NBA 2023-2024 Schedule and Betting Guide
October is an embarrassment of riches for sports fans and sports bettors. NFL and college football is in full swing, Major League Baseball is in the midst of its postseason, and the NBA and NHL seasons begin. October is the only month on the calendar that has all four major American sports in action. Five, if you include the MLS.
The NFL is the most popular sport to bet on in the United States. But betting on the NBA is the second- most popular, with 54% of all bettors placing a bet on the NBA last season.
NBA Regular Season
The NBA Preseason started over the weekend, and as part of the buildup to the regular season, the NBA has games in Dubai, Vancouver, Madrid, and Montreal. They are also playing out-of-market preseason games in less exotic spots, like Birmingham, Alabama, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The regular season begins on October 24 with the Los Angeles Lakers at the Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. The second game on opening night is the Phoenix Suns at the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA will play a pair of international games during the regular season. The Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks will play in Mexico City on November 9. The Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers will be in Paris for a game on January 11, 2024. Currently there are 14 French players on NBA rosters.
New this year is an in-season tournament to be held from November 3 to December 9, with all games counting toward a team’s regular season record except for the finals. Each player on the winning team will get $500,000. The runner-ups will get $200,000 each.
The NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 18, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The regular season is scheduled to end on April 14, 2024.
NBA Postseason Schedule
After the NBA season was suspended and restarted in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, the NBA created a Play-in Tournament to determine final playoff seeding. The format of the tournament has changed since then, but it is now a fixture to begin the NBA postseason, and it tips off on April 16 and concludes April 19.
Once the 16 playoff teams are determined, with seeds, the NBA Playoffs begin April 20. The conference semifinals are tentatively scheduled to begin on May 6-7, and the conference finals begin May 21-22. (Those rounds could start a day or two earlier, depending on how quickly the best-of-seven series in the earlier rounds are finished.)
The NBA Finals will begin June 6, 2024, with a potential Game 7 scheduled for June 23.
The NBA Draft will be held on June 27, 2024, in New York.
Odds to Win the 2023-2024 NBA Championship
Boston Celtics (+450)
Milwaukee Bucks (+450)
Denver Nuggets (+500)
Phoenix Suns (+550)
Los Angeles Lakers (+1200)
Golden State Warriors (+1200)
The Boston Celtics came up short in the Eastern Conference Finals in June, but they are cofavorites to win the NBA Championship this season. The Milwaukee Bucks now have Damian Lillard to go along with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they are also paying +450.
The defending champion Denver Nuggets are next, the Phoenix Suns are after them, and LeBron James and a deeper Los Angeles Lakers team are tied for fifth with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
Last year, the Miami Heat won the Eastern Conference Finals. But they are just +2500 to win the NBA Finals in 2024.
Odds to Win NBA MVP
Nikola Jokic (+450)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (+550)
Joel Embiid (+600)
Luka Doncic (+600)
Jayson Tatum (+800)
Kevin Durant (+1200)
Stephen Curry (+1200)
The bookmakers at BetUS.com are favoring past MVPs. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the award in 2021 and 2022, Giannis won it in 2019 and 2020, and Joel Embiid won the award last season.
Further down the list we have Kevin Durant, who won it in 2014, and Stephen Curry, who won it in 2015 and 2016.
Odds to Win Rookie of the Year
Victor Wembanyama (-110)
Scoot Henderson (+250)
Chet Holmgren (+300)
Brandon Miller (+1400)
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama was the first overall pick in the June draft, and BetUS.com has him as the favorite to win this year’s Rookie of the Year award.
Scoot Henderson was the third overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers, and now that Lillard is no longer a Blazer, his role will increase. Chet Holmgren was the second overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2022, and missed all of last year injured. The second overall pick this year was Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets.
No one else has odds below +2000.
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