NBA Odds Guide for Players
The NBA is a popular sports league, and it comes as no surprise that you would be interested in knowing how betting on the NBA works. So, you want to benefit not only from enjoying your favorite team’s win, but you want to win together with them. Hence, you are interested in knowing how the NBA odds work. Luckily for you, we have put together this NBA odds guide to help you understand the various options you have when you want to bet on the league.
Once you understand how to bet on basketball odds, you can choose any of the listed sportsbooks sign up for a real money account, and start your NBA betting. The listed sportsbooks have competitive NBA odds, and you can even take advantage of the promotions that they have on the site to boost your bankroll. Explore our complete sports betting guide. Also, practice responsible gambling while enjoying the NBA season.
Updated: 05th April, 2026
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Point Spread NBA Odds
The spread as they are also known is the number that the sportsbook will choose to give both the teams an equal footing. The favorite will be given a spread with a minus (-) because it is the team favored to win the match. While the underdog will be given the plus (+) spread which gives them a lead.
However, this spread will work as follows; if the favorite team is given +7.5 points, they will have to win by 8 points for the wager to pay out. For the underdog, they will have to lose or win by seven points for the spread to payout.
So then how do you calculate the NBA odds for the teams? The odds that are attached to the spread will be how much you must wager to win a certain amount. For example, using the spread mentioned above, if the odds for the favorite are -110, you wager $110 to win $100. For the underdogs, you will have +105 odds, which means you must wager $100 to win $105.
Moneyline
These kinds of odds are for picking out the outright winner of the game. They are straightforward to understand. NBA odds to win the championship are not specific in how many points the team needs to win as long as the teams have won the wager will pay out.
Similar to the point spread, the moneyline NBA odds are shown with a plus (+) for the underdogs and the favorites with a minus (-). For example, if the underdogs have odds of +180, you have to bet $100 to win the $180 and for the favorite -200, you have to bet $200 to win $100.
Totals or Over/Under
With the total NBA odds, the oddsmaker will set a number that estimates the points both teams playing will score. So, which means that when you place your bet, you will be betting whether the teams will have total score points that will either be over or under the set number. Hence, the odds are also known as the Over/Under.
For example, if the oddsmaker has set 204.5 as the total points for the teams when betting under the points have to be less than 204 for the wager to pay out. For over, the total points will have to be more than 204 points.
Futures NBA Odds
When you choose the future bets, you will be wagering on an event that has not yet happened. For the NBA you would be betting on who is going to win the championship. However, the odds for these bets are updated continuously by sportsbooks all year, leading up to the final game.
These are also based on the performance throughout the season. For the teams that are not doing well, the sportsbooks will drop their odds of winning the championship.
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