How to Bet on Basketball and Read NBA Betting Odds

Basketball is one of the most popular indoor sports on the planet, with the National Basketball Association (NBA) providing the best standard of competition around.

Most of the world’s top players from North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond convene at one of the NBA’s franchises, each looking to strut their stuff in a team that makes it all the way to the NBA Finals at the end of the season.

The Boston Celtics clinched their 18th NBA Championship title in 2023-24 - a new record, and they would love to make it 19 at the culmination of the 2024-25 campaign. Nikola Jokic was crowned regular season MVP for a third time, although it was Luka Doncic that averaged more points-per-game than any other player.

You can enjoy NBA betting here at Interwetten, where we offer comprehensive odds for every single game of the season, as well as outright odds in which you can bet on the team you think will win the championship, which player will be crowned MVP, and so on.

So, if you’ve ever wondered, "How does NBA betting work?", we’ve got you covered. Read on for your complete guide as to how to bet on the NBA.

How Do NBA Betting Odds Work?

At interwetten, we have two broad categories of NBA betting odds: game lines and outright markets.

Starting with the NBA odds that are available game by game, the most popular options are ‘two way’ markets – that is, there are only two possible outcomes:

• Game Winner – Either Team A or Team B wins
• Total Points – There are either more points scored, or fewer, than the total offered
• Spread (Handicap) – Either Team A or Team B will clear their spread

In each of these scenarios, there will likely be NBA betting favourites (the outcome considered most likely) and an underdog (the outsider of the two). Using the European decimal odds format (you can change this to fractional or American style in your interwetten account), our NBA basketball betting lines look something like this:

• Boston Celtics (1.50), New York Knicks (2.70)

These NBA basketball betting odds not only reveal the likely probability of an event occurring, but also how much you stand to win from a successful bet.

With decimal odds, 2.00 is used as the even money mark. So, any number smaller than that is considered ‘odds on’ – the smaller the number, the more likely that outcome is to occur (according to us!).

Conversely, any lines over 2.00 reveal an ‘odds against’ chance: the larger the number, the less likely that outcome is said to be. For example, a bet at odds of 2.10 has a higher probability of winning than one at 100.00.

But the beauty of sports betting is that you might see value in odds of any size; you can bet on favourites or underdogs as you see fit.

To calculate your potential payout, use £10 as a way of making the math easier. If you were to back the Boston Celtics (1.50) in the example above, you could win £15 (£5 profit plus your £10 stake returned).

And if you backed the New York Knicks (2.70), you could win £27 (£17 profit plus your £10 stake returned).

Online NBA Betting: The Most Popular Options

Here at interwetten, we offer dozens of different ways to bet on NBA games. Here’s a look at the most popular:

Match Odds

As mentioned earlier, this is the most basic of the NBA sports betting markets.

You’re simply betting on the team that you think will win a particular game. The actual scoreline matters not; just that the team you have backed wins.

These lines are available for every game throughout the campaign, from regular season matches right through to our NBA Finals betting odds.

Total Points

One of the most popular NBA betting tips is to explore the total points market if one of a handful of scenarios is expected.

If you believe that one team will win handsomely, you might bet on the ‘overs’ part of the total points market, with the same true if two teams that are better offensively than defensively meet.

Alternatively, if two teams that are solid defensively lock horns, perhaps betting on the ‘unders’ line is the better option.

Point Spread (Handicap)

Another type of NBA gambling is the point spread market, or ‘handicap’ betting as it’s typically better known in Europe.

Here, the favourite to win the game will be given a minus point handicap to overcome, while the underdog will be given a plus point head-start.

At the end of the game, these spreads are subtracted from/added to the final score – bets will be paid on the team that successfully beats their handicap.

Prop Betting

Points, rebounds, turnovers, assists, steals, blocks…

Basketball is a sport laden with different statistical categories. And you can wager on many of these via our prop betting lines; that is, betting on a team or an individual player to achieve certain statistical feats with a game.

NBA Live Betting

All of the most popular options are also available in our NBA live betting odds.

So you can still place your bets even after a game has begun; particularly useful if you want to watch the first quarter, for example, before striking a wager or two.

You'll find all of the latest lines available in our live betting feed.

NBA Outright Betting

You can bet on the outcome of season-long basketball betting markets too.

Our NBA Championship odds let you wager on the team you think will win the Finals at the end of the season, while our NBA MVP odds allow you to bet on the player you believe will be crowned the best of the campaign.

NBA Betting Explained

What is Moneyline in NBA Betting?

The ‘moneyline’ in NBA betting is simply an American term to explain the match odds market that we have covered in this article.

Does Overtime Count in NBA Betting?

Generally speaking, overtime does count towards your bets unless otherwise stated; you can always check our betting rules here at interwetten for further guidance.

Ready to get in the game? Interwetten’s welcome bonus gives you the perfect head start for your NBA bets!