Peter has been writing for the gambling industry since 2013, and ed the SportsCasting team in July 2024. Outside of work Peter is a runner, gig rower, guitarist and musician (releasing two albums under the name 'ShiroToKuro'). Peter is also a lover of manga, anime and Japanese cinema and can even read and speak Japanese at the conversational level.
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Ian Bruce became interested in betting in 1987, when he landed a winning Yankee on his first attempt. That stroke of luck (and he its that's exactly what it was) sparked an interest in understanding the strategies behind successful wagers. Over the years, he has become one of the UK's most prolific writers on betting and gaming, and is best known for his systematic approach to winning. Ian's career in the industry now spans over three decades. His favorite betting method is Dutching because, in his words, "It's the one I win with more often than not."
All posts by Ian BruceThe best NBA betting sites are those where you can easily bet on the world’s premier basketball league, with offers and promotions for the NBA, too. This page will outline the leading basketball gambling sites in the UK, as well as provide hints and tips on how you can slam dunk the most from your NBA betting.
Top 10 NBA Betting Sites at a Glance
Let’s tip-off with what we consider to be the leading ten basketball betting sites in the UK for NBA betting. Each entry gives a reason why we feel you need to consider them for your NBA bets.
- Bet365 – The number one choice for all your NBA betting needs
- Fitzdares – Global basketball coverage, including the Philippines and South Korea
- Spreadex – Basketball spread betting (not betting on the spread)
- 10bet – All leagues covered brilliantly, including EuroLeague and EuroCup
- NRG – New site for the UK offering NBA treble boosts
- All British Sports – Outstanding coverage of in-play basketball
- Betfred – Excellent choice if you like to bet on women’s basketball
- PlanetSport Bet – from the same stable as NRG and almost as good!
- Rhino – Excellent coverage of NCCA basketball as well as the NBA
Five of the Best Basketball Betting Sites in Detail
Having briefly run through the choice candidates for the title of best NBA betting site, let’s now look at the top five in more detail. The following mini-reviews should help you decide where you’d like to start placing your basketball betting wagers.
1. Bet365 – The Number One Choice for All Your NBA Betting Needs
Bet365 generally comes out on top for all things sports betting in the UK, but perhaps it is a bit of a surprise that it scores three-pointer after three-pointer for the NBA. Coverage of basketball with bet365 NBA betting is a sure-free winner no matter the nation or league, but for the NBA, it is simply outstanding. It has more markets for any NBA game than any other UK site as far as we can determine, and it has plenty of inventive ones, too. Live coverage is outstanding as well, plus bet365 offers early payout on basketball – your bet is paid as a win as soon as the team you backed goes 18 (20 NBA) points ahead.
In addition to all this backboard-bounce-in goodness bet365 really excels for live streaming of NBA games. As long as you have a funded at the site, or if you have placed at least one bet there in the last 24 hours, then you can live stream ANY NBA game, dipping in and out of other games as you see fit. Okay, so it’s not the HD NBA streaming UK service you will pay for elsewhere, but the streams are ideal for watching on your phone. You can check the site’s NBA Bet Builder + and choose daily from a number of Bet Boosts too.
What We Like:
- Live streaming of all NBA matches is available
- Bet Builder + and bet365 NBA bets boosts available for NBA basketball games
- Early payout settles your bet as a win if your backed team goes 18 (20 NBA) points ahead
Room for Improvement:
- NBA streaming UK is not totally ‘free’
2. Fitzdares – Global Basketball Coverage Including Philippines and South Korea
Fitzdares began life many moons ago as a specialist, upmarket betting club that centred upon horse racing betting, but over the past three years or so, it has greatly expanded its repertoire to include much more than horse racing betting markets, including creating an online sports betting site in 2023. While the online version of Fitzdares still centres on horse racing, with football a reasonably distant second, it offers extensive markets when it comes to the NBA, plus NCAA college games and top global basketball leagues and competitions.
In of NBA betting, Fitzdares serves up a regular menu of just under 20 or so markets per NBA game. These include game lines, handicaps (and alternatives), as well as quarter and half betting. However, nearly all markets are team-based, with little to nothing for player props, which is a big miss. Basketball coverage at the site covers the NBA in full, plus NCAAB betting and coverage of all top-tier b-ball leagues.
What We Like:
- Twenty or so markets per NBA game
- Top coverage of NCAAB and global basketball
- Responsive site that’s easy to use
Room for Improvement:
- Absolutely no player props
3. Spreadex – Best for Basketball Spread Betting
Spreadex, as you may well be aware, is not your typical sports betting site. It does offer the usual fixed odds betting, but most people use it for spread betting. We don’t recommend spread betting for newbs on the NBA, so that begs the question, why are we recommending Spreadex? Our reasoning is UK spread betting is different to US spread betting (which is actually a form of handicap betting) so we do recommend spread betting on basketball, as long as you do it at Spreadex.
Basketball spread betting at Spreadex works in the same way as trading, in which you hope to buy low and then sell high. Spreadex will offer a range of prices for a market, and it’s up to you to buy or sell. If you buy, you will hope the price (some metric of the games, such as total points scored) rises and if you sell, you will hope the price falls. For example, you could buy the Celtics at 110 points in a game and then sell at 115 (their final score), making a five-unit profit. Betting in this way is not for the novice, but if you really know your b-ball game, then Spreadex could be ideal for spread betting markets.
What We Like:
- Basketball experts can really make profits at Spreadex
- Daily team, match and player markets
- Over 100 markets for NBA games, 85+ NCAAB games
Room for Improvement:
- Only a dozen or so markets for non-US basketball games
4. 10bet – All Leagues Covered Brilliantly, Including EuroLeague and EuroCup
With barely any pro basketball in England, most basketball fans follow the NBA. But that means five or so months go by for basketball fans with no basketball to watch or basketball to bet on … or so you may think. There’s plenty of global basketball, and while the standard is not as high as the NBA, the games are still well worth watching. And, of course, still worth betting on. Top of the non-US basketball shop are the EuroLeague and the EuroCup, and you get bet on them both at 10bet.
10bet has been around for a long time now (established in 2003), although that doesn’t beat the EuroLeague (2000) or EuroCup (2002). Just so you know, the EuroLeague is the top-tier league, and the EuroCup is a second-tier league and elimination competition. Both finalists of the EuroCup are promoted to the EuroLeague each season, replacing the bottom two teams. 10bet is your best bet for EuroLeague and EuroCup coverage, it being a European sports betting site with a UKGC licence. You can bet on the spread, totals and the moneyline per match, half and quarter.
What We Like:
- The best site for betting on the EuroLeague and EuroCup
- Extensive coverage of the NBA, too
- Bet in a US-style on games, halves and quarters
Room for Improvement:
- Absolutely no live streaming of basketball
Best Online Basketball Betting Sites Compared
Below is a table that you can use to quickly see what’s available at our choices for the top NBA betting sites in the UK. We’ve picked out a few important aspects that every NBA betting site should have and indicated how our choices fare when it comes to each category. All categories listed are specific to basketball.
| Betting Site | Leagues Covered | Live Streaming | NBA Betting App | Bet Builder | Bonuses |
| Bet365 | 36 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Fitzdares | 22 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Spreadex | 15 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| 10bet | 23 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| NRG | 13 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| All British Sports | 43 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Betfred | 26 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| PlanetSport Bet | 13 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Rhino | 13 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Popular NBA Betting Markets
So, when you bet on NBA games, what should you bet on? Here, we take a look at the most popular markets for online basketball betting on the NBA and other global basketball leagues.
NBA Championship Winner
This is the easiest bet of all to understand. Simply place a wager on the side you think will be holding the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy aloft come the end of the current NBA season. The NBA finals take place in late May/Early June each year.
Conference/Division Winner
The NBA is split into two conferences, and each conference is split into three divisions, with each division containing five teams. You can place bets at any time throughout the season on which team will win the Conference Championship series and which team will win the respective division.
Most Valuable Player
There are two MVP awards each NBA season, one for the overall season and one for the Playoffs. You can place your bets on the player to win the seasonal award, the playoffs award or both. Notable regular season MVPs in the past have included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six times), Michael Jordan (five times) and LeBron James (four times).
Spread/Total/Moneyline
Most basketball betting sites will offer basketball betting odds in the way that Americans bet – spread, total and moneyline. The spread is handicap betting where teams will be given an artificial boost or handicap depending upon whether they are the favourites or underdogs. It’s your task, as a basketball bettor to back the correct team to win once the handicap/boost has been applied to the final score.
Total is the number of points scored (by both sides) during the game. You bet on an over/under basis, so if the total is 232.5 you are betting whether there will be 232 or less points scored, or 233 or more. The moneyline is simply the odds of a team winning with no handicap or boost applied. Basketball betting sites do not give odds for ties in NBA basketball, as games cannot end tied. If the game ends tied, extra periods of five minutes each are played until one team ends a timed period in the lead.
1st Half/1st Quarter
You can bet on spread/total/money line for the entire game or on a half- or quarter-basis. Note that prior to the tip-off, only odds for the first half or quarter will usually be available. Once the game has begun, betting odds will appear for the second half and subsequent quarters.
Alternative Points Spread/Game Total
With spreads and totals as mentioned above, a set handicap or over/under barrier will be offered. If you don't like the handicaps or over/under barriers, then you can look to alternatives to see what’s available and the associated odds thereof. So, if you don’t like the odds given for under 232.5 points, for example, you can check the odds for under 231.5 points, 230.5 and so on.
Points Low/Points O/U/Points
These are individual player props or bets on individual player performances. Over/Under will be betting on the number of points scored by a specific player during the game on an over/under basis. Points low is the minimum points it is thought a player is likely to score during the game, with decent odds available if they score even lower than the ‘low’ total. Points are alternative over/under totals that are available, usually set in increments of five points.
Assists/Rebounds/Threes
More player props bets. An assist is a to a teammate that directly contributes towards them scoring a field goal (a basket that’s not scored as a free throw). A rebound is a basket scored immediately after the ball has rebounded from the backboard following a failed attempt by a teammate to score. A three is a three-pointer – a basket scored from outside the three-point line. You can bet on individual players’ totals in any of these categories on an over/under basis.
Props
Anything that’s not covered above can usually be found in the ‘props’ section of NBA betting listings. Props is an American term that’s short for ‘propositions’ and effectively means any proposed bet. Under props, you may find bets such as alternative points spreads, alternative games totals and alternative points over/under. In short, if you want to bet on some aspect of an NBA game and you can’t find it via the direct lines, it is most likely to be included in the ‘props’ section.
What We Expect from the Best Basketball Bookmakers
The NBA might be an American basketball league, but it’s the top basketball league in the world by some distance, so we expect NBA coverage from the leading UK betting sites to be as good as coverage of the English Premier League in football. As well as the markets, we would prefer to see live coverage of NBA games (including NBA live betting) with streaming if possible. Special, NBA-only offers would definitely be a plus point, too.
We also expect the best basketball bookmakers to be complete all-rounders when it comes to sports betting. One of our tasks is to check to see how generous the welcome bonus is and what future bonuses are available for regular site s. We also check the payment options to see how convenient they are and how long it takes a bookie to get your money to you when you make a withdrawal.
Among other aspects of a site we check are how useful the services are, how seriously the site takes your security and adherence to responsible gambling, and how the site functions in of finding markets, placing bets and doing all you need to do for a satisfactory online betting site experience.
Basketball Betting Opportunities
Let’s now take a look at online basketball betting opportunities, starting with the globe’s top and most-watched basketball league, the NBA.
NBA Championship
Basketball was ‘invented’ in the US in 1891 by a gym teacher who was looking for a game to keep his students fit during the winter months (although there is evidence of a similar game being played in in the 1590s). The basketball craze swiftly swept America, and by the 1920s, there were hundreds of pro basketball teams all over the country.
The National Basketball League was created in 1935 and merged with the Basketball Association of America in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association. Seventeen teams competed that first season over three divisions, with the Minneapolis (now Los Angeles) Lakers defeating the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers) over six games.
The current NBA consists of 30 teams split over two conferences and six divisions, as follows:
| Eastern Conference | ||
| Atlantic Division | Central Division | Southeast Division |
| Boston Celtics | Cleveland Cavaliers | Atlanta Hawks |
| Brooklyn Nets | Chicago Bulls | Charlotte Hornets |
| New York Knicks | Detroit Pistons | Miami Heat |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Indiana Pacers | Orlando Magic |
| Toronto Raptors | Milwaukee Bucks | Washington Wizards |
| Western Conference | ||
| Northwest Division | Pacific Division | Southwest Division |
| Denver Nuggets | Golden State Warriors | Dallas Mavericks |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Los Angeles Clippers | Houston Rockets |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Los Angeles Lakers | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Phoenix Suns | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Utah Jazz | Sacramento Kings | San Antonio Spurs |
Teams compete in an 82-game season, with the division winners and the three teams with the next-best records qualifying for the main playoffs. The sides ranked seven to ten on conference record compete in the play-in tournament. Teams ranked seven and eight play each other, with the winner of that game advancing to the main playoffs. The loser of that game then meets the winner of the game between the ninth and tenth seeds, with the winner of that game also advancing to the main playoffs.
The main playoffs are a straight knockout, with teams competing with other conference teams until two conference champions have been determined. These two conference champions then meet in the NBA Finals series.
The 2024-25 NBA Championship was won by the Boston Celtics, their 18th title but their first for 16 years. The title put them one ahead of the LA Lakers in of all-time NBA Championship titles won.
NBA Award Markets
In addition to the team titles (NBA Finals winners, Conference Champions, Divisional Winners), a number of individual player awards are nominated and awarded each season. Punters can bet on the potential winners of such awards in the hope of selecting the correct recipient.
The main ones are the Finals MVP (best player in the NBA Finals), the Season MVP (best player over the entire NBA season) and the NBA’s top points scorer. Other awards include Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, the latter being awarded to the league’s best bench player.
NCAA Championship
Somewhat unique to the US, college sports are extremely popular in most disciplines, with basketball being one of them. The NCAA tournament has been running since 1939, and each year brings together the top basketball-playing college teams from all across the nation.
The leading NCAA Championship takes place in March each year and is known as ‘March Madness’. It’s the most popular college sports competition across all leading US sports, including football, ice hockey and baseball. Sixty-eight college teams compete on a knock-out, single-game basis, first regional and then national. The ‘final four’ consists of the four winners of the regional finals in the East, West, South and Midwest. The 2024 March Madness winners were defending champions UConn (University of Connecticut), who beat Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana) 75-60 in the NCAA Championship Game.
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EuroLeague
Basketball is very popular in a number of European countries, and the EuroLeague is the leading men’s professional basketball competition. It began life as the FIBA European Champions Cup in 1958, being rebranded the EuroLeague in 1996 although it has undergone a couple of rebrandings since before reverting back to the EuroLeague in 2016.
Eighteen teams currently compete in the EuroLeague from countries such as , Spain, Turkey, Serbia, Italy, , Israel, Greece and Lithuania. Many competing sides are the basketball arm of successful sports clubs where football is the leading sport. This leads to teams having familiar names like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Monaco, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and Real Madrid.
The EuroCup is European basketball’s second-tier competition, with both finalists in each year’s EuroCup gaining promotion to the EuroLeague. The UK’s most dominant basketball team, the London Lions, competed in the EuroCup in the 2023-24 season but are not competing in 2024-25.
In 2024, Panathinaikos defeated Real Madrid to win their seventh title. Real Madrid, with eleven titles, is the most successful EuroLeague side. Many European players go on to have successful NBA careers, such as Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Luke Doncic (Slovenia), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece).
Australian NBL
Basketball is hugely popular down under, and the country’s top pro league is the National Basketball League, which was founded in 1979. The current set-up of the NBL consists of ten teams – nine from Australia and one from New Zealand. The most successful side are the Perth Wildcats with ten title wins. Only two sides – the Brisbane Bullets and the Illawarra Hawks have been in the NBL since its inception.
Teams play a 28-game season with the top six qualifying for the playoffs. The Grand Final is played over a series of games with the first side to three victories declared the winner. A few Australians have gone on to forge successful NBA careers, including Luc Longley (Chicago Bulls), Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors) and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs).
Chinese Basketball Association
The CBA is a relatively recent addition to the world of professional baseball, having been established in 1995. The league consists of 20 teams split over two divisions. The Guangdong Southern Tigers are the CBA’s most successful side, with eleven wins. The most successful side in recent seasons, though, has been the Liaoning Flying Leopards, with dominant wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Many NBA players have also played in the CBA, notably Stephon Marbury, Michael Beasley and Aaron Brooks. Only a very small number of Chinese players have made the reverse trip, with the most successful being Tom Meschery, Kyle Anderson and Yao Ming. Meschery was born in China to Russian parents, while Anderson was born in New York but obtained Chinese citizenship through a Chinese great-grandfather.
In-Play NBA Betting and Streaming
Basketball is an ideal game for in-play betting… as long as you are quick! Of course, basketball is an end-to-end sport. No sooner has a scoring attempt been made at one basket than the ball is worked up the other end of the court for the opposition to attempt to score. Games are high-scoring with a lot of ebbing and flowing.
Having said that, games tend to slow down in the final quarter, with teams taking time outs or using other tactics to stop the play so specific players can be put on the court or specific plays can be put into action. However, games can be extremely thrilling if scores are close coming into the final period.
Live streaming of NBA games is not readily available at UK sports betting sites. This is because the NBA had two broadcast deals, one with TNT Sports, with the channel showing over 250 games live per year, and one with NBA League , which is a subscription service that allows subscribers to stream all NBA games online.
Bet365 is the one exception though. You can live stream all NBA games at bet365 as long as you have a funded or you have placed a bet at the site within the last 24 hours. One warning though – the video quality of the stream is not as high as via broadcast or NBA League live streaming.
Other basketball leagues are live-streamed at UK online betting sites though. Leagues included in live streaming options include the EuroLeague, the WBLA and the Chinese CBA, as well as top-tier basketball matches across Europe and South America.
NBA Betting Sites on Mobile Devices
The majority of us now use PCs and laptops solely for work or for gaming, relying on phones and tablets to connect us to the internet for browsing. This begs the question – can you use NBA betting sites on iPhones, iPads and Android-based devices?
The easy answer to that question is yes! Many of the best NBA betting sites can offer you NBA betting apps that you can and install on your device(s) for both iOS and Android. Mobile betting apps are just as effective for betting as desktop sites and can offer more in the way of convenience as you only have to pop open the NBA betting app on your phone to get betting!
Even if your chosen sports betting provider does not provide a bespoke NBA betting app, you can still use their site on your phone or tablet. Just use your preferred mobile browser and navigate your way to the site, just as you would any other website that you want to view or use.
[light_list_how_to title='Basketball Betting Tips to Improve Your Chances' description='Want to continually score three-pointers when betting on basketball, but instead, your wagering shots are just bouncing off the backboard and gifting the opposition possession? There here are some handy tips that should see you well in the lead when the final buzzer sounds.'][light_list_how_to_item title='Bet on Players As Much As Teams' image=''] The leading NBA basketball players are the leading NBA basketball players because they tend to be consistent. If a player is averaging over 30 points per game, then betting on them to score over 30 points in a game is always a decent bet (and usually with decent odds), no matter the opposition. The official NBA site has a whole host of statistics about players and teams that you can review and tailor your bets accordingly.[/light_list_how_to_item] [light_list_how_to_item title='Defense and Free Throws' image=''] Any number of metrics can be used to evaluate two teams in a match-up when you’re looking to bet on basketball, but one way of evaluating them that has proven to be more successful than not is comparing defences and free throws success. Let’s look at a top-tier match-up for 2024: the Cavaliers against the Celtics. After seven games, the Cavs had conceded an average of 108.4 points compared to Boston’s 112, so the Cavs just had the better defence. The Cavs converted 74.7% of their free throws compared to Boston’s 83.1%, so they were weaker. As these metrics balance out, this game would be too close to call to make betting worthwhile.[/light_list_how_to_item] [light_list_how_to_item title='Avoid the Spreads' image='']Tt may shock you to learn that many successful basketball bettors do not ever, ever bet on the spreads. The actual scores for basketball games count for nothing when it comes to standings, unlike, say, football/soccer. If a team is, for example, 15 points ahead with two or so minutes to go, they’ve already secured the win, so they will rest their top players and put on the benchwarmers. A 15-point lead can end up a 6-point lead, but as long as the team remains ahead on the buzzer, it does not matter at all. This makes spreads very difficult to predict so many basketball bettors avoid them completely.[/light_list_how_to_item] [/light_list_how_to]Where to Find the Best NBA Betting Odds
All the leading NBA betting sites in the UK work hard to offer you competitive odds. If you want to make the most money from your NBA betting endeavours, then it makes sense to check out where you can get the best odds as the best odds generate the best returns. Before you place your bets, make sure you compare the odds at a few of our picks for the best basketball betting sites. You’ll then gain a good idea about which sites continually offer the most competitive odds.
Here, as an example of competitive odds, are the odds given by bet365 for the NBA Finals winner for the 2024-25 season (correct on 06/11/24).
| 2024-25 NBA Finals – Overall Winners | |||
| Team | Odds | Team | Odds |
| Boston Celtics | 13/5 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 11/2 |
| New York Knicks | 15/2 | Dallas Mavericks | 10/1 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 11/1 | Denver Nuggets | 12/1 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 12/1 | LA Lakers | 20/1 |
Nothing But Net
This page should have made you an expert on NBA gambling sites in the UK. You will now know where to bet on NBA games, how to place your basketball bets on leagues beyond the NBA, and how to get the very most out of your online basketball betting. We sincerely hope you will now be slam-dunking your NBA bets at the best basketball betting sites as recommended by us.
One of the Best Betting Sites in the UK
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