Behind the NFL, basketball is the most popular sport to bet on in America and also extremely popular worldwide. With games taking place around the world all year round, there is no shortage of betting opportunities and bookmakers have added several new betting markets into the mix in recent years which gives punters even more choice as to which bets to place.
Before placing your bets, there are a lot of factors to consider to ensure that you’re placing them at favourable odds so that your bets have value. Of course, you can get tips of the day in basketball and copy the bets of people who have done the research for you, but you can also analyse the factors yourself and come to your own conclusions as to what the best value bets are.
Below, we’ve listed a few points to take into consideration which should hopefully help you land more winning bets on basketball.
Team Schedules
Over 1200 games are played in an NBA season with each team heading out onto the court no less than 82 times. That’s far more games than in many other sports such as football and the hectic schedule can have an impact on player fatigue. If a team has already played several games that week and is heading into another, it’s likely that some players will be tired and not perform to their maximum ability.
As well as the schedule of the teams, another important factor is the location of their games. Travelling can also have an impact on performance and so if they are due to travel a long distance for their next game, they could be more tired than if they were playing at home.
Home Advantage
It shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that teams generally perform better when playing at home. This is partly due to the travelling aspect of away games as mentioned above but also the increased number of fans at home games give the players more energy and encouragement which helps them play better. This fact has been proven across all sports and not just basketball.
Of course, a team having a home advantage is often reflected in the odds with the odds on the home team being shorter than if they were playing the same opponents but in their stadium. However, it is still worth keeping in mind that teams perform better in front of their home crowd and in a familiar environment. If you consider two teams to be of equal ability, then it would be a smart move to back the home team rather than the travelling side.
Bet With Your Head
One of the biggest mistakes in betting, which applies to all sports, is betting with your heart and not your head.
Many punters back their hometown team on a regular basis no matter who they are playing. This is mainly because they have more knowledge of their team than others from watching them more and so they’ve experienced the good plays that they can make. However, the bad plays are often forgotten about and this can lead to expectations greater than reality.
Although you may want your team to win and believe that it is possible, take a step back into a neutral position and compare them to their opponents using statistics and other factors mentioned on this page rather than going with your heart.
Check Team News
A huge factor in determining whether or not to back a team in a basketball match is if they have any injuries.
Many teams have star players that when they are without, perform a lot worse. Unfortunately, many punters don’t take the time to look up team news and injuries before placing their bets which can lead to frustration once the lineups are announced and ultimately, fewer winning bets.
The status of players in all teams is widely available online for free. Simply visit fan pages of the teams or the teams official websites where you’ll be able to find news on any injuries or missing players for upcoming fixtures.