The NBA Finals is one of the most exciting two-week stretches on the entire sports calendar. The league’s best face off to determine which players will improve their legacy, and which players will fall just short of a world title.
For sports bettors, it also represents the last chance to bet on a different sport besides Major League Baseball until football season rolls around in early September. This means one thing: you’d better make it count.
In this article, I’ll go over 5 prop bets that you should try out the next time the NBA Finals roll around.
1 – Futures (Team)
Following the conclusion of the conference finals, once the matchup is set for the championship round there’s already a bet to consider: the futures bet where you’ll have the opportunity to wager on the eventual winner of the NBA Finals.
Before you start your analysis of how the two teams match up on the court, your first step should be considering the odds and the value they provide. It’s always interesting to see how the sportsbooks and the public view the matchup because surprisingly, despite being the championship round, there has routinely been a somewhat heavy favorite.
Obviously, there’s no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to sports betting, especially on the championship round. For that reason, I would recommend being a little bit hesitant to place your bet on a team who is, for example, a -350 favorite to win the series. Even the best teams in the league are one or two twisted ankles away from becoming very average.
If the underdog has odds of +250 or better, it might be worth your time and money to take the risk and see what happens. The best part about wagering on the underdog is that you don’t have to risk a lot to get a great return.
It’s challenging to put your hard-earned cash on a team who, in all likelihood, isn’t going to emerge victoriously. With that being said, we’re talking about sports, where time and time again the lesser of two teams is able to pull out the miracle win.
Because of the number of unforeseen variables that are inevitably going to present themselves during the series, a futures bet on the underdog could be a good bet if the value is right.
Finally, my personal favorite team prop bet is the “exact result” option that most of the big online betting platforms should offer to players. In this particular play, you get to take on the role of your favorite NBA pundits by predicting who will win, and in how many games. If you’re able to get both parts right, you’ll be looking at a nice payday.
Though the odds will vary based on the matchup, for reference the 2021 odds are between +330 (the lowest) for a Phoenix Suns win in 7 games, to +1800 (the highest) for the Bucks winning in 4 games. It’s not worth it to list all of the combinations and associated odds, but the span and the range between the two I’ve laid out here.
2 – Futures (MVP)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo +175
- Chris Paul -175
- Devin Booker +1000
- Khris Middleton +6600
- Jrue Holiday +10000
- Deandre Ayton +6600
- Brook Lopez +25000
- Jae Crowder +20000
- Mikal Bridges +20000
*Odds Provided by BetUS.
If you don’t feel like the value is there to make a futures bet on the winner of the series, there are other popular futures play that might look a bit more appealing.
It’s no secret that the best player on the winning team usually comes away with the Finals MVP, but you don’t need to look too hard to find examples of a rather unexpected role player taking home the honors. The Golden State Warriors Finals MVP Andrew Iguodala comes to mind as one who pulled off the feat. If you’re wondering how much a futures bet on Iggy would have netted you, the odds were a staggering 125-1.
As always – and yes, this is a recurring theme – it comes down to the odds. While it might seem like the best bet is on the best player on the best team, you typically can find better value if you bet on a more unsuspecting player.
3 – Individual Game Player Props
The game’s best players shine brightest on the biggest stage, and the stakes don’t get any higher than the NBA Finals. If you don’t feel confident in betting on the outcome of the game (or even if you do), it’s a good idea to check out some of the prop bet offerings on your preferred sports betting platform.
When reviewing your options, it’s a good idea to browse a few different real money sportsbooks as there will almost certainly be some differences in the offerings and the odds from one site to another. Not to mention, line shopping is always a best practice that I’d recommend to anyone who’s serious about turning their gambling hobby into a profitable side hustle.
When it comes to the bets, the over/under scoring for total for individual players are always some of the most popular player props. The downside is sportsbooks can sometimes put -120 odds on either side of the bet in order to ensure they’ll make their cut, so if this is the case it might be better to lay off.
If you’re the type of bettor who likes to get a little more creative with your picks, try one of the points + rebounds + assists options and follow along as your pick fills up the stat sheet and your bankroll at the same time.
That the NBA is all about matchups, and if you find there’s a mismatch on the court you can take advantage of it via player props. You can also consider making prop bets for a player on each team, as the finals are usually close. This means that if one team scores a lot the other tends to as well.
4 – Team Props
Of course, if there are player props, there have to be team options as well! While I won’t go as far as to say these are as fun to play as individual player bets, they certainly have quite a bit of value.
It should be noted that you’re going to need to be a little more risk tolerant if you want to make the most of team props. This should come as no surprise: you aren’t going to find odds of +300 and +400 on something that is highly likely to happen, as nice as that would be.
Again, the exact bet offerings, as well as the associated odds, will vary from sportsbook to sportsbook, but the most common team prop bet offerings are typically first half/second half bets and first team to “[x amount]” of points.
With first half/second half bets, sportsbooks will put odds on which teams will win each half (crazy, right?), but there’s a catch – you have to pick the right combination in order to win the bet. This is not to be confused with the more standard “half” bet where you would choose a team (typically with a point spread involved) to win a half.
If you do try out the half/half bet, you can enjoy pretty favorable odds. For example, if you choose the underdog to win the first half but the favorite to come back and win the game, you’ll be looking at odds in the neighborhood of +400/500…not too shabby.
Conclusion
Prop bets are becoming more and more popular, especially as the lines in big sporting events become sharper than ever. Additionally, legalization has resulted in the widespread availability of bet offerings that simply weren’t accessible to most gamblers in the past.
At the end of the day, prop bets make games much more entertaining since you can have multiple bets going at once. If you do your homework and aren’t afraid to take on a little more risk (for a big reward, of course), you can turn prop bets into a profitable part of your NBA Finals betting strategy.
https://www.thesportsgeek.com/blog/prop-wagers-you-might-consider-using-on-the-nba-finals/
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