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Welcome to the NBA
What is the NBA?
NBA is an abbreviation for the National Basketball Association, a professional basketball league held in North America .
It is the most popular professional basketball league in the world and is also the league with the highest standards, so much so that it is called the ‘dream stage’ for players.
NBA popularity
The NBA is a professional basketball league with a significant scale in North America, and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, along with the NFL (American football), MLB (Major League Baseball), and NHL (ice hockey).
Since its establishment in 1946 (predecessor ‘BAA’), it was not as popular as other sports or college basketball in its early days, but as the 80s and 90s progressed, it reached its heyday with the emergence of numerous star players and Michael Jordan.
The NBA also has the highest salary scale and significant revenue structure in North American sports, implementing promotional strategies that are in line with trends, such as numerous brand partnerships and social media marketing.
Above all, the reason the NBA is gaining popularity not only in North America but also around the world is because it shows a very high level of competition and has produced countless superstars in the process.
Even after Michael Jordan’s retirement, star players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry continue to drive the league’s popularity, and this, combined with the NBA’s strength in marketing, has become a driving force behind the influx of younger sports fans.
The Allure of NBA Betting
Due to the various factors mentioned above, the NBA has become a stage that attracts a lot of capital and fans, making it a popular option in the sports betting market.
Basketball is a popular choice in the sports betting market due to its inherent speed and dynamism, its teamwork as a team sport, and the presence of the aforementioned superstars. Of these, the NBA is undoubtedly an attractive option.
The NBA, in particular, is known for its tight game schedule, making consistent betting possible. This offers significant advantages, as it allows you to continuously leverage the flow of the game, including player conditioning and team spirit, in your betting strategy.
It is loved by many sports users because it allows for more effective real-time betting when using a betting platform that provides a streaming system and the feature of being able to bet by quarter .
Understanding NBA Basics
League and Team Structure
The NBA consists of 30 teams: 29 from the United States and one Canadian team (Toronto Raptors).
Because of the continent’s size, the league is largely divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, each of which is further divided into three divisions, for a total of two conferences and six divisions.
Eastern Conference participating teams
- Atlantic Division : Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors
- Central Division : Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks
- Southeast Division : Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards
Western Conference participating teams
- Northwest Division : Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz
- Pacific Division : Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings
- Southwest Division : Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs
How the season progresses
regular season
The NBA regular season begins around the end of October every year and runs until April of the following year .
Over the course of approximately 25 weeks during the season, each team plays a total of 82 games, alternating between home (41 games) and away (41 games).
- 4 games against teams in the same division: 4X4=16 games
- 4 games against teams in the same conference: 9X4=36 games
- 2 games against teams from other conferences: 15X2=30 games
→ A total of 82 games
The regular season’s conference rankings determine who will advance to the playoffs, a tournament that determines the champion for that year.
playoffs
The NBA Playoffs take place from late April to early June after the regular season.
The top eight teams in each Eastern and Western conference standings will qualify for the playoffs, resulting in a total of 16 teams competing in the playoff tournament.
The playoffs consist of the play-in tournament, first round, conference semifinals, conference finals, and NBA Finals, and each round is a best-of-seven series.
- Play-In Tournament : A new tournament format introduced after the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season, this format features a one-game series between the teams ranked 7th to 10th in each conference for the 7th and 8th seeds in the first round. The winner of the 7th-vs-8th matchup advances to the 7th seed in the first round, while the losing team advances to a one-game series against the winner of the 9th-vs-10th matchup for the 8th seed.
- Round 1 (Round of 16) : Matches will be held in the following format: 1st place team vs. 8th place team, 2nd place team vs. 7th place team, 3rd place team vs. 6th place team, and 4th place team vs. 5th place team in each conference.
- Conference Semifinals (Quarterfinals) : Matches will be held in the format of the 1st and 8th place winners of each conference vs. the 4th and 5th place winners, and the 2nd and 7th place winners vs. the 3rd and 6th place winners.
- Conference Finals (Semifinals) : The two winning teams from the conference semifinals play in a semifinal to advance to the NBA Finals.
Thus, the two teams that win the Eastern and Western Conference Finals advance to the NBA Finals .
NBA Finals
The Eastern Conference winner and Western Conference winner who make it through the playoffs advance to the NBA Finals to compete for the title of league champion for that season.
The NBA Finals are a best-of-seven series, and the winning team takes home the trophy and the honor of being named NBA Champion.
The player who performs the best during this NBA Finals series is selected as the Finals MVP, also known as ‘Paem’, by votes from reporters and media, and receives the trophy, which is a very highly regarded title in a player’s individual career.
NBA Features (Compared to FIBA Rules)
The reason the NBA has been so commercially successful is because it has adopted rules that differ from those set by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to make the game more exciting .
For reference, the Korean Basketball League (KBL) follows FIBA rules, so you can think of it as the difference between the NBA and KBL .
Match time
- NBA : 4 quarters of 12 minutes each = 48 minutes total game time
- FIBA : 4 quarters of 10 minutes each = 40 minutes total game time
Although they play the same 4 quarters, the NBA’s quarters are 12 minutes long, making them longer than FIBA’s.
Therefore, the physical prowess of the players and the coaching staff’s game management skills are emphasized more. Furthermore, high scoring can lead to spectacular matches.
3-point line
- NBA : 7.24 meters
- FIBA : 6.75 meters
The NBA sets its three-point line 50cm further away than the International Basketball Federation standard .
From the attacker’s perspective, scoring becomes more difficult, requiring a variety of attacking tactics that utilize space, and from the defender’s perspective, the defensive range expands, requiring more detailed defensive tactics.
Foul rule
- NBA : 6 fouls ejection, offensive fouls do not count as team fouls, technical fouls are separate from personal fouls, foul calls are lenient
- FIBA : 5 fouls ejection, offensive fouls count as team fouls, technical fouls count as team fouls, strict foul calls
The NBA has a more relaxed foul rule than FIBA, which allows players to play more freely and aggressively by minimizing referee intervention.
Defender 3-second rule
- NBA : Existence
- FIBA : No operation except for CBA (Chinese Men’s Professional Basketball League)
The 3-second rule for defenders is a rule that prohibits defenders from remaining in the paint zone (restricted area) under the goal for more than 3 seconds when not defending an attacking player one-on-one in a defensive situation.
From an attacking perspective, it becomes much easier to create scoring opportunities because the opposing defense cannot crowd the goal, and from a defending perspective, a more organized and team-based defensive strategy is required, resulting in a higher level of play.
NBA Analysis Know-How
Analysis of recent economic trends
As I mentioned, the NBA has a tight schedule and a small number of players competing, so recent game performances and team atmosphere have a big impact on subsequent games.
Therefore, it can be very helpful to keep track of recent matches and upcoming schedules.
Check schedule and results
When the league is in progress, you can check the schedule provided on the NBA website to see the previous game records and future schedule of your selected team.
By clicking on ‘BOX SCORE’ or ‘GAME DETAILS’ of a specific match that has ended, you can check the stats of the players who played in that match or the match details by quarter, which will help you understand recent match performance .
Additionally, since the NBA is a league with extreme home/away performance and advantage effects, checking where the game is played is also an essential element of analysis.
Lineup Analysis
Basketball is a team sport, but the number of players participating in a match is small, with only five players. Furthermore, the NBA, in particular, has different rules, making it more dependent on individual player skills . Therefore, analyzing the lineup is a crucial task.
Once the lineup for a game is released, you can check it out through the NBA’s Daily Lineup , where you can check player stats and other information.
Check team/player stats
Clicking on a player’s name in the lineup or going to the stats leaderboard will show you various metrics for that specific player and which players are currently performing well in the league.
Here you can check various in-depth stats that can help you judge a player’s impact on the game, from basic stats like PPG (Points Per Game), RPG (Rebounds Per Game), and APG (Assist Per Game) .
Not only that, but if you go into Teams Information on the site, you can check each team’s profile, player roster, and most importantly, the current season team stats .
Using the above information, it is possible to determine the approximate strength of each team and the ace players who lead the game, which is very helpful when betting.
However, in the early stages of the season, it is difficult to predict matches based solely on player names and stats due to incomplete team chemistry caused by transfers and a small sample size. Therefore, we recommend that you refer to the results in depth once the season has progressed to a certain extent.
Check injured person information
Basketball is a sport that is physically demanding, with a lot of sprinting, jumping, and fighting for the ball, so injuries occur quite frequently .
Since the NBA has a tight schedule, managing players’ condition during the season is more important than anything else.
So, when checking the lineup before placing a bet, the most important thing to keep an eye on is identifying players who are out of action due to injury or rest .
You can check out ROTOWIRE’s NBA lineup site [link], which allows you to check out lineups for various sports , to see which players are ineligible (OUT) from the projected lineup , and which players are expected to play but have their playing time adjusted (GTD) .
As mentioned above, basketball is a team sport, but if a star player is out of action due to injury or other reasons, it can have a significant impact on the team’s performance, so it is always a good idea to check for injuries.
How to bet well on the NBA?
Once you’re comfortable analyzing game flow and lineups, the next step is to utilize the various NBA betting options to create a betting plan that will yield good results.
For example, if you have identified through lineup analysis that a player responsible for scoring on the team has been injured, you can either bet on the opposing team to win or bet on the under option in the over/under betting.
By developing your own NBA betting strategy through detailed analysis and appropriate betting methods, you can achieve both an enjoyable and profitable betting experience.
Basketball Over/Under Analysis Method Post [Link]
How to Calculate and Analyze Basketball Handicaps [Link]
