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US Gambling Sites / NBA Over Under Betting: How To Bet NBA Spreads

NBA Over Under Betting: How To Bet NBA Spreads

Last Updated on 14/03/2024
Fact checked by: Mark Lewis

The NBA is one of the busiest and competitive sports leagues in the world and most especially in the United States. With The league is comprising of  30 team with each team playing 82 regular season games each season, with 41 played at home and 41 played away (on the road).This presents a lot of betting opportunities for punters and mastering a good efficient betting technique is key to making a successful betting career in the NBA league.

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Highlights of NBA Over Under

  • It presents the punter with a 50:50 chance of winning a bet
  • Game overtime doesn’t affect the bets in NBA over under
  • When there is a “push”, the wager is returned to the punter

As has been noted above, the NBA consists of many teams with each team playing 82 games each season. This huge number of games presents you with numerous odds to choose from. One of the betting techniques that will help you in easily sorting your games and odds is the over/under betting which will be discussed comprehensively in this article.

Over/under betting is also known as total bet. Over/under betting is a basketball betting technique in which a bettor bets on whether the final points of the two teams for the match will be above or below a given set of numbers. In over/under betting, you are less concerned about the team that scores the points. What you are concerned with is the combination of the final points amassed by the two teams. This betting format is one of the most common betting types in basketball, the other popular betting type is the point spread betting.

When using the over/under betting, you are simply placing your bet on whether the final points of the two teams for the match will be above or below a given set of number displayed by a sports bookmaker. If the combined final points are higher than the displayed number, your ‘over wager’ wins but if it is lower, your ‘under wager’ wins.

Specifics of NBA Over Under

To get the total score, the punter adds up the final scores of both teams of an NBA game. For example, the total score between the Pacers and the Lakers in a particular NBA game was 86-92. The total score is thus 178 (86+92) points. Unlike football and soccer, you will not see the same totals for the entire over/under bets accordingly; you will often see a predicted total of 40 in American football betting and a predicted total of 3 in soccer in over/under odds. Basketball totals can range anywhere from 170 to 230.

Sometimes, a sports bookie will present the odds with (-) and (+). The signs, (-) and (+), represent the less likely to win (the underdog with the positive sign) and the more likely to win the game (the favorite with the negative sign) as well as how much you need to bet and how much you can win

Let’s consider examples of over under bet

In a game between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors

For this example, the over/under bet is put at 182 points. As you can see, whether you bet the over or the under, you’ll get paid the same. If GSW scores a final point of 110 and Lakers 82, the punter wins if the  bet was placed on over and lose if the  bet was placed on  under, but the point is that you are not concerned with the team with the highest points, the final score is the most important thing.

Let’s look at another example

Let us say the Los Angeles Lakers are playing against the Dallas Mavericks. In this match, Lakers are the favorites and Mavericks are the underdogs. A bookie predicts a total of 187, with the odds listed as follows:

Totals: 177.5                      Over (-110)                            Under (+110)

For this case, if you place a bet of $110 on the final score being over 177.5 points, you could earn a return of $100. In the same vein, if you place your bet on the final score being exactly 177.5 points or under, you could earn a return of $110 by wagering $100.

NBA Over Under Betting Tips and Strategies

To be a successful punter in NBA betting using the Over/under technique, some strategies need to be learnt and they are outlined below

  • Research on the team’s record, stats and performances. Checking the two teams head to head statistics and the final score between both teams during previous meetings is very important. If one of the teams has scored between 80 and 105 points in the last six encounters, then there is a possibility that they won’t score more than that in the next match. If the teams are regular or usual opponents and have played each other a great number of times in like 5 years, you can dig up their history for an educated reference of the final points scored by the teams. Not necessarily the team that won or lost.
  • Wager bets on the lowest total, you may come across multiple over-under totals displayed in a day. The odds of the listed games will be different from each other. They are usually low and far from the average totals of that day. The logic behind wagering on the lowest score and not the highest is that the teams will be on great pressure to score high points because basketball is a sport known for its high-scoring nature. However, you will most likely see high scoring NBA games than low scoring ones.

How to Bet NBA Over under

When a bettor decides to bet on an over/under for a NBA match total, there are lots of factors to evaluate. You need to consider the defensive and offensive trends of the team and previous contests between both teams and the game environment before predicting the outcome of the game.

Take for example the Toronto Raptors vs Golden State Warriors contest with the final score at 170 points. The first instinct of a punter is to choose if the games total points will be Over 170 or Under 170 points. This simply means that if the game concluded with a score 82 – 87, it will combine to 169 points. This is an Under game.

Another example is the Miami Heat vs L.A. Lakers contest with a final point of 177.5, the odds may be laid out the following ways:

177.5 Under (+105)

177.5 Over (-110)

For the above example, the final point is still 177.5, however you are required to place a different sum of money. To place your bet on the 177.5 Over (-110), you must risk the sum of $110 to win a return of $100. While placing your bet on the 177.5 Under (+105) will require you to risk $100 for a return of $105.

Push Scenarios

PUSH scenarios in NBA over/under betting occurs where the total & the combined final score of the game are exactly the same. If the Toronto Raptors vs Golden State Warriors total point is placed at 195 and the games total score is 94-101. The game will be regarded as a push and the sports bookies you placed your bet with will refund your wager irrespective of whether you predicted the contest to be under or over.

This scenario is usually common in sports betting. However, assuming the above example had a 196.5 total score, the game will be regarded an under. Some punters usually feel that betting on total scores with round numbers are more advantageous to betting on total scores with (.5) because it provides fewer risks for the punter.

Overtime Scenario

Your bet does not change if this kind of scenario happens in a NBA game. Your over/under wager is similar to a spread bet or moneyline because your bet depends on the total score of the game irrespective of when it ends (whether in multiple overtimes or in regulation time).

Which bookmakers offer the Best NBA Over Under Deals?

For expert NBA over/under odds and sports betting NBA service, live odds changes from the major sports bookmarkers, find out which sport bookies offer the best odds at our sports betting comparison page for profitable bets. The information on our sports betting comparison page is researched critically to help you make the best choices and to ensure you profit maximally from NBA betting. Thus, it is important to use this service to have an eye-opener and edge over NBA betting odds. Looking for more NBA guides? We've recently updated our prop bets NBA guide - so why not check it out?

Conclusion: Best way to participate in the NBA Over Under Betting

The most successful NBA betting punters typically focus on one, maybe two betting markets. It's not uncommon for experienced American punters to focus only on point totals, while others focus on point spreads. The key to long term profitability is in focus and specializing. One tactic to adopt has got to be over/under tactics. Discover which NBA betting markets you're consistently able to identify value in and stick to them.
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