Best NBA Betting Sites in Massachusetts

Boston Celtics betting partnerships

DraftKings is the Boston Celtics' official daily fantasy and sports betting partner. This partnership did not come as a shock, considering DraftKings is based in Massachusetts and is one of the biggest daily fantasy and sports betting companies in the United States.

This partnership gives DraftKings the right to use the Celtics logo on the app and allows them to do marketing/promotional events such as VIP Watch Parties.

Tips for those new to NBA betting

Being successful at betting on the NBA takes a lot of work. There is no surefire method to make you money, but here are some tips every NBA bettor needs to know to level the playing field against the sportsbook.

Follow Injury Reports/News: Despite the NBA trying to limit load management by implementing fines for teams that sit healthy players in certain games, load management is still very prevalent in today’s games. Players will often be scratched from the lineup right before warm-ups, which can drastically change a game's odds. Understanding which teams are more likely to do this and being wary of placing bets on these teams before having all the information is essential.
Track Odds / Line Movement: This tip correlates with the first point I just talked about. The odds and lines are constantly moving, based on new information and where people are betting their money. If you see large swings in line movement, more than likely it is related to injury or lineup news, meaning a key player will be out of one lineup or the other. If you see the line slowly moving in one direction or the other, that typically means people are consistently betting on the same team or the same side of a line. The sportsbook will continue to move the line until they can get two-way action where people are betting on both sides of a line equally. When you see this, it can sometimes mean getting in early on a bet, which could be a good idea.
Don’t Bet Just To Bet: With 2460 NBA games combined across all teams in the regular season, there will be many betting opportunities. It is essential to be selective in the bets you place and ensure you are only betting on plays you are confident have a good chance of winning.

Reading NBA odds

During an NBA game, one can bet on many different markets, but it is important to understand how to read the odds of the three most popular markets: the money line, spread, and total.

Moneyline

First, let’s discuss the moneyline, which is the easiest to understand. You are simply betting on which team will win the game.

Here is an example from a Celtics NBA Playoff game:

Cleveland Cavaliers: +525
Boston Celtics: -750

In this example, a Celtics bettor would have to bet $750 to win $100 if the Celtics were to win this game. Meanwhile, someone who thinks the Cavaliers will win could bet $100, and it would pay out $525 if they were to pull off the upset.

Point Spread

Now, let’s talk about the spread. In each game, there is a favorite and an underdog. The favorite is signified by a minus (-) sign in front of the points, and the underdog is marked by a plus (+) sign.

Let’s return to the above example and look at the spread…

Cleveland Cavaliers: +12.5 (-110)
Boston Celtics: -12.5 (-110)

First, you will notice that both sides of this line are priced at -110, meaning that if you wanted to win $100 by betting on either side of this market, you would have to bet $110. But the spread is essentially the sportsbook's way of creating a fair game based on teams' past performances.

Finally, the total. Oddsmakers project the number of total points a game will score and use that projection to make a total that bettors can either bet over or under.

Let’s go back to the example:

Over: 211.0 (-110)
Under: 211.0 (-110)

In this example, an over bettor and an under bettor would each have to bet $110 to stand to win $100. The over would cash if the Celtics and Cavaliers combined for more than 211 points, whereas the under would win if less than 211 points were scored.

Calculating your payouts

When looking to place a bet, you are expected to know how much the bet will win, and while most sportsbooks calculate this for you, it is always good to learn how to calculate these payouts yourself.

Back to the moneyline example from earlier…

Cleveland Cavaliers: +525
Boston Celtics: -750

Celtics (Negative Odds): When betting negative odds, you will always be risking more money than you will win. In this case, a Celtics moneyline bettor would need to bet $750 to profit $100 if the Celtics were to take this playoff matchup against the Cavaliers.

Here is the formula for calculating a payout on negative odds: Bet amount / (odds/100) = Potential profit

In this example, $750 / (750/100) = $100.

Cavaliers (Plus Odds): Calculating plus American odds is much easier, considering the odds already tell you how much money you would win when risking $100. In the example above, a $100 bettor could potentially profit $525 if the Cavaliers were to win this game.

Here is the formula for calculating a payout on plus odds: Bet amount * (odds/100) = Potential profit

In this example, $100 * (525/100) = $525

Massachusetts NBA betting markets

There are numerous different NBA betting markets. Most can be bet from game to game, but others can play out throughout the season or playoffs.

The three most common are the money line, total, and spread. But there are also player prop markets that allow you to bet on player performance or different fun markets, such as picking the correct score or picking who will score the first basket.

Here is a breakdown of the most common NBA betting markets available in Massachusetts:

Spread bets

Spreads are one of the most common NBA betting markets. Essentially, the spread is the oddsmaker's way of creating a “fair” game based on their projections.

This can be better explained with an example:

Cleveland Cavaliers: +12.5 (-110)

Boston Celtics: -12.5 (-110)

In this scenario, it does not matter which team you want to bet on. You must bet $110 to win $100, as both sides are priced at -110. But this is because oddsmakers determined that the Celtics are -12 to 13 points better than the Cavaliers, so they set the spread at 12.5.

Someone who bets on the Celtics -12.5 would need the Celtics to win by 13 points or more, whereas someone who bets on the Cavaliers would need them to lose by 12 points or less for their bet to win.

Moneylines

Moneylines have to be the easiest betting market to understand. It is as simple as picking who you think will win a game.

If we go back to the example from above, it is safe to assume that the Celtics will be huge favorites considering -12.5 points favor them. But let’s look at the line again to confirm that.

Cleveland Cavaliers: +525

Boston Celtics: -750

At these odds, the oddsmakers are saying the Celtics have an 88.24 percent chance of winning this game, so you would have to bet $750 to win $100 on the Celtics. On the other hand, they have given the Cavaliers a 16 percent chance to win. This means you could win $525 on a $100 bet.

Over/unders

As previously mentioned, oddsmakers will project how many points they think each team will score, and from that, they will set a total for how many points each team will combine. From there, bettors can choose over or under based on whether more or fewer points will be scored than the oddsmakers projection.

Here is an example of a total that we talked about earlier…

Over: 211.0 (-110)

Under: 211.0 (-110)

This is another scenario where over and under-bettors potentially have to lay $110 to win $100. For the over to win, there would need to be 212 points or more scored in this game. For the under-to-cash, there would need to be 210 points or less scored in the game. If there were precisely 211 points scored, the bet would ‘push’, all money would be returned to bettors, and no winnings would be paid out to either side.

Parlays

A parlay is when you combine multiple different bets into one to enhance the odds and increase the payout. All bets combined into the parlay have to win for a parlay to win. Even if just one bet in your parlay loses, it makes the whole bet a loser.

While the odds on these types of bets can be fun, it is essential to understand that these bets are high-risk, and with every bet you add to a parlay, you are only giving the sportsbook a more significant edge against you.

Futures

Futures are long-term bets that usually play out throughout an entire season. They can be tied to a team's regular season performance, playoff performance, or even a player's season-long performance.

Here are some examples of different NBA Future Markets:

NBA Finals Champion
Eastern / Western Conference Champion
Division Champions
Regular Season Point Totals
To Make or Miss the Playoffs
NBA Awards: MVP, DPOY, 6MOY, ROY
NBA Finals MVP
Season Long Player Props

Props

A prop bet is any betting market not tied to the game's final score. This could be like a team's total points over/under, but the most common form is a player prop, where you bet on a single player's performance.

In the NBA, you can bet on almost any statistic that shows up in the box score, such as points, assists, rebounds, blocks, or steals. Most sportsbooks will let you bet on a single stat category or multiples simultaneously, such as points + rebounds + assists.

For example, look at some props from the Cavaliers game from above.

Jayson Tatum Points: 27.5 (Over -115 / Under -115)
Jayson Tatum Assists: 4.5 (Over -150 / Under +120)
Jayson Tatum Points + Assists: 32.5 (Over -105 / Under -125)

The odds on these bets consistently move based on how likely the oddsmakers think a player will over or underperform their projection.

NBA playoff betting

The NBA Playoffs is a 16-team bracket, with eight teams from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference. These teams play best-of-seven series until only one team is left standing.

You can bet from game to game along with the regular betting lines. In the NBA Playoffs, sportsbooks add markets that allow you to bet on the outcome of a series rather than just one game.

Here are some examples of those markets:

Series Winner
Series Handicap (Celtics -1.5 / Cavaliers +1.5)
Series Games Total (Over/Under 5.5 Games)
Correct Series Score (Celtics to beat Cavaliers 4-1)

While the sportsbook odds in the playoffs are razor-sharp, seeing the same two teams play multiple times in a row allows bettors to see trends and identify advantageous matchups they can exploit that oddsmakers may need to be aware of.

NBA Finals betting

Betting on the NBA Finals is just like betting on any other NBA Playoff series. You can bet on all the markets listed above, and any other common markets oddsmakers put out that last the entire series.

You can also bet on each game as usual. The NBA Finals has a unique market that allows you to bet on the NBA Finals MVP. Regardless of the few unique betting markets in the NBA Finals, it is typically a great series to watch and bet on, with the two best teams in the NBA going head-to-head.

NBA live betting

The NBA's high-scoring and fast-paced nature makes it one of the best sports to bet live.

Here are some of the markets you can bet on during an NBA Game:

Full Game: Moneyline / Spread / Total
First/Second Half: Moneyline / Spread / Total
Quarter Markets: Moneyline / Spread / Total
Live Player Props
Next Basket Props

Similar to pre-game, there are numerous markets you can bet on. However, betting live lets you see how each team performs that night and allows you to take advantage of massive odds swings throughout the game.

Massachusetts NBA TV & Radio coverage

How to watch the NBA in Massachusetts

There are many ways to watch any NBA game in Massachusetts, but let’s start with where you can watch the Boston Celtics.

Celtics games are broadcast locally on NBA Sports Boston. Nationally televised games can be found on ABC, ESPN, NBA TV and TNT.

They can all be found on NBA League Pass for out-of-market games.

How to listen to the NBA in Massachusetts

You can listen to Celtics games on either…

98.5 - WBZ-FM The Sports Hub
93.7 - WEEI-FM New England Sports Radio

The NBA League pass also offers audio versions of every NBA game, including Celtics games, even if you are in the market. League Pass does not black out the audio broadcasts of games.

Massachusetts NBA players (Boston Celtics)

The Celtics are among the betting favorites to win this season's NBA Championship. Let’s look at who is leading them.

Guard

Jrue Holiday

Holiday just finished his first season with the Celtics; he was acquired via trade last offseason. Holiday is one of the best defensive guards in the NBA, boasting three NBA All-Defensive First Team awards and two All-Defensive Second Team awards.

In his first season in Boston, Holiday averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. He shot a career-best 42.9% from 3-point range.

Forward

Jaylen Brown

The Boston Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown as the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Since then, he has become an integral part of the team, showcasing his skills as a versatile and athletic guard/forward.

Brown has consistently improved his game each season and has become known for his scoring ability, defensive prowess, and leadership on and off the court. He has been a critical contributor to the Celtics' success and has established himself as a core player for the team's future.

Forward

Jayson Tatum

The Boston Celtics selected Tatum as the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Since joining the team, he has emerged as a critical player known for his scoring prowess, offensive versatility, and impressive skills on both ends of the floor.

Tatum's ability to create his shot and his knack for clutch performances have made him a cornerstone of the Celtics' roster. His continued development and consistent contributions have solidified his position as a crucial asset for the team's present and future success.

Greatest Massachusetts (Boston Celtics) NBA players of all time

Here is a list of the top five players to ever play for the Boston Celtics:

Larry Bird (1979-1992)
Bill Russell (1956-1969)
John Havlicek (1962-1978)
Kevin McHale (1980-1993)
Dave Cowens (1970-1980)

Best NBA Betting Sites in Massachusetts

By Jason Schandl | Aug 23, 2024

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