A week after the Super Bowl, the NBA reaches its unofficial midway point with the NBA All-Star Game. Although the NBA All-Star festivities feel like the halfway point, it’s not technically the case. NBA teams will only have about 29-34 games left in the season.
With the NFL officially out of the picture, expect your NBA handle to increase and your bettors to be more focused on the product than they have since the Christmas Day games. That means that it’s time for a refresher if you weren’t paying attention to the NBA up to this point.
Here’s what pay per head bookies need to know when offering NBA odds for the “second half” of the season.
The Boston Celtics are the Favorites for the NBA Championships
Not much has changed in terms of the team being on top of the NBA futures. Boston came in as one of the top odds to win the 2023 NBA championships, and after games from October to February, that’s still the case.
Boston currently sits 1.5-games above the Denver Nuggets as the top squad in the NBA, as the combination of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continues to confound opposing defenses. After that, most sportsbooks surprisingly have the Brooklyn Nets as the second fave to win it all. This somewhat makes sense, as they’ve been hot as of late, and it looks like Kyrie Irving is back to focusing on basketball. The defending champs, the Golden State Warriors, are sitting behind the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks in the futures odds. This makes sense, as they’ve played only .500 ball, and Steph Curry has been dealing with a bad shoulder.
Oklahoma City is By Far the Best Team ATS
If you’re wondering who to watch against the spread, look no further than the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have exceeded expectations by posting a league-best 64.6% win percentage against the spread. Their surprising ATS record is due to the play of point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging career highs in points (30.9) while posting 5.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He’s also backed up by 2021 No. 6 overall pick Josh Giddey who’s having an amazing second season, averaging 16 points and 5.7 assists.
Bookies should beware of their surprising run to continue. Oklahoma City is listed to have the easiest strength of schedule for the rest of the season, with their opponents only posting a .464 win percentage.
Oddsmakers should adjust their odds accordingly because it doesn’t look like things will get tougher for the Thunder.
The Dallas Mavericks are the Worst Team ATS
This is a surprising one. Amidst all the hype for point guard Luka Doncic, the Mavericks have underperformed.
They are horrible ATS, posting a 34.7% win percentage with a current 17-32-2 record as of January 30th. Doncic is dominant, posting 33 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 8.4 assists, but they rank 16th in point differential.
We anticipate you’ll still get a big influx of Mavericks bettors just on his reputation alone. Stick to the bookie code and do your best to balance the action, but keep in mind that you may have some casual bettors who haven’t realized that although Luka will make Sportscenter, he won’t help his team cover.
The Golden State Warriors Remain Dangerous
One team to watch out for in the second half of the season is the Golden State Warriors. By the time the All-Star break is over Steph Curry should be back to full strength which means the Warriors could go on a run against the spread.
Up to this point, they’re about two games below .500 ATS but, as we said, currently are fourth in odds to win the NBA Championship. Oddsmakers know this team is due for a run, be sure to keep an eye on balanced action when they start attacking spreads.
Don’t Forget the NBA Prop Builder
The NFL prob builder or same-game parlays has definitely become a popular part of NFL betting. But please remind your players it’s in the NBA too.
Same-game props like Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley to have five-plus three-pointers, L.A. to win, and L.A. to go over the total are available to parlay every night. So be sure to remind your players to take advantage of arguably the more exciting sport when it comes to these kinds of props.
You can also bet on head-two-head props like LeBron James versus Kyrie Irving in points and more. It would help if you advertised this side of NBA betting because the competing sportsbooks are putting these out there daily.