Basketball Betting

NBA Home Court Value

Is home court in the NBA a “set” number that is assigned by sportsbooks for every team? Some people have always thought that the sportsbook sets a certain number of points for the home court edge in the NBA and that it does not deviate a great deal. The reality is that home court edge is not the same for every team. Many factors actually determine the value of the home court for each team that a sportsbook sets, and those factors can change.
Usually in the NBA the average home court edge is about 3 points. This is not a set number, just a rough average that the sportsbook uses. In the NFL home field is usually in the same range of 3 points. College football and college basketball have a higher home field advantage with football home field worth about 4 points and basketball just about the same. Technically the home court edge set by sportsbooks for the NBA is lower than in any other sport. One of the main reasons for this fact is that all the teams have varying schedules. Every team plays a multitude of back-to-back games during the course of the season. It happens all the time that a home team has to return from a road game the previous night. There are always points assigned to the home team, but they vary depending upon the team and how they play at home.

Some NBA teams play great at home but play rotten on the road, and sportsbooks know this. Other teams may play better on the road and be overpriced at home. There are also long road trips that every NBA team has to deal with during the season, and sportsbooks are aware of this. Teams that are on a long road trip usually play poorly at the end of a trip and the home court value in these games has to be increased.

Another factor that causes home court value set by sportsbooks to change is injuries. If a team has a key injury then their overall rating is going to change, and that includes their home court edge. If a key player is out for the home team then the home court edge the team normally has is going to be greatly reduced. That is why you just can’t arbitrarily assign home court values in the NBA, because sportsbooks don’t.

In other sports, betting home dogs is usually worth considering, but it doesn’t work quite as well in the NBA, and sportsbooks know this. In the NFL home dogs are always popular but you just don’t get the same sort of value playing NBA home dogs. You may want to keep this fact in mind the next time you consider betting the NBA with sportsbooks. Remember that home court in the NBA does not hold nearly the power that it does in other sports. That may also give you an edge if you like to play road teams in the NBA because you know now that home court in the NBA is not a huge advantage.