Best NBA Consensus Picks
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world, with millions of people tuning in to watch the NBA every week during the regular season. In this article we’ll cover NBA consensus picks.
- Best NBA Consensus Picks
- NBA Sports Picks – NBA Consensus Picks
- Read the Bookmaker
- Moving Lines – NBA Consensus
- Point Scoring
- Watch Out For Favorites
With the rise of sports betting in America and the legalization amongst states, many fans have taken to online to enjoy a different aspect of the sport.
There are so many options from sportsbooks online, with plenty of opportunities for fans and players to earn some money from placing wagers online.
Trying to predict who will win a match can prove to be quite difficult, especially if you’re starting to bet on teams you’re not familiar with.
US Leagues Betting has amassed years of knowledge on sports and what to look out for when placing wagers online. With this in mind, we want to pass on what we’ve learnt over the years to beginners and basketball fans alike.
Our NBA consensus picks will feature up-to-date information, giving you our experts’ picks on what to look out for on matchups and what might decide a game.
NBA Sports Picks – NBA Consensus Picks
Basic skills and strategies lay the groundwork to make informed NBA bets.
Sports handicappers will gather information on teams’ performances and historic stats. They will research into the odds or ‘read the lines’ as to why the oddsmakers have set those lines, providing insight into why they’re wagering on one side of a match over the other.
These tips/ picks help to pave the groundwork for you to increase your chances of winnings. Typically this is done by doing your homework which includes taking several factors into account such as injuries, weather and home/away games to shortlist the winner.
The whole process is known as ‘handicapping’ in the sports betting circles. NBA consensus picks is another part of this.
Read the Bookmaker
Setting apart the pros from the amateurs, reading the bookmaker’s intentions is one of the most valuable skills there is. It’s essentially understanding why the odds or betting lines are set at those prices for the particular matchups. This is known as the ‘game behind the game’ pick as you uncover the bookmaker’s intention of odds on the opening line. It’s extremely important in NBA betting, as odds will constantly change with the general public or fan base swaying the favourites one or the other way. This could ultimately increase or decrease your winning stack if successful.
Bookmakers will capitalize on common perceptions made by fans by putting pick’em games on the home team. With a ‘pick’em’ game the spread is always placed to create interest in betting for both the teams. If there were clear team favorites and odds were in favor of them, the bookmakers would ultimately lose out.
To counter that they use both teams having an even spread and you simply pick the winner. The online sportsbooks may place the Home Team (-1) opening lines even if the home team should open at a 1-point underdog. By placing the Home Team (-1) or (-1.5) makes the fan base pay a premium on their betting habit. Without realising the true line that the teams should be placed at.
With that knowledge, the online sportsbooks know they’re going to receive more bets on the basketball home team. Therefore to capitalise and create a profit in the long run, they use that percentage of the action to pay the vig.
Moving Lines – NBA Consensus
This concept is about noticing when the public place their bets and when the professionals or experts do.
With some of the best sports wagering experts on the market, they know to sometimes wait after the general fan base place their bets before they do. If you see a line move one direction after the initial fans placing heavily on the other side of the bet, you’re witnessing the experts taking advantage of the uneducated public.
With so many promotions and sports news favouring one side when it comes to NBA match-ups, most of the general fans will jump on trends too early without taking consideration of other factors, following their hearts rather than their heads! This creates a perfect opportunity for expert bettors to make their bets which will most likely be against the general public.
Point Scoring
One of the consideration, when picks are made, is how a team usually scores. We focus on consistency to see whether they heavily depend on one type of game style or go through heats of scoring.
For example, one team might heavily rely on 3-pointers, which makes for fantastic watching on TV but can easily go cold coming up short for points in some games. Whereas a team who drives their points through posting up and driving to the basket will see more consistency in their play.
Teams which shoot beyond the arch can create some special shots but if they go on a cold streak can create unfavorable positions for the long term. This also comes down to point-scoring average and whether there’s a superstar amongst the team or the team can perform without their superstar when they are benched.
Watch Out For Favorites
Avoiding big favorites can prove to be beneficial as they tend to be overvalued or inflated due to public perception.
Betting lines will place teams based on the point spread they think will win by, but that doesn’t mean the team has to achieve the set points in order to win.