John Ford | March 2, 2020 | Updated on: December 4th, 2023
NBA Western Conference betting is pretty huge, especially in regard to futures. Over the last 20 years, a team from the West has won the NBA Championship on 13 occasions. The Conference is made up of many of the most popular teams in the league. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets all have global appeal. With the Golden State Warriors falling from grace in seasons, a new position to dominate the Conference has opened up with many teams looking to fill it. Who will it be in seasons to come?
Looking to learn more about betting on the NBA’s Western Conference? Well, make sure to keep reading! On this page, we have created the ultimate guide to betting on the Western Conference. Some of the areas we have a look at including the teams in the conference, their standings, betting tips, and the types of lines you will be able to find on them. We also list all the best NBA online gambling sites so that you can start betting today!
As the Western Conference forms part of the NBA, bettors can expect to find all the most popular lines they would expect to find on a basketball game at sports betting sites. If you are still new to the whole idea of betting, here is a general list of lines that are available on league games:
Moneylines – this is as simple as a bet can get. Who do you think will win the game? Are you will put your money on that?
Spread – with these bets, the sportsbook sets a favorite and an underdog. They then set a line that they believe the favorite will win the game by (for example, seven points.) Gamblers then bet on whether the favorite will be able to do it or on the underdog to cover. For example, the books may have the Clippers to beat the Kings by seven points. Do you think that the Clippers will be able to do it?
Totals – also known as over/unders, these are bets made on the final score of the game combined. Do you think that the final score of the game will come over or under the line set by a betting site?
Props – this sub-category of bets focuses on events taking place during the game rather than the outcome. For example, gamblers could bet on whether James Harden will score more than 30 points for the Houston Rockets during a game.
Futures – these are bets made on a team to win the Western Conference a while before the finals series is actually played. This could be anything from the beginning of the season to the beginning of playoffs.
Western Conference NBA Teams
Are you looking at betting on one of the many successful teams in the NBA Western Conference? Well, we have created some team-specific guides to help gamblers find out more about the team they are betting on. We really recommend that you have a look at them if you are going to try and predict brackets, so you have something to supplement your NBA Western Conference playoff standings knowledge.
If you are new to NBA sports betting, the whole hobby can seem a bit overwhelming. You may think that you are making good bets, only to find out that you aren’t when you don’t see any payouts. It is, for this reason, we have compiled some essential basketball betting tips to get you started on your sports gambling journey.
Before we share them with you, we must state that you need to understand that no sports betting tip are going to ensure that you win every time you place a bet. That would require knowing the result of the game, and the only way to know that is if the match is being fixed. If you are caught trying to use insider information to make bets, you could land in some serious trouble, so we recommend that you don’t.
So, without further ado, here are our top NBA Western Conference betting tips for new gamblers:
Shop for odds – you want to make sure that you are making the most money possible on a line. This is why you need to shop around for lines to ensure that you are actually placing the bet at a sportsbook with the best line.
Have a look at public trends – sometimes, having a look at public lines gives you a chance to make extra cash on betting against the favorite. While we wouldn’t recommend following this strategy religiously, we will say that at least give yourself an opportunity to find potential bets to make extra cash on. You could also use this information to corroborate your decision.
Look at betting stats – there are loads of sports betting pundits out there who continually share stats with the public. For example, the Denver Nuggets could be 1-4 against the spread in recent weeks, and their next game is against the on-form Los Angeles Lakers.
Looking at how a team is doing is an incremental part of making good bets. Along with other metrics, it helps bettors see whether or not a team is performing well. We have listed the NBA Western Conference standings at the time of writing in order to help gamblers make better bets this season. (With how it’s going, we’d avoid betting on the Golden State Warriors for a while.)
Place
Team
Record
1
Los Angeles Lakers
45-12
2
Denver Nuggets
40-18
3
Los Angeles Clippers
39-19
4
Houston Rockets
38-20
5
Oklahoma Thunder
37-22
6
Utah Jazz
36-22
7
Dallas Mavericks
36-23
8
Memphis Grizzlies
28-30
9
Portland Trail Blazers
26-34
10
New Orleans Pelicans
25-33
11
San Antonio Spurs
24-33
12
Sacramento Kings
24-34
13
Phoenix Suns
24-35
14
Minnesota Timberwolves
17-40
15
Golden State Warriors
12-47
Current NBA Western Conference Odds
Are you looking at placing some bets on a team’s odds to win NBA Western Conference? Well, have a look at the odds featured below. At the time of writing, it seems that Los Angeles (whether the Lakers or the Clippers) are really favored to take it this year.
Team
NBA Western Conference Finals Odds
Los Angeles Lakers
+125
Los Angeles Clippers
+175
Houston Rockets
+700
Denver Nuggets
+1200
Dallas Mavericks
+2000
Utah Jazz
+2000
Oklahoma Thunder
+3300
New Orleans Pelicans
+5000
Memphis Grizzlies
+8000
Portland Trail Blazers
+8000
Phoenix Suns
+10000
San Antonio Spurs
+15000
Sacramento Kings
+25000
Golden State Warriors
+50000
Minnesota Timberwolves
+50000
Western Conference NBA History
The NBA Western Conference was first formed in 1946 with the formation of the league itself. Inaugural members included the Chicago Stags, St. Louis Bombers, Cleveland Rebels, Detroit Falcons, and Pittsburgh Ironmen – none of which exist today. Today, the Western Conference is made up of 15 teams, with the newest addition being the New Orleans Pelicans, who joined after a league restructuring in 2004.
As with the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is also made up of three divisions, namely the Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest divisions. The most successful team in the Conference is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won a total of 16 NBA Championship titles, putting them second in the league behind the Boston Celtics. The last five years have seen the Golden State Warriors dominate the Conference, making it to the NBA Finals in each season and winning on three occasions.
As such, the 2019-20 season marks a change in pace for the league as teams further south in California have begun to dominate. The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are both heavily favored to take the Conference title this year. With the highly-talented Nikola Jokić in their squad, the Denver Nuggets are also looking as if they could build a dynasty in the years to come. It really is anyone’s game at this point!
NBA Western Conference betting is pretty huge, especially in regard to futures. Over the last 20 years, a team from the West has won the NBA Championship on 13 occasions. The Conference is made up of many of the most popular teams in the league. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets all have global appeal. With the Golden State Warriors falling from grace in seasons, a new position to dominate the Conference has opened up with many teams looking to fill it. Who will it be in seasons to come?
