NBA Betting Odds

nba basketball odds

NBA betting is second only to NFL betting as far as total betting volume goes in the US, and top Ohio sportsbooks will have a full slate of betting lines and odds from October to June. You can also bet on NBA futures nearly year-round.

Below you’ll find the latest NBA odds direct from legal Ohio online sportsbooks plus an NBA betting guide to help you through the full season from tipoff to the NBA Finals.

Compare NBA odds at Ohio online sportsbooks

When online sportsbooks go live in Ohio, you’ll see today’s latest NBA odds right here.

How to read NBA odds

You can place a range of bets on any NBA game, with these being some of the most popular options:

  • Moneyline
  • Point spread
  • Over/under
  • Prop bets

Additionally, bettors can predict the outcome for the entire season and the playoffs through multiple NBA futures bets.

NBA moneyline odds

How does the moneyline work? Moneyline is the simplest of NBA bets. All you do is pick the winner of a given game. For example, let’s say that the Cavs are hosting the Detroit Pistons and are the favorites.

The odds on the Cavs are -175, meaning you would need to wager $175 for a potential $100 profit. On the other hand, the odds for the Pistons are +165, meaning that a $100 wager would return a $165 profit on a winning bet.

Of course, you can bet or win more or less than $100, as most sportsbooks allow a minimum of $5 or less for single-game wagers, with maximum bets sometimes reaching a few thousand dollars. Still, the principle of calculating your payout remains the same.

The odds work similarly for other bets, but the numbers will differ depending on the type of bet. With point spreads, you can expect the odds to be roughly equal on each side of the bet, as the underdog will get a certain number of handicap points, thus evening out the playing field. Therefore, the Cavs (-8.5) and the Pistons (+8.5) might have identical or nearly identical odds at around -110 for either team.

The same applies for over/under bets. Here, the goal is to pick whether the total combined points from both teams will be over or under a given number, say 216.5, for example. The sportsbook will always put the line close to the expected number of points, so each side of the bet again will have roughly equal odds.

However, note that the sportsbook might offer alternate lines for point spreads and totals, so you can make these bets more or less risky depending on how you like to roll.

NBA futures and prop odds

NBA futures are long-term bets where you aim to predict what happens during an entire season. You can bet on who will win the NBA Finals before or during the season, and even during the playoffs, on top of multiple other bets like conference winners, MVP, scoring champion, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and more.

The Cavs’ young core is unlikely to win a title, but if you’re a believer, you can place a bet on the outright winner market at the stellar odds of between +20,000 and +30,000. If you think that they will just win the Eastern Conference, you can take that bet as well, at slightly shorter odds of around +15,000.

As for player futures, Cavs’ guard Darius Garland is developing into a star, and while he’s not a top 10 player just yet, one day he may win an award, a variety of which you can bet on at the best NBA betting sites.

If you don’t think any of the Cavs players will win individual awards or accolades, you can still back them through various player props during every game. For example, you can bet whether Darius Garland scores over or under 19.5 points against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks or if Larry Nance Jr. will have over or under 8.5 rebounds. While you’re there, check the top scorer market, where you can bet on which player on either team will have the highest number of points during that particular game.

Apart from these player props, you may find a bunch of team props that will allow you to predict the performance of the entire Cavs team, like guessing their number of points, the margin of victory, the number of rebounds, whether they win the first quarter, etc. Check for upcoming prop odds below and more of today’s Cavaliers odds here.

NBA odds boosts and promos

NBA games see a lot of betting action, and sportsbooks will compete with one another to attract bettors to their side. One way they do this is by offering promotions such as odds boosts. These promotions give bettors enhanced odds on certain NBA games, allowing them to get a higher payout for the same stake.

For example, DraftKings ran a promo where you would get boosted odds of +110 for a blockbuster NBA game, while the regular odds for that game were -105. This means that taking the boosted odds would have resulted in a 15.5% profit increase. You may find similar odds boost promotions on other betting sites like FanDuel Ohio, BetMGM, and PointsBet, to name a few.

NBA live odds

NBA games can be pretty dynamic, leaving a lot of room for live betting. As the score changes, the live NBA odds will change accordingly, shifting in favor of one team or the other depending on the lead and the overall situation on the court (fouls, injuries, etc.).

Additionally, online sportsbooks will have several exclusive micro betting markets, for example, like which team will be the first to 20 points in a quarter. Keeping up with the shifting odds generally is best with a sportsbook app or website. With an app, as long as you’re within a legal sports betting state’s borders, you’ll be able to place live NBA bets from anywhere.

How to start betting on the NBA in Ohio

Getting set to place a few NBA bets in Ohio takes just a few steps. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Choose a legal mobile betting site in Ohio.
  2. Sign up by inputting your account credentials and sharing some required details.
  3. Make sure to tick the box (if available) to claim any welcome bonuses.
  4. Enter a sportsbook bonus code, if applicable, along the way.
  5. Once your account is ready, go to the deposit page, choose a payment method, and make a deposit. Sometimes you need to sign up for the welcome offer through the deposit page.
  6. Browse the sportsbook’s list of sports to find basketball, under which you’ll see all the leagues you can bet on at that time. Choose the NBA.
  7. Explore your betting options and start placing some bets.

Best NBA betting app

While there are several solid contenders, the DraftKings Ohio sportsbook app has a variety of good options for NBA betting. And the main point in its favor — the DraftKings app has potentially the most widespread and diverse number of markets.

Apart from the usual moneylines, point spreads, totals and futures, you’ll find plenty of alternate spreads and props. In other words, each NBA game on the DraftKings sportsbook app will have dozens of markets, some of which you won’t find on other apps.

The live betting section will feature even more options, as you’ll be able to bet on even the smallest segments of the game and predict what happens in the next few minutes.

Other positives for the DraftKings app include early cash-outs (including live cash-outs), flash bets, live stats and graphics for every game, and promotions like odds boosts.

How to find the best NBA betting lines

To ensure yourself the highest potential payout when betting on the NBA in Ohio, you’ll need to scan multiple sportsbooks to find the best Ohio sports betting lines for the bet you want to place. While the odds tend to be similar, even slight discrepancies can make a difference over time, depending on how much you’re betting, of course.

Luckily, there is no limit on how many sportsbooks you can sign up for. That means you can sign up to multiple books if you wish, giving you options if you want to place a bet. Additionally, the NBA odds feed at the top of this page will help with line shopping, allowing you to compare NBA betting odds at different Ohio sportsbooks at any given time.