NBA Point Spreads and Totals

Many veteran sports handicappers will tell you that beating the NBA spread is the toughest task in sports betting. Whether its sharp oddsmakers or the fact that momentum swings makes pro basketball so unpredictable, the NBA line is a challenge.

But what does the point spread mean? How do you read it? You see the Lakers are -8.5 at home to Utah. That means the Lakers are favored by 8.5 points and it therefore means LA must win by nine points in order to cover that NBA point spread.

On the flip side, betting on the underdog Jazz (+8.5) means Utah starts with an 8.5-point lead. Utah can lose by 8 points (100-92 for example) and still win ATS (against the spread).

You will also see -110 or -115 values associated with the NBA line and this is the 'price' you must pay to book the wager. Traditionally, you pay a 10% commission or 'vigorish' to the sportsbook for booking the bet. So placing a $100 bet on the Lakers actually cost $110. If you win, you get your $110 back plus $100.

If the price is -115 or -120, it means you are charged $115 or $120 to book the action. Sometimes you will pay more vig or 'juice' and sometimes the sportsbook will move the line from -8.5 to -9. It's how sportsbooks encourage people to bet on both sides of the NBA point spread - make it attractive to those who like the Lakers to win big and also to Jazz bettors who think they can keep it close.

You will also see NBA totals or over under odds. This is another popular form of betting where fans predict whether the total number of points scored in the game will be higher than or lower than the 'total'. For example, in the Lakers-Jazz game, you see the total is 199.5. That means you want 200 or more points to bet over and 199 or less to bet under.

When you see 199o-110, this relates to the price again we spoke about earlier. In this case, the 'o' means 'over' and the 'juice' is -110. So you must risk $110 to bet the over-199. There is more information on point spread betting in our Betting 101 section.