Basketball Betting Online
Similar to soccer, basketball is a popular international game played year-round in various formats. The most popular sources of basketball betting are the NBA, NCAA, and WNBA.
The NBA season runs from October to June, while college basketball plays from November to April. The WNBA season, on the other hand, runs from May to October.
Of course, the NBA is the most iconic and popular global brand as the major professional league from the United States.
Men’s college basketball is best known for its national championship tournament, which runs from mid-March to early April.
The WNBA is the women’s major professional league in the United States.
Due to its accessibility for people to play, simple rules, high scores, and easily identifiable players, basketball is a popular sport to play, watch, relate to, and bet on.
Basketball Betting Lines
NBA
The National Basketball Association used to be a top-heavy league with a handful of powerful teams and a large number of franchises that had little to no chance of winning. These days, however, the NBA has greater parity and shocking playoff results than it used to have in the past.
For the 2025-26 season, the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder are favored to repeat their title.
In Oklahoma City’s 105 games (regular season and playoffs combined), the Thunder outscored their opponents by 1,243 points, the largest cumulative point differential for any team in NBA history.
Their differential of 11.8 points per game ranks fourth all-time, and the 71 regular-season games they led by double digits were the most for any team in the 29 seasons those statistics have been tracked.
The Thunder, considering their youth and potential improvement from Holmgren and Jalen Williams, are well-suited to break that streak.
It’s a long season, and the Thunder may need to take their foot off the gas at some point to ensure they make it to a second straight June. Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the elite level.
For the Denver Nuggets, Jonas Valanciunas should help with the minutes when Nikola Jokic is off the floor.
The Nuggets have been outscored by 9.2 points per 100 possessions in minutes when Jokic rests over the last four seasons. When he's on the floor, the three-time MVP gives Denver a matchup advantage against every opponent.
In each of the two seasons since they won their title, the Nuggets have been the toughest opponent for the eventual champions.
The Houston Rockets are an emerging power team this year. The Rockets certainly needed a bucket-getter like the newly acquired Kevin Durant. Houston ranked 10th offensively (115.2 points scored per 100 possessions) in non-clutch situations.
Last year, if the defense could contain the Fred VanVleet-Alperen Sengun pick-and-roll, the Rockets struggled to get good (initial) shots down the stretch.
The ever-popular Los Angeles Lakers are always a popular pick by gamblers. The Lakers were outscored in 742 total minutes for the regular season and playoffs combined when Luka Doncic and LeBron James were on the floor together.
But they were outscored by their opponents by 17.2 points per 100 possessions (scoring 124.6 per 100) in 450 total minutes with Doncic on the floor without James.
James has shot 44% on catch-and-shoot 3s over the last two seasons, so it’s not like he’s a bad offensive fit alongside the guy who’s averaged a league-high 3.7 assists on 3-pointers over the last five years.
College Basketball
In college basketball, the Purdue Boilermakers will draw plenty of betting action in 2025-26.
The Boilermakers were seventh nationally in offensive efficiency last season and bring back the bulk of that group. The key to their quest for a national championship, however, will hinge on defense. They had the worst 2-point defense in the Big Ten last season, a stark drop-off from when Zach Edey was patrolling the paint. If Purdue can shore up its defense, Painter's team is the title favorite.
The Houston Cougars will also be a popular choice. The Cougars lost heartbreakingly in last season's title game, but three straight 1-seeds and four straight seasons of at least 32 wins point to yet another national championship-caliber team for Kelvin Sampson.
Not only do three starters return from last season's group, including projected first-rounders Milos Uzan and Joseph Tugler, but Houston also brings in one of the best recruiting classes in the country -- complete with three top-25 recruits, two of whom could start from day one.
WNBA
The WNBA finally arrived on the sports betting map when Caitlin Clark became a global sensation in 2024. However, Clark missed the second half of the 2025 season after taking plenty of abuse from most of the WNBA players who benefited from her presence.
The Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury met in the 2025 NBA Finals.
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