NBA
Basketball betting in Canada
How does basketball betting work?
One of North America's four major professional sports and a global fan favorite, basketball provides a combination of excitement, fun, and adventure for fans and sports bettors throughout the year. It is one of the most popular sports to wager on, with sportsbooks offering a diverse selection of markets that give numerous opportunities to get good value from the odds. Here are some of the most common basketball wagers:
-
Moneyline: This is a type of wager where you simply select the outright winner of a game, regardless of the score.
-
Point spread: Often referred to as betting the spread and sometimes known as handicap betting, point spread betting is a wager the margin a team will win or lose a game by.
-
Total or over/under: The goal for this bet is to predict if the combined number of points scored by two competing teams will go over or under the total specified by a sportsbook.
-
Futures: These are wagers on future events, such as which team will win the NBA Finals.
The best NBA sportsbooks
What are the top basketball events to bet on?
Betting on basketball offers almost endless options, and you can choose from a variety of leagues and events to bet on. The most popular for basketball betting are the National Basketball Association (NBA) and US college basketball. Additionally, you can bet on international leagues all over the world such as the Euroleague, the Spanish League (ACB), and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), which is the top women’s professional basketball league in the world.
The NBA is the world's most popular men's basketball league, as well as the most popular choice for basketball betting. It’s no secret that the best basketball players from around the world aim to play in the NBA. Based in North America, it has 29 teams from the United States and one from Canada.
NCAA basketball is the competition between colleges and universities in the US. The league is divided into numerous divisions based on a school's size, as well as conferences based on the geography and affiliation of the school. The champion of Division I Men's Basketball, which is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics in NCAA, is decided through a single-elimination tournament known as March Madness. Followed by millions around the globe, March Madness is one of the biggest annual betting events in North America.
Basketball betting tips
Research is a very important part of any basketball betting strategy. To give yourself the best chance of winning, you should gather as much information as possible about both sides of a bet before placing a wager. Examine all of the relevant statistics for each team and betting trends to see if any can be found. Check to see things such as if there is a star player on the injured list and a team’s record against the spread.
Pay attention to the teams' current play and assess the results of their most recent games instead of focusing on their place in the standings. Even the best teams can go through slumps, and losing teams might surprisingly improve. Find out what's driving those recent results and decide whether or not you think they'll apply to the game you want to bet on.
According to statistics, teams that play on consecutive nights or several times in a week have a harder time maintaining consistency, meaning rest days and when they fall are capable of having a large impact on the season. Keep an eye on the schedule, especially if you notice that a top-ranked team has been given better odds than usual.
The NBA is a high-octane league with multiple games played practically every day of the season. Select your bets carefully without worrying about missing out, as another opportunity to get good value from the odds will always come soon. Exploring the market to find value is crucial and BET.CA helps you compare lines across Canada’s top sportsbooks so you can shop around for the best odds.
Betting on basketball in Canada
There are plenty of sportsbooks that offer a large variety of markets for basketball betting. You can bet on all of the popular leagues and competitions from around the world, including the NBA, easily the number one basketball league in the world, the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL), Euroleague, and NCAA basketball including events such as March Madness.
Basketball has always been huge in Canada, although that has been further elevated by the recent success of the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors, Canada’s only representative in the NBA, won the NBA Finals for the first time in their history in 2019 and the crucial Game 6 that clinched the championship for them was reportedly watched by one in five people in Canada.
Canada is continuing to develop top-level basketball players like Andrew Wiggins, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, R.J. Barrett, Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, and Cory Joseph, many of whom currently turn out in the NBA thanks to a well-established grassroots system. Canada also has its own national basketball team, which finished as runners-up at the 2015 Pan American Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Basketball betting FAQs
What are the best basketball betting sites?
What are the best NBA bets tonight?
Who won in the NBA last night?
BET.CA's basketball betting guides are written by our seasoned betting experts, whose in-depth knowledge of the NBA and NCAA basketball will help you to bet smarter when searching for your next basketball wager.