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Basketball -NBA
Over the last five year the NBA has risen into the American sports stratosphere and is now challenging the NFL for top spot.
Players such as Kobe Bryant, Shaq O'Neal and Le Bron James have raised the profile so high that they have become huge role models and aspirational figures for kids all over the world. It is widely thought that the prevalence of the NBA has led to the demise of West Indies cricket -as the youth of the Carribean now dream of hoops rather than hatricks.
If you are new to NBA then we will direct you towards the best betting opportunities and basketball information.
How Is It Set Up?
The NBA regular season runs over 82 games and if a team goes all the way to the title they will play at least another dozen games.
The 30 teams divide into two conferences, East and West -both of which have three regional divisions consisting of 5 teams.
The season runs from November to early May, with games scheduled throughout the holiday period -even Christmas Day, which is good from a betting point of view because there's usually bugger all else going on on that day of the year!
Who Plays Who?
As with other major sports in the USA, teams go on road trips where they will play several franchises in a particular region.
In spite of being in different leagues & divisions, each team plays every other team several times over the season -with games often being played in clusters (known as series).
So Which Are The Best Teams?
There are around six teams who can win the NBA title; San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, Boston and maybe the LA Lakers. Having the best player in the league doesn't guarantee success -every team needs a good big man, a genius-like playmaker and a strong bench if they are to win the NBA crown.
What's With All The Statistics?
Like most American sports, they believe that if they can measure it then they can manage it (and analyse it of course!). Hence, the game is awash with numbers, but all these figures can be helpful to the punter -as we get an insight into how many points may be scored in each game and by whom.
There are two sites that have all the info that you could ever want -ESPN & NBA stats.
What Are The Betting Opportunities?
Just like football, you can bet on the seasonal outcomes or individual games -although betting in-running is limited to the play-off games.
The spread firms Sporting Index, Spreadex, Spreadfair and IG Sport usually set spreads for the winning margins and the number of points scored in each game. These spreads are quite small so its unusual to win or lose too much, unless you are playing in high stakes.
If you take a long term view and want to have a bet that gives you some interest for 8 months then why not try to pick the winners of the Eastern & Western Conferences and also the NBA play-offs winner.
William Hill offers prices on all these title races and there is plenty of value in the overall race -with no obvious favourite it is 4/1 the field. Bet Now with William Hill
Where & When Can I Bet On NBA?
The TV schedule for the NBA can be found at livesportontv.com and the best places to bet on the NBA individual games are Sporting Index (where they update on a daily basis) and long-term IG Sport.
Channel 5 televises a game in the early hours once a week
presented by the excellent Mark Webster and analyst Andre Alleyne, they also show a round-up prgramme called NBA 360.
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