The NBA is the pinnacle of professional basketball, with millions of fans worldwide. We are currently in the offseason and teams are now preparing for the upcoming pre-season matches, and eventually the start of the 2022-23 season. We can’t wait to see how things unfold.

Will the Golden State Warriors do it again? Or perhaps new and improved teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves will shake things up?

If you too are excited, why not take a look at something that could make the NBA season more interesting? We are of course talking about sports betting. It is possible to place bets on NBA games and potentially win some cash prizes.

However, this is not something for the novice! Therefore to help, we’ll discuss three things you need to know before placing your NBA bets.

There is a large variety of available bet types

The first thing to know when considering NBA sports betting is the wide variety of available bets you can find at an online bookmaker. Uninitiated people may think that you can bet only on the outcome of a match – such as who will win in the season opener between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.

And indeed, these wagers are available and are the simplest to pick. Picking the winner of a match is something that anyone can do. Furthermore, if you have a little NBA knowledge, you can use it to your advantage to bet on the winners of one-sided matchups.

For example, it would be expected that the No. 1 Western Conference seed the Phoenix Suns would beat one of the bottom teams in the East – The Detroit Pistons.

However, there are many more available NBA bet types! These can make your gambling experience that much more interesting, and if you watch the games themselves, will make them more immersive. Some examples of other available bets include:

• Point spreads.
• Over/under.
• First half lines.
• Second half lines.

Point spreads are some of the most popular types of NBA bets and have also been involved in scandals involving points shaving. With these bets, you are given a positive or negative number, such as +10 or -10. You are essentially choosing a team and betting on the score outcome.

For example, you could bet that Milwaukee beats the Los Angeles Lakers by a spread of +10. If the final score was 108-97 (+11 difference), you would win!

Over/under bets are also based on the final score. The bookmakers determine the over/under figures based on match statistics, previous performances and a whole host of data. They then give an estimate figure of the total points score by both teams.

You then bet if you think the final score will be over or under this estimate. For example, there could be an over/under of 210 for Minnesota vs Memphis and the game ends up 106-103 to Minnesota. If you chose over, you would lose, as the total score is 209!

First half lines are pre-match bets that are based on what happens in either the first quarter or the first half of an NBA game. You are essentially betting on which team you think will cover the spread and be in the lead at the end of these time limits. Similarly, second half lines are in-game bets that you place based on the third quarter and second half results.

As you can see, there is a wide variety of different bets available, and you should spend time learning about the different wagers and their associated odds before starting sports betting.

You can often place in-game bets for improved winning chances

In today’s world of sports betting, in-play gambling is now incredibly common, and it is available for NBA games too.

Traditionally, bookmakers take pre-match bets with fixed odds. For example, you can bet right now on the outcome of the season opener between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. These odds may change as we get closer to October 19, but if you placed the bet now, that would be it.

However, many sportsbooks offer in-play bets. These are live wagers that you can place as the game unfolds in real time. The odds of these bets are continually changing based on the action and how the flow of the game is going.

For example, if the Lakers suddenly started to gain momentum and go on a scoring run, the odds could shift in their favor.

This adds an element of excitement and immersion to sports betting that was traditionally not available. You could be watching an NBA game on your TV and have a betting app open on your smartphone. While watching the game, you could place some in-play bets and watch the outcome unfold in real time!

The downside is that because the bets are based on what is happening, the odds are often reduced compared to those offered for pre-match wagers.

Bonuses and promotions could make your bet go further

Lastly, many sportsbooks provide customers with bonuses and promotions that can give you more money or make your initial deposit go further. We always advise scanning the promotions page of a sportsbook to see what they have on offer.

The most common type of promotion is the welcome offer. This is offered to new customers as a reward for creating an account. Usually, this is either a matched deposit bonus or a free bet.

A matched deposit bonus gives you a percentage of funds based on how much money you credit to your account. For example, a sportsbook could give a 100% matched deposit bonus up to $50.

This means that if you deposit $25, you will receive $25 in bonus funds. Conversely, some sportsbooks prefer to keep it simple and give things like a $5 free bet.

Always check the terms and conditions of these promotions too! Usually, there are stipulations like wagering requirements, usage limitations and even minimum odds that you can use the bonus funds with.

For example, the above matched deposit bonus may have a 10x wagering requirement. This means that you have to spend 10x $25 ($250) before withdrawing any of the bonus funds.

Place a wager on your favorite NBA team today!

We hope you have found this article useful! You can have lots of fun placing NBA bets while following your favorite teams. However, it is always important to be prepared and understand how sports gambling works.

Make sure that you are aware of the different wagers available and that you can make in-play bets, and remember that most sportsbooks offer promotions too. With this in mind, why not dabble in the upcoming 2022-23 season and see if you can turn some spare cash into a game ticket or a new jersey?