Betting basketball can be super tilting, but it’s a ton of fun. You have constant action up and down the floor, but basketball always seems to come down to the final two minutes of the game. You can handicap a game perfectly only to have the foul game down the stretch or overtime totally burn you. I’m going to give you a few things I look at when betting basketball.
- First off, a lot of good handicappers are extremely successful in college hoops. I often say that Vegas doesn’t make mistakes when making point spreads, but it absolutely does with college hoops. There are too many teams to track and move lines appropriately, although Vegas is extremely sharp with the NBA.
- You always have to check the injury reports and wait to bet in the NBA until you get confirmation about who is playing. There is nothing worse than placing a wager, only to then find out the team you bet is sitting its best players due to load management. The Clippers, Raptors and Spurs have been awful at resting guys at the last second. As such, you need to pay attention to road trips and how many games stars have played. The three-games-in-four-days schedule is extremely difficult on teams.
- When a line stinks and you think Vegas messed up, you are more than likely on the wrong side.
- I think Utah and Denver have two of the best home-court advantages in the league.
This year will be one of the most fun seasons in a while in the NBA. In the East, you still have the Bucks, Nets and 76ers. The Heat and Bulls made some fantastic additions during the offseason, too. Out West, you have both Los Angeles teams as well as the Suns, Nuggets, Blazers, Grizzlies Jazz and Mavericks. Plus, the Warriors will be back. I left a bunch of teams off, but it’s a loaded league.
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