Exciting, energetic and always entertaining, the NBA is the best basketball league in the world. It’s a huge betting event for punters around the world, which is why we want to show you the best NBA betting sites out there.
We also give you expert NBA betting advice, recommended NBA betting markets and how to find the best NBA odds.
Top 7 NBA Betting Sites in the UK
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Bet on the NBA with William Hill
In our view, if you want to bet on the NBA then William Hill is the number one choice. Futures markets are formed almost immediately once the NBA Finals are completed so you can get your outright bets on extremely early. As an added bonus, William Hill’s NBA betting odds are ultra-competitive too.
If you want to stream NBA matches live, William Hill have got you covered. They have a healthy range of markets for every NBA match and you can bet in-play on the NBA with William Hill too. And last, but not least, if you are betting on the NBA with William Hill then there is a good chance you will be able to avail of some nice NBA promotions or specials. So, once you have read our expert NBA betting advice, sign up with William Hill and start betting on the NBA!
Recommended NBA Markets
Anyone who has bet on basketball before will be familiar with some of the most popular NBA betting markets. Beginners and novices may not have heard of the ‘money line’ or ‘point spread’ before, but they are essentially identical to ‘match betting’ and ‘handicap betting’, in football. If you are just starting out, then you might want to read up on basketball markets we recommend before placing your bets.
The handy table below outlines some of the NBA betting markets we recommend checking out, the risk level associated with each option and whether they are suited to beginners, novices or experts.
| Market | Risk | Recommended for |
| Money Line | 2 | Beginners |
| Point Spread | 3 | Novices |
| Total Points (Over/Under) | 3 | Advanced |
| Quarter Winning Margin | 4 | Expert |
| Player Assists (Over/Under) | 5 | Advanced/Expert |
(*risk can be managed, not volatility)
NBA Basketball Bets Explained
When it comes to NBA Basketball betting, there are a few North American betting terms that you need to know about. It might be intimidating for novices or beginners when they see terms like ‘Point Spread’ and ‘Moneyline’ so we will explain exactly what they are and how they work below:
Point Spread Betting
Point spread betting is what people in the UK and Europe typically call a handicap bet. When betting on a point spread you need to cover the spread (or the handicap) for your bet to win.
For example: The Knicks are playing the Chicago Bulls and you back the Knicks -6.5 points in the point spread betting market. If the Knicks win by 7 points or more and cover the 6.5 points spread, you win the bet. If the Knicks win by 7 points or less or lose the game, you lose the bet.
Moneylines
Moneylines are just a way to express how much you need to bet to win $100. This is expressed by positive and negative numbers, which those of you familiar with the American odds format may have seen before.
For example: New York Knicks (-130) vs. Chicago Bulls (+120). In this game, you need to bet $130 on the Knicks in order to make $100 profit on a winning bet. This is because the bookmaker has calculated that the Knicks are more likely to win the game. As the Bulls are the underdogs in this example, as we can see by the plus sign, a $100 wager will lead to winnings of $130 if the bet wins.
Player Props
A “prop bet” is short for “proposition bet”. This is just a name for bets that aren’t directly linked to the final score or outcome of a game. As the name implies, player props are prop bets that focus on specific players in the game. As we’re dealing with what the players do as individuals, a lot of these bets tend to be over/unders.
For example: You can place a player prop on Giannis Antetokounmpo to make under 7.5 assists in an NBA game. If he makes anywhere between 0 and 7 assists throughout the game, then your bet is a winner. If Antetokounmpo makes 8 assists or more, your player prop loses. You could place a player prop on LeBron James to score over 10.5 points in a game. If LeBron scores 11 points or over, your player prop is a winning bet. If he scores 10 points or fewer, it’s a losing bet.
Expert NBA Betting Advice
- 🏀 Home Court Advantage More often than not, the team that is playing at home has an advantage in the NBA. However, the fact that a team is at home sometimes has a bigger effect on the odds than it should. This can result in you finding some excellent value bets on top quality teams that are on the road. So, don’t be afraid to back classy teams away from home if you think they are far superior to their opponents.
- 🏀 Watch The Schedules If you keep a close eye on the schedules of NBA teams you might be able to uncover some value bets. For example, if a team is facing a number of quality teams during a spell and has to travel a lot between games, they could suffer from fatigue and burnout. Some bookies may not take this factor into consideration when forming the money line and point spread markets. If a team is nearing the end of a tough schedule of games and travel, this could be the ideal time to bet against them.
- 🏀 Injury News/Updates Another key task you should always perform before you bet on the NBA is to check news sites/social media for any injury or suspension updates. If a team is missing their star player then it is going to have a massive effect on the odds. If you see a price about an NBA team that looks too good to be true, don’t just lump on straight away. They could be without a key player or players because of injury or suspension so take the time to do some research before you have your bet.
- 🏀 Don’t Follow The Crowd If you want to consistently find value winners, you need to go against the grain. If you have a really strong opinion on the outcome of an NBA game that is different to most other people, the chances are you will get a very juicy price. Don’t just blindly back underdogs though, there has to be a strong reason for betting on them. You need to pick your battles wisely if you want to make a profit from your NBA betting picks in the long run.
Finding the Best NBA Odds
You now know where to find the best NBA bookie and which are the most popular NBA markets. We even gave you some insightful NBA betting advice. Now we are going to look at the practical task of finding the best NBA odds. Why do you need to find the best NBA Betting odds? It is simple really, the bigger the odds you get, the more money you win!
As an example, we looked at the NBA finals odds* for one of the matches between the LA Lakers and Miami Heat. In this case the Lakers were heavy favourites and Betfair had the best odds by far at 1/2 (1.5). However, they had the worst odds for Miami Heat at 17/10 (2.7). If you fancied the Heat to win you could get 9/5 (2.8) at Unibet, while at 888sport the odds were 7/4 (2.75).
Our advice is to check the odds for EVERY bet you place at as many bookies as possible. If you do this, you will guarantee that you are getting the maximum possible returns if you do manage to back a winner.
Live Streaming NBA Matches on Betting Sites
Some UK bookies have NBA live streaming available for their members. This is a massive positive in our view as you can bet on and watch NBA games without leaving the bookmaker’s website. A number of UK bookies allow punters to stream NBA matches live, including William Hill, bet365 and Betfair.
Most bookmakers who feature live streams require you to have a positive account balance or else you need to have placed a bet in the previous 24 hours to qualify for live NBA streaming. However, check the relevant terms and conditions at your chosen NBA betting site to avoid disappointment.
Event Format
There are currently 30 teams in the NBA, 29 based in the USA and 1 in Canada. The teams are split into two conferences, Eastern and Western. These conferences are split into three separate divisions with five teams in each division. The top 8 teams from each conference qualify for the play-offs, regardless of where they finished in their division.
The NBA season is a long one with each team playing 82 matches, 41 at home and 41 on the road. It is a punishing schedule. The regular season starts in the last week of October and it usually finishes in mid-April. Once the regular season is over, the playoffs begin. The top 8 teams from both conferences play a knockout tournament to determine the Eastern and Western Conference winners.
The knockout tournament requires each team to play a best of 7 series against their opponents. The first team to reach 4 wins advances to the next round while the losers are eliminated. The last two teams standing are declared the Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions, and they then play off in a best of 7 NBA Finals series to determine the overall NBA Champion. The winning team receives the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
Past NBA Winners
| Year | Winner | Runner Up |
| 2020 | LA Lakers | Miami Heat |
| 2019 | Toronto Raptors | Golden State Warriors |
| 2018 | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2017 | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2016 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors |
| 2015 | Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 2014 | San Antonio Spurs | Miami Heat |
| 2013 | Miami Heat | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2012 | Miami Heat | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 2011 | Dallas Mavericks | Miami Heat |
| 2010 | LA Lakers | Boston Celtics |
- In 1962 Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors vs the Knicks in a run-of-the-mill season match and that record has yet to be broken.
- The legendary Michael Jordan scored 63 points (a play-off game record) for the Bulls vs the Celtics in 1986.
- The record for the highest free throw percentage of 90.4% is held by former Cleveland Cavalier guard Mark Price, not exactly a household name!
- The only two teams that have never moved or been shut down are the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
- In 1995, Miami Heat won both the slam dunk contest and the shootout, the only team ever to complete that double.
- One of the biggest rivalries in basketball was between the Lakers and Celtics in the 1980s. Either team was represented in every final during that decade and they played each other in the decider in 1984/85/87 with the Lakers winning in ’85 and ’87.
| 💡 Did You Know? The biggest ever winning margin in an NBA match happened in December 1981. The Cleveland Cavaliers hammered Miami Heat by 68 points (148-80), a result that Heat fans don’t like to be reminded of! |
The History of the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) actually started life as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The first ever match was played in November of that year between the Toronto Huskies and the New York Knickerbockers. The BAA merged with the competing National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949, forming what we now know as the NBA with a total of 17 franchises. The league has now expanded to 30 franchises and in total, 20 of those teams are past NBA Championship winners.
The winners of the first official NBA final in 1949 were the Minneapolis Lakers (now LA Lakers). The two most dominant teams in the history of the NBA are the Lakers and Boston Celtics. They have both won 17 titles each, 11 more than the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors who have 6 wins apiece. The main sponsors of the NBA are Anheuser Busch and State Farm. NBA betting fans should visit the official NBA website to access a treasure trove of statistics that will help you find more winning NBA wagers.
NBA Betting FAQs
When is the NBA? 
The NBA tournament format is split into three different stages and the regular season starts in mid-October and finishes in April. The top 8 teams in each conference then advance to the NBA Playoffs which begin in late April. The NBA Finals are played between the winners of the Western and Eastern Conferences in late May-early June.
What is the best betting site for NBA betting?
There are a number of top NBA bookmakers but if we had to pick one, we would have to choose William Hill. We selected William Hill as the best choice for NBA betting UK fans as live streaming is available, there is an excellent range of markets (including competitive NBA MVP odds) and you should also be able to avail of some terrific NBA betting promotions.
What bookmaker has the best NBA odds?
If you want to find the best NBA betting odds you can’t take any shortcuts. You need to take the time to visit as many NBA betting sites as you possibly can to get the best odds. No single bookmaker is guaranteed to have the best NBA odds for every market. Unibet and bet365 usually price most markets competitively, so make sure to check those two out at the very least before you have a bet.
Which NBA betting sites have live streaming?
At the moment there are a number of UK betting sites that allow punters to live stream NBA matches. William Hill, bet365 and Betfair are three of the best bookies to sign up with if you want to access live NBA streaming. Check the T&Cs at your chosen bookie to see what the qualification requirements are, but generally, you’ll need a positive account balance to watch live streams.