NBA Finals Betting Guide
Not only is the NBA Finals the culmination of the Play-Offs and the game where East meets West, it is the climax of the entire year of NBA. Every team, player and fan dreams of reaching this stage all season long but one by one, teams start falling by the wayside and dropping out of the equation. Now we are left with just two teams and everyone is excited.
Basketball betting fans are excited and there will be a great deal of money bet and wagered on the best-of-seven series that is about to unfold between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. You don’t have to look too far for excitement or drama when it gets to the NBA Finals. You have some of the biggest names in basketball on the court and this is the sort of arena where heroes are made and legends are born. Every player knows that these are the games to lay it all on the line and this is what many basketball betting fans do as well.
There is so much riding on the NBA Finals for everyone, including punters and the bookmakers. You will often find it is difficult to find really attractive odds or a soft line during the NBA Finals because the bookmakers put a lot of time and effort into making sure their lines are as balanced as possible. This is fair for them but annoying for punters who are hoping for an opportunity to grab some cash in the climax to the 2013/14 NBA campaign.
Of course, just because there is no easy money available at the NBA Finals doesn’t mean that there is no money to make. There is an opportunity to grab some winnings at this stage of the season, allowing you to boost your account and also feel smug at getting one over the basketball betting sites. However, you need to be smart and there are some things to bear in mind when betting on the NBA Finals.
NBA Finals 2015 Betting Tips
- NBA Finals Betting Tips For June 7, 2015 – Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors
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- NBA Finals Betting Tips For June 4, 2015 – Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors
Swings and shocks occur during NBA Finals
Any regular basketball fan will know that in the NBA Finals, there can be a range of score lines throughout the series and some big changes from one game to the next. This is what happens in a Best-Of-Seven series, there is often a game where some teams click and others don’t.
You don’t have to look too far to find examples of this and the 2013 NBA Finals offers up plenty of big swings and surprising outcomes. The fact that the two teams in the 2014 NBA Finals also appeared in the 2013 NBA Finals means you would be mad to overlook the possibility of something similar happening again this year. Let’s check out the scores from last year’s NBA Finals:
- Game 1 result was San Antonio 92 – Miami 88
- Game 2 result was San Antonio 84 – Miami 103
- Game 3 result was Miami 77 – San Antonio 113
- Game 4 result was Miami 109 – San Antonio 93
- Game 5 result was Miami 104 – San Antonio 114
- Game 6 result was San Antonio 100 – Miami 103 (OT)
- Game 7 result was San Antonio 88 – Miami 95
The first five games show very little consistency at all. When you have two great teams marshalled by a top coach and packed full of great players, it is possible for this happen. The defeated coach will go away and tailor tactics to better counter the opposition and top class players will be hungry to avenge their previous loss. This often results in an inconsistent affair, which makes it very difficult for basketball betting fans to know where to place their money.
This is where it helps to stop thinking like a fan and think more about a coach. If you were the coach of a losing team, how would you react and what impact would these changes happen. If you were the coach of a winning team, would you keep a winning team or would you expect alterations from the opposition and then try to outfox them with tactics of your own? You may not be able to second guess the coaches, there are reasons why there are in the game and you are just betting on it but don’t blindly think that the form and performance levels of one game will blindly run on to the next one.
Think like a fan
Okay, we just told you to stop thinking like a fan and to think like a coach. Now we want you to think like a fan. We told you the NBA Finals are inconsistent and this is the key to winning, varying your approach and thinking about all occurrences. Thinking like a coach will help you to weigh up the likely outcomes of the game.
However, when it comes to finding the gaps in the lines on offer, think about the general public and what they think of the game. If you can think about what the general public is thinking, and what values they tend to overvalue when placing a bet, you can take advantage of what is on offer. Here are some game elements you will want to think about:
- Does any team need to win the game to stay alive?
- Are there aren’t trends in the Finals?
- Does any team have a greater number of star players or big time performers?
- What can the coach do?
- Is one team likely to be more tired than the other?
- How did the regular season matches between the teams go?
These are all factors that are commonly considered by the general public when looking to make bets and there may be times that these factors are over-stated. At the NBA Finals, there is a greater level of pressure, there is a higher level of adrenaline and so many different minor factors involved that anything which has gone before isn’t necessarily relevant now. However, if many people think that these elements are relevant and bet accordingly, bookmakers will price accordingly along the lines of the market. If you think the market is over-stating a certain element, this is where value appears for you.
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Prop Bets shouldn’t be abused
There will be plenty of prop bets on offer for the NBA Finals and if you want to gamble on virtually every aspect of the game, you can. Of course, just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. Do you really want to gamble on which team will win the tip-off? Unless you have insider knowledge, this can be akin to flipping a coin and it represents too high a gamble for the return you will receive. Prop bets and live bets can be attractive but keep calm, set your betting limits and stick to what you know and what you feel comfortable with. Prop bets and live bets can be fun and they can certainly add to the excitement surrounding the game but they can quickly sour your experience if they run away from you.