betting line is essentially a moneyline wager in which you’re betting on a market at a given price rather than playing a Points Spread where the price will fluctuate.

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What does against the spread mean?

Against the Spread is a term in most US sports betting and essential means playing a Points Spread market and then backing the underdog, most commonly the team that has to overcome the points margin.

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What does +200 money line mean?

This is a figure that represents odds and is laid out on the American Odds format. +200 signifies the amount of money that must be placed in order to win £100, or dollars if you are playing in the US.

So, if you wanted to place a wager on the Bucks to win a game and their odds were showing +200, you’d have to bet £200 to win £100, giving you a total return of £300.

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What is Over/Under in NBA?

Over/Under is a way in which you can bet on an outcome that has a value, for example points. You could bet on a player or team to score Over/Under a set number of points for example.

Marius Hrebenciuc

Marius Hrebenciuc

Marius Hrebenciuc is the webmaster for Freebets.com. He is also a football enthusiast, an avid watcher of the European leagues.