NBA Odds Explained

The Point Spread is a margin of points set by the bookmakers to handicap a given NBA game for sports betting purposes. The bookmakers will handicap the game to predict how many points a team should be favoured by and this is known as the point spread. The favourite team will be listed with a minus sign (e.g. -5.5) while the underdog will be listed with a plus sign (e.g. +5.5). When betting the point spread your team has to cover the number to win your bet so if you bet a team -5.5 they would have to win by 6 or more points and if you bet the underdog at +5.5 they need to win the game outright or lose by less 5 or less points for you to win your bet.

The Money Line is more common in other sports like baseball or hockey but it still has its place in basketball. The money line is a set price on a team to win the game outright, it doesn’t matter if a team wins by 1 point or 20 points they just need to win the game. When betting the money line the favoured team will always be listed with a minus sign (e.g. -170) while the underdog will be listed with a plus sign (e.g. +170).

The Over/Under is the number of points bookmakers expect to scored in a game by both teams combined. The bookmakers will set a number (e.g. 198) and you would bet on if you think the total number of points scored by both teams will be more than the 198 or less than 198. At most sportsbooks you will see totals will be 20 cent lines or -110 on each side and this means you would bet $110 for every $100 you wanted to win although some reduced juice books will offer 10 cent lines and with these you would only need to wager $105 for every $100.