With the exception of talent, when it comes to NBA betting, the most important factor to consider is the home court, right?
Well not exactly.
In reality, there is not much difference in court. They’re all made of wood, and while the court’s logos come in different colors, designs, and questionable tastes, they all have a 10-foot basket at each end. Supposedly, there is some advantage to “knowing the hoops,” but since metal comes into play mostly on misses and no one deliberately tries to miss, it’s hard to see where the advantage lies. Yes, we know from a rudimentary 10th grade physics course that longer shots produce longer bounces, but carom direction is based more on the trajectory of the shot than the state of the hoops.
Another supposed home court advantage is the home crowd. But it’s hard to accept the notion that professionals, who resist signing autographs unless they’re paid, are motivated by the very people they so willingly avoid. Besides, what did all that Spike Lee raving and raving at Madison Square Garden do for New York? Reggie Miller still did the right thing for the Pacers and destroyed the Knicks.
The final supposed advantage of playing at home is that players get some sort of “comfort level” by sleeping in their own beds. Excuse me, but weren’t you paying attention to the Gold Club trial in Atlanta a few years ago? Based on the evidence, it seems that many gamers would easily give up a night under their own satin sheets if a, ahem, “dancer” were available for company.
That said, there is an advantage to playing at home, but it has little to do with the pitch, the fans or the sleeping conditions. It has everything to do with getting on the pitch.
Plain and simple, away teams have the biggest disadvantage of traveling, a factor we mentioned but didn’t fully explore in a previous article. In fact, how far a team has to travel, how many time zones it crosses, the direction it travels, and how many games it is forced to play on a given number of nights are all crucial elements in both NBA and NBA odds. NBA betting.
Remember how tired and out of sync you were after a flight across the Atlantic? Now try running six miles (the average distance a basketball player runs in a game) in a different location, three out of four or four out of six nights and see how it affects your sports performance. NBA betting professionals understand that no team can be “prepared” for every game, that fatigue can become a major factor, and that the point spread often grows in proportion to the length of a road trip. .
It’s also worth noting that it’s more difficult for the body to travel against the sun, or from west to east, than it is to go from east to west. Therefore, NBA teams based in the Western and Rocky Mountain time zones are often more disadvantaged by long road trips than teams in the Eastern and Central time zones. One way to overcome this handicap is to fly east to start the road trip, then head back west.
NBA betting experts and sportsbooks not only take into account the away team’s travel, but also look at whether the home team has been stationed in familiar confines for a period of time or has just returned from a long journey. trip.
Often overlooked by the casual gambler, smart bettors understand that it’s always important to check the schedule.
Interestingly, despite playing 82 home games to earn an additional postseason home game in a series, home court means less in the playoffs than it does during the regular season. That’s usually because teams in a postseason series have similar travel schedules. For example, if San Antonio and Sacramento are set to meet in a best-of-seven series that begins in Texas, once the Kings visit the Spurs for the opening two games of the series, the teams will have similar travel schedules, flying to Northern California within hours of each other. That will also be the case if a flight back to San Antonio is needed to finish the series. The uniformity of travel mitigates home court advantage.
Yes, talent counts in NBA betting, but cautious bettors also understand that it’s important to review those schedules before placing a bet.