New York bettors can place wagers on who they think will win the NBA Finals. Heading into the playoffs, the New York Knicks were one of the teams unable to even make it to the play-in stage. That’s where the Brooklyn Nets ended up, but they ultimately fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in a thrilling 7-game series in the opening round.
Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks took home the Larry O’Brien trophy. They opened the season at +550 to win the NBA Finals. If you placed $100 on the Bucks to win the championship before the season started, you would have won $550 with their championship victory. The Phoenix Suns came in second place after losing to the Bucks in the Finals. Phoenix opened the season with +5500 odds to win the NBA Championship. If they had beaten the Bucks, bettors who placed a $100 wager at those odds would have won $5,500.
Before the 2021-22 season started, the Brooklyn Nets opened as the betting favorites at +210. Their big three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving positioned themselves as the most talented team going into the season.
Current NBA Finals Odds
Where Can I Bet On The NBA Finals Online In New York?
Last April, New York state lawmakers reached an agreement to bring online sports betting to the Empire State, and sports betting apps officially launched on January 8, 2022. The New York State Gaming Commission chose nine mobile sportsbooks to launch in the state. Those nine include DraftKings, FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, BetRivers, PointsBet, Bally Bet, WynnBET, and Resorts WorldBET.
NY Online Sportsbook Bonus Offers
DraftKings NY
With a minimum of a $5 first-time deposit, DraftKings offers their new users a $50 bonus bet as well as a 20% deposit bonus of up to $1,000. Users can claim their bonus offers here.
Caesars Sportsbook NY
Caesars Sportsbook New York is offering a first bet bonus for new sign-ups. NY bettors can take advantage of the offer potentially worth up to $1,000 in bonus bets. Claim with Caesars Sportsbook NY promo code NYSD1000.
FanDuel NY
For new users, FanDuel offers a No Sweat First Bet up to $200. If your first bet of $1,000 or less loses, FanDuel will give you a bonus bet of equal value. Claim the FanDuel promo here.
BetRivers NY
New York Bettors can use code SHARPSB to claim a $250 deposit match bonus offer. BetRivers will match 100% of any first-time deposit equal to or less than $250 with only a 1x playthrough. Click to claim.
How To Place Online NBA Finals Bets In NY
Now that mobile sports betting is live in New York, bettors have the ability to register for an account with one of these licensed online sportsbooks: DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook, FanDuel, and BetRivers.
Once you have downloaded the app through the IOS or android app store or opened the site through your web browser, you can click register in the top right corner. There you will enter your email, password, name, last four digits of your social security number, date of birth, phone number, and current address. Then you just need to confirm that you are over 21 years of age as well as agree to the terms and conditions of the betting service.
Upon registration, you can deposit funds into your account by clicking on the deposit button in the upper right corner or by clicking on your profile and selecting the ‘My Balance’ option. Users can choose to withdraw funds from that same section. BetMGM accepts debit/credit cards, PayPal, online banking, ApplePay, and various other payment cards and banking services.
To place a bet on the NBA Finals, users can click on the NBA logo at the top of the page or by selecting the ‘A-Z Menu’ at the bottom of the screen. On the ‘A-Z Menu’, you will select basketball and you will be redirected to the NBA betting page. On that screen, users can click the ‘NBA Finals Winner’ button. From there, users will have a list of options.
You can click on which team you think will win and it will be added to your betslip. On that page, users can bet on various props such as which division or conference the winner will come from as well as what state the winning team will be from. Bettors can also place wagers on the exact outcome of the NBA Finals. This means predicting who will win the championship and which team they will defeat in the Finals.
Once you find the bets you want, you click on the bet slip button at the bottom of the screen. You enter how much you want to stake on the bet and then confirm it. From there, you can keep track of your open bets on the ‘My Bets’ tab on the bottom bar.
How NBA Finals Odds Are Calculated
Before and throughout the season, teams will have plus odds to win the championship. A team with lower odds is more likely to win the NBA Finals. Before the season, DraftKings listed the Nets as +200 to win the championship with the Lakers behind them at +400. This means that DraftKings thought it was two times more likely that the Nets would win the Finals over the Lakers. A $100 bet on the Nets to win the championship would net bettors a $200 profit, while a $100 bet on the Lakers would return a win of $400.
On the other side, DraftKings listed the Detroit Pistons as +100000 to win the championship. A $100 bet on the Pistons would return a profit of $100,000. The return seems fantastic, but with those odds, DraftKings thinks that bet has almost no chance of cashing. No team with lower than +2800 odds during the preseason has won the NBA Championship.
Sportsbooks set their NBA Finals odds based on how teams performed in the previous season, if they signed free agents, traded for players, or lost key contributors. The Los Angeles Clippers opened the 2020-21 season with +550 odds to win the title, but their 2021-22 championship odds opened at +1700 as they lost Kawhi Leonard to injury. The Chicago Bulls saw their odds improve in 2021-22 to +8000 after signing multiple free agents in the offseason. Chicago opened the 2020-21 season with +20000 odds to win the NBA Finals.
During the season, odds will fluctuate on varying factors. If players get hurt or do not perform well, teams will see their odds drop. After losing Paul George to injury as well as a 17-17 start to the 2021-22 season, DraftKings lowered the Clippers’ odds at winning the championship to +2200.
A team’s odds can also increase if they make acquisitions during the season or perform better than expectations. With a 21-10 start and offseason acquisitions playing well, the Bulls had their 2021-22 championship odds jump to +3000 from the +8000 that they opened the season with. After the Nets traded for James Harden in the 2020-21 season, their championship odds for the year went from +600 to +300.
NBA Finals Odds And Betting
What Is An NBA Futures Bet?
A futures bet happens when you place a wager on a game, event, or prop that will not happen until the future. Bettors can place wagers on the NBA Finals months before it happens. Users can place bets on who will win the NBA Finals, which player will win the MVP award, as well as other prop bets revolving around the championship series.
New York residents can place NBA Finals bets at any time before the series ends. As the NBA Finals get closer, the odds start to dwindle down. When the 2020-21 NBA Playoffs started, the Nets had +105 to win the championship. Sportsbooks viewed them as the betting favorites with a starting lineup featuring Harden, Durant, and Kyrie Irving.
What Is An NBA Finals Prop Bet?
During the NBA Finals, bettors can place wagers on prop bets. They can bet the over/under on how many points, assists, rebounds, steals, or blocks a player gets in a game or throughout the entire series.
In the 2020-21 NBA Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a prop bet of 32.5 total points. Bettors could have placed wagers on the OVER (-111) and the UNDER (-120). A successful OVER bet at -111 odds would have net the bettor a $90 profit. If the under had hit, those bettors would have gained $83 with the -120 odds.
Other prop bets include which player will win the Finals MVP as well as betting on the number of games played in total throughout the series. Users can place bets on if the series would end in games 4, 5, 6, or 7. Those odds would differ as the series went on.
Some sportsbooks may offer prop bets on which team wins the tip-off and which player scores the first basket, but the NBA Finals does not have many exotic prop bets. The Super Bowl allows users to bet on the color of the Gatorade, the length of the National Anthem, and how many times the commentary team mentions a certain fact or name just to list a few. During the NBA Finals, the majority of prop bets revolve around the players playing the game.
Strategies For NBA Finals Betting In NY
When betting on the NBA Finals, bettors will find more success wagering on single-game betting. One strategy includes betting on the total early in the series. During game 1 of the 2020-21 NBA Finals, the total closed at 218.5. After the two teams combined for 223 points in the first game, oddsmakers set the total at 220 for the rest of the series.
Sportsbooks might under or overshoot the combined total in the first game of the series. If the Finals features two high-scoring teams, users can bet the OVER for game 1 as oddsmakers may not account for the combined scoring in the first matchup. On the other side, if the Finals features two defensive teams, then bettors can place wagers on the UNDER as sportsbooks may overestimate the scoring output by both teams.
Another strategy includes making player prop bets. During the NBA Finals, the starting players will play close to 40 minutes instead of the 25-30 minutes they typically play per game in the regular season. The point guard of the offense will have the ball in his hands and have the opportunity to rack up points, assists, and rebounds. Users can place bets on the star player to have the over on points, assists, and rebounds combined.
In Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals, Antetokounmpo combined for 41 total points, rebounds, and assists. For the Suns, Chris Paul had 45 combined points, assists, and rebounds. When the games matter the most, the best players will take control of the game and rack up stats. Players like Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant will get the ball in their hands and facilitate the offense.
Betting Odds For The NBA Finals FAQs
Betting on the NBA Finals is legal in more than half of the 50 US states. Some states offer in-person and online betting while some just offer in-person retail locations. In a legal state like New York, residents can place bets through sportsbooks licensed by the state’s gaming commission.
Bettors in New York can bet on the NBA Finals online that are approved and licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission. All nine official sportsbooks available online are DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, PointsBet, BetRivers, WynnBet, BallyBet, and Resorts WorldBET.
New York requires bettors to be at least 21 years of age to place a bet.
It is safe to place a bet online through any of the nine licensed sportsbooks. Those sportsbooks are governed by the New York State Gaming Commission and will provide users with a fair and safe betting experience.
Yes, sportsbooks offer live betting throughout the NBA Finals.
Bettors can place wagers on player prop bets as well as team-based props. These can be placed either before the series, before each game, or during the game itself. Market availability is subject to be different before and during the game.
Most of the NBA Finals bets revolve around what happens on the court. There may be some exotic off-the-court bets available on advertisements and other events, but those will be far and few between. Those unique bets are generally only available during the Super Bowl.
Before the start of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors were the favorite to hoist the trophy at the end. Odds vary based on the sportsbook, but the average looks to be around the -150 mark. The Warriors are expected to be heavier favorites when it comes to winning the first two games of the series at home.
The 2022 NBA Finals are expected to start June 2, 2022, and end no later than June 19, 2022. They feature the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.
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