NBA Picks

Along with reading our expert betting insights, you also need to know how to read odds and the different betting options available. We’ll briefly explore and explain everything you need to know to jump into our expert’s free NBA picks and make your selections winning ones.

American Odds

Most sportsbooks default to displaying American odds. Sports broadcasts use American odds, so you’ll be familiar with them. American odds revolve around  $100 and outcome probabilities. The odds for a betting line will account for 100% of the possible outcomes, and the odds reflect the likelihood of the outcomes.

In all NBA games and betting lines, a team likely to win is called the favorite, indicated by a minus symbol (-), and an underdog, indicated by a plus symbol (+). If you bet on the Golden State Warriors as the favorite at -125 odds (55.4% win probability), you need to wager $125 to win $100. Conversely, if you pick the Boston Celtics as +124 underdogs (44.6% win probability), you’ll win $124.

Main Types of Betting Options

There are three main betting lines on NBA games: Moneyline, spread, and total points (over/under). Each of these bets has different conditions for your bet to win.

Moneyline

Have you ever made a bet with anyone on the outcome of a game, regardless if there are stakes or not? If you have, you have already made a moneyline bet.

A moneyline bet is a wager on the outcome of the game. You pick who you think will win the game, and if they win, you win!

Spread

A spread line (or point spread) is betting on the points differential at the end of the game. The moneyline favorite will be listed on spread betting lines with minus points (i.e., -2.5) but with plus odds (i.e., +165). This means for a wager on the Milwaukee Bucks to win, the Bucks need to win their game by 3 points for the bet to win. A Bucks’ loss or win by less than three points means a losing bet.

If you are betting on the spread favorite, they will be listed with positive points (i.e., +2.5). This means that the Chicago Bulls (+2.5) points can either win the game outright or lose the game by less than three points for a spread bet on the Bulls to win. Our expert advice often proves to be the difference between winning and losing a spread bet.

 

Total Points or Over/under

A total points betting line, more commonly known as an over/under wager, is betting on the total combined points scored in an NBA game. You pick whether the game’s total points will go over or under the listed total. 

Parlays, Props, and Futures

Our NBA betting experts will sometimes mention three other types of betting action. We’ll quickly review these types of actions and how they work.

Parlay

A parlay combines any number of bets into one larger selection. Parlaying selections is like betting on an underdog: with higher risk comes higher reward. A successful parlay will give you a bigger payout, but every pick in the parlay must be correct to win. 

Futures

Futures betting lines challenge your ability to predict that something will happen in the future. These types of bets can range from who will win the NBA Championship, make the playoffs, or who will be the league MVP.

Props

Prop bets are primarily betting lines on in-game activity, and a wide variety of prop bets are available for you to explore. Prop bets include betting options on a player to score a certain amount of points, rebounds, steals, team points in a half, and individual player head-to-head matchups.

Regardless of where you are in your sports betting journey, insdersbettingdigest is your home for the odds, stats, and expert analysis to help your NBA Picks and parlays become winning bets.