SELECT SCORE:
The 2021-2022 NBA season has just begun and the journey will be long and winding, culminating in the Beast of the East facing the Best in the West in June.
But how do NBA bettors survive the next nine months and still turn a profit with your NBA picks? Let’s find out. And remember, remember you can always check back with our exclusive betting strategy blog for more content!
The Long and Winding Road
If the Beatles song of the same name as the sub-header doesn’t get you humming then you either dislike the Beatles or don’t know the song. I will assume the latter as it is a pretty catchy tune and, seriously, who hates the Beatles?
But the NBA season certainly is protracted and the games you watch in October will be a distant memory by the time you try to handicap the same matchups in February, March, and April. In fact, teams can be quite different at the start of the season compared to the end.
Some clubs have young players who are eager to get on the court and start flexing from tip-off to the final buzzer. Other teams are comprised of older players who understand how long the season truly is and pace themselves.
You will find the teams with the more seasoned rosters might not be covering the number in the early going as they are content to stay competitive but, above all, stay healthy.
The league average for NBA teams is 26.2-years-old and if we look at the oldest five teams, we see the: Los Angeles Lakers (30.9), Miami Heat (28.8), Milwaukee Bucks (27.9), and Utah Jazz (27.9) are the four oldest while the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors are tied for fifth with an average age of 27.8.
On the other end of the spectrum, we see the youngest teams in the league are as follows: Oklahoma City Thunder (23.5), Memphis Grizzlies (24.0), Orlando Magic (24.7), Charlotte Hornets (24.8), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (24.9).
Nevertheless, we know that talent, and not age, is the ultimate litmus test when comparing teams but keep an eye out at the beginning of the season for the younger teams above. Of the three, only the Hornets and Grizzlies made it into a postseason play-in game last year. Young rosters with very little, if any, veteran presence, don’t fare well in this league.
But staying alive throughout the NBA season is about covering the spread and not predicting the straight-up winner and loser. Young teams can often stay within the margins during the early going so when you see inflated spreads, consider betting a young team as a live dog in October and November.
But as the season progresses, keep your eyes peeled on the injury reports as the hits come early and often after the first of the year. Strained knees or lower back issues are often the temporary ailments you will find that allow a superstar a night off so he and his coach don’t have to take the heat by telling the truth. The truth, of course, is that he needs recovery time during the regular season to ensure he is healthy for the playoffs.
Set a Bankroll
As stated, it is a long season and the last thing you need to do is get blown out early. If you want to avoid that, then set a bankroll for the entire season. It is an amount that, if everything went wrong and you burned through it, you might lose the money but you’d never lose any sleep.
Essentially, it is a dollar figure that you can afford to lose. Naturally, you don’t want to lose it but if you do it won’t prevent you from paying the rent.
Once you have decided on that dollar figure, you have, by default, also determined your average bet amount. Each wager should be one percent of your bankroll. If you set aside $1000 for the season then you should be betting $10 per game.
Small stakes I will grant you, but I also predict you won’t be flaming out after Thanksgiving, unlike your bigshot buddies who bet much more and only tell you when they win but hide their tears when they lose.
Lastly, make sure you are playing with only the top online sportsbooks. Open accounts at two or more and take all the bonuses they are willing to give. Moreover, you will now be able to get the best NBA odds because you won’t be held hostage to just one sportsbook.
Have multiple books where you do business because a sharp bettor needs to exploit every angle at his disposal, and that includes getting the best lines.
