NBA Finals Betting Strategies
Watching the NBA Finals is a lot of fun, and it's even more fun when you're betting and winning on it. There are a lot of different ways that you can be successful at betting on the NBA Finals, and a lot of people will offer you insight into how best to do it.
If you're new to betting on the pinnacle of the professional basketball season we recommend you to check out our guide on how to bet on the NBA finals first.
Once you know how to make to make the basics covered, you're in a great position to get tilt those most of NBA finals odds in your favour with thise five NBA Finals betting strategies:
Pay Attention to Adjusted Prices
Before the NBA Finals starts, sportsbooks will list odds for each team to win the series. These odds are based on the likelihood that each team will win the Finals, based on a number of different factors the sportsbooks take into consideration. One great NBA Finals betting strategy is to pay attention to how the series progresses, and bet on the adjusted series prices that the sportsbooks will set.
After each game is played, the sportsbooks will adjust the series prices based on where the series stands. For example, the team that wins Game 1 of the NBA Finals will have their odds adjusted down, while the team that falls behind and loses Game 1 will have their odds adjusted up. This could provide a great opportunity for you to get a better price on the series winner, depending on who you like. In this example, let's say you like the favored team to win the series, but their pre-series price is -210. You think that’s a little steep.
What you could do is hope they lose Game 1. If that happens, their series price may adjust down to around -125. If that's more to your liking, you could hop on the adjusted series price. In essence, that would save you $85 for every $100 you bet.
Go with the Under
Bettors tend to think that the score of individual games will be high because the NBA Finals pits two of the best teams in the league against each other. A lot of people also tend to think that there are going to be fireworks in the finals, and so they will bet the over.
Instead, what happens more times than not is the teams will play tighter, closer games and will clamp down and play a little more under control. This can lead to the games ending up going under instead of over the posted total points.
Sportsbooks will also know that more of the public will come out and bet the NBA Finals, and the public tends to love overs. As a result, the total points line might be higher than normal, just because of this. So, a great NBA Finals betting strategy is to bet unders. While you certainly aren't going to win every time, the historical performances say that you'll win more times than not.
Zig-Zag to Victory
There's a popular NBA Finals betting strategy that says you should bet on the opposite of what happened in the previous game. In this situation, for example, you would bet on the team that lost the previous game in the NBA Finals.
The thinking behind this theory is that NBA teams will bounce back following a loss and play better the next game. This is often true, too, as more often than you'd think, the teams will bounce back from a loss and perform better. That's why this is called the zig-zag NBA Finals betting strategy.
There are two ways you can put this strategy into practice. You could bet on the moneyline, betting that the losing team of the previous game will be the outright winner of the following game. Depending on what the line is, you could also use this strategy on the point spread. If, for example, the losing team of the previous game is a small underdog in the next game, you could grab the points as insurance in case they don't win outright. For instance, if the loser of the last game is +2.5 in the next game, you could take the points to give you some extra padding in case they keep it close but don't end up pulling out the win.
Factor in Rest
One great NBA Finals betting strategy is to look at how many games the two teams have played on the road to the Finals, and how much rest they've gotten since the Finals started. Teams that have more rest are fresher and more likely to play up to their true abilities.
It's not just how long it's been since the two teams have played last. In most cases, after all, the teams will have an equal number of days rest before the end of the Conference Finals.
Look at how many total games the two teams have played. While each team has won 12 games to get to this point in the playoffs, it could have taken them anywhere from 12 games to 21 games to reach that point. The more games played, the less rest, and the less fresh they will be entering the NBA Finals.
Take Advantage of Bonuses
Finally, make sure you're taking advantage of all the promotions and bonuses the online sportsbooks offer to bet on the NBA Finals. This is one of the best NBA Finals betting strategies, and you can use it on any bet you make and with any tip you use. By taking advantage of every promotion and bonus you can, you'll be maximising your potential payouts for your bets while minimising the amount of money you'll risk.
You could get a reload bonus, for instance, that would match the amount you deposit into your sportsbook account if you need to add more for the NBA Finals. Or, you could get an odds boost for making a certain bet or parlay. This would allow you to get a better payout on the same exact bet that you were going to make anyway.
It's always best to maximise your payout when betting, so take advantage of all the bonuses offered to you.
If you liked our NBA finals betting strategies, check out these 5 betting tips for the NBA finals!