Find out which bookmakers offer the best NBA odds for New Zealand bettors and learn how to place successful bets with our complete guide to NBA betting in New Zealand. Read More The National Basketball Association in the USA is home to the best basketball players and is considered to be the world’s biggest basketball league – it counts millions of fans at home and around the world, including New Zealand. As a result, NBA betting is increasingly popular. This American basketball league is played across 82 regular-season games and 60 days of finals. Prior to and throughout this period, fans in New Zealand have a great opportunity to place NBA over-under bets, NBA prop bets, and a variety of other markets which will be explained in this guide. Due to the popularity of the NBA amongst Kiwis, several top sportsbooks offer competitively priced odds and markets. Accurate NBA betting predictions are highly sought after, and fans are often looking at the best way to bet on NBA. Whilst there is no hard and fast rule to a successful strategy, this guide will provide you with some NBA betting tips and other useful information. No Code Required 4.5/5 Deposit NZ$ 10 and get NZ$ 30 of Free Bets Go to 888 Go to review New customers only. 18+. T&Cs apply. No Code Required 4.5/5 Matched bonus up to $50 in free bet Go to Leovegas Go to review New customers only. 18+. T&Cs apply. No Code Required 4.5/5 Get a 100% bonus up to NZ$100 Go to Bethard Go to review Bethard’s general T&Cs apply. 18+. New customers only. Min Deposit NZ$ 20. Min. wagering requirement X4. General T&Cs apply. No Code Required 4.6/5 NO DEPOSIT: $5 cash or 20 free spins + 200% up to $100 on first deposit Go to Betzest Go to review 18+ and T&C’s apply No Code Required 4.3/5 Get a Free Sports Bet up to $60 Go to Betway Go to review New Customers from New Zealand only. Min Deposit: 10 NZD. First deposit matched up to 60 NZD. 1 x wagering at odds of 1.75+ to unlock Free Bet. Credit Card and Debit Card deposits only. 18+. T&Cs apply. No Code Required 4.5/5 Bet $20 and get an extra 20$ of free bet Go to Royal Panda Go to review New customers only. 18+. T&C’s Apply How to bet on NBA games in NZ Before you start to place your first basketball wager it is a good idea to understand the basics of the NBA. The league consists of 30 teams, all American with the exception of one Canadian. Following the completion of the 82-season games, the best eight teams from the East and West conferences face off in the playoffs held between April and June. All this means you will have plenty of opportunities to bet on the NBA! Betting on NBA step-by-step: Choose your bookmaker – pick a reputable operator who offers odds at a good value. Sign up and claim your welcome bonus – new players are usually gifted with a matched bonus in free bets. Pick your match and betting market – we explain betting markets and type of bets further down so you can decide which one works best for you. Select odds – make sure the odds have a good value. Place a bet! In anticipation of the start of the NBA as well as during the entire league, betting sites in New Zealand let you place a whole range of wagers, including NBA player prop bets and NBA over-under bets. With so many markets and odds to choose from, this American basketball league certainly offers New Zealand punters a great choice of entertainment and NBA betting predictions. Understanding NBA best bets If you open an account with a reputable NZ online bookmaker you will have access to a variety of odds and markets. At first, the choice can be overwhelming. To help you out, we’re explaining the most common ones. Simple NBA bets explained Match betting – In this bet you are backing either the Home or Away team to win. Since teams that are tied at the fourth quarter go into overtime, most online bookmakers include this eventuality in their odds.Propositions – NBA prop bets give you a chance to wager on alternative occurrences in a match or league, such as “how many dunks will take place during this game?” NBA player prop bets are similar but focused on individual players, such as “will player 1 block player 2’s dunks during this match?”.Money lines – These bets simply try to predict the winner of a particular match. There are no other stipulations, such as total points, which need to be considered.Points Spread – This is the number of points by which the online bookmaker predicts one team will win over the other.Parlays – This bet covers between two and 12 matches and normally centres around the winner of each match. Different bookmakers might set different rules and conditions, but you would normally need to get all predictions correct in order to win. Complex NBA bets explained Futures bets – These wagers are based on correct NBA betting predictions for matches which might take place in the future. Examples of future bets include teams who will win in the playoffs, teams that will make it to the playoffs, and the team that will finish on top of the respective conference.Handicap betting – A handicap bet helps gets both sides of a match closer, by giving better odds for the team which is likely to lose and a handicap to the predicted winner. By using handicap betting you may still win your bet even if your team loses.Total points scored – The betting site tries to predict the cominbed number of points earned by both teams and the punter gets to bet whether the total will be higher or lower.Total points odd/even – Building upon the previous bet, this bet lets you wager on whether the total number of points will be odd or even. Unlike most NBA best bets, total points bets do not involve any skill.Big win/little win – This bet allows you to wager on the score of each team by grouping them up into big and little wins. A little win is normally considered to be between 1-10 points whereas a big win is usually anything higher than that. Over/unders – A bookmaker would start with a prediction of total points scored in a game. Punters can bet using NBA over-under bets to try and predict whether the actual result will be over or under this total.First basket – This bet is based on the first player or team to make its first basket of the game. Payouts for choosing the right player are much higher than when betting on the team. Live NBA betting in New Zealand One of the most exciting aspects of betting on American basketball games from New Zealand is being able to bet during a game. Every minute within the game provides unexpected moments and surprises, continually changing the odds at your bookmaker. ℹ️ Live bets normally include the feature to cash out early. This means that you can close your bet before the game or the bet itself is decided. Cashing out early will subject your bet to updated odds which may work in your favour or against you. In any case, you would be notified of the current odds before you confirm your cash out request Where to watch NBA live streaming In addition to betting during live games, several top NZ bookmakers let you watch the games on your computer or mobile phone. Live streaming provides even more excitement as you can see how different players and teams are behaving during the game and place live bets based on your analysis. 888 Sport is probably the best way to bet on NBA. In addition to having a reputation for great customer care and enticing sports promotions, this online bookmaker lets you watch a variety of live games throughout the season. 888Sport lets you enjoy NBA All-Star game betting and other major events live, from the comfort of your home. You will find plenty of markets available, and you can even build-your-bet to create your own combination.Betway, known for offering some of the best sports odds in the world, Betway provides live streaming of numerous basketball games along with many other popular sports. Once you’re logged in you can place your bet in just two clicks, and you can choose between existing bets or build-your-own options. The sportsbook also offers a Betway Bonus with greater payouts in selected markets.LeoVegas might not be as well-equipped for live streaming NBA games as 888Sport and Betway, but it offers an extensive online casino and live casino game selection to make up for it. You can enjoy a number of basketball games live on the web version of the sportsbook. Alternatively, you can opt to download the award-winning mobile apps to enjoy a streaming experience wherever you are. 888 Sport offers odds on the NBA fantasy market as well. Register a new account and play with NZ$ 30 in Free Bets! Understanding odds and how to bet on NBA games The best way to understand how odds work and how to bet on NBA games is with an example. Imagine that you want to bet on the upcoming game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Visiting several top bookmakers you find that 888 Sport has the best odds, paying 1.15 for the 76ers to win and 5.50 for the Cavaliers to win. Another sportsbook is paying out 5.40 for the Cavaliers, and since you believe they will win you go for the sportsbook with the higher potential payout. You place a wager on the Cavaliers of NZ$50. If you’re successful, you will receive NZ$275. This is worked out as NZ$50 x 5.50 = NZ$275. Based on previous games and NBA betting predictions you read online, you believe the total score won’t exceed 220 points. You decide to try this theory out and select one of the NBA over-under bets which is closest. In this way, you bet NZ$20 bet on an Under 223.5 market with odds 1.91. If this bet is successful, then you will win a further NZ$38.20. Line betting in NBA explained Line betting in the NBA consists of a bookmaker setting odds for a particular game to determine the likely winner and loser. The potential loser, known as the underdog, is given better odds whilst the likely winner is given a handicap. This handicap creates a line, or margin with only two possible outcomes. Using the example above, imagine that an online bookmaker believed that the 76ers were only going to be 30 points ahead of the Cavaliers. In order to provide a line bet, the bookmaker could handicap the 76ers by 30 points. Now, punters have two bet options, either wager on the 76ers winning with more than 30 points or having the Cavailiers get within 30 points of the 76ers. Either outcome would be offered at the same odds in a line bet. Line bets are a good way to receive a payout even when the team you are backing loses. In fact, in our example, the Cavaliers simply need to reduce the different to less than 30. They can still lose, but at long as the points difference is 5, or 10, or 20, your bet will still pay out. NBA betting tips Before you start making your own NBA betting predictions it is important to remember that all games are random and uncertain. Anything can happen, including a surprise shot, a serious injury or a game being called off. Using the following NBA basketball betting tips you could improve the likelihood of better overall results. However, these tips offer no guarantee of successful bets. Research the teams – Most NBA best bets provide an opportunity for skilled punters to identify possible results. Before placing a wager research the participating teams, including their schedule, injuries, and past results. Consider the power of the underdog at home – No team, even an underdog, wants to lose at home and disappoint its loyal fans. Whilst there’s no guarantee of a victorious game for the home team, you can be sure that they would certainly give it their all. Don’t just bet on your favourite team – You might be tempted to support your team with a bet, but it’s always better to use your mind than your heart. Shop around for odds – Online bookmakers are free to set their own odds and markets, so it’s a good idea to have accounts with different ones to get the best deal. Be sure to keep an eye out for better odds for specific markets or build-your-own bets. Bet small – You should limit each wager to NZ$10 or NZ$20. If you have a bigger bankroll consider placing different market bets rather than increasing the value of a single bet. In this way you will hedge potential wins and losses and increase the likelihood of a positive balance.