2024/25 NBA Season Breakdown
The 2024/25 NBA season delivered one of the most memorable campaigns in recent history, marked by dominant regular-season performances, historic playoff comebacks, and a Finals series that went the distance. The Oklahoma City Thunder emerged as the league’s new powerhouse, finishing with a league-best 68–14 record and capping their season with a dramatic Game 7 victory in the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers stunned the basketball world with a Cinderella run, overcoming long odds and orchestrating a series of improbable comebacks to reach the championship round.
The NBA Postseason
The 2025 NBA playoffs were packed with unforgettable moments and unexpected outcomes. The Oklahoma City Thunder set the tone early, notching a record 51-point win against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their opening series—the largest margin of victory in a Game 1 in NBA history. The Thunder also engineered the biggest halftime comeback ever, overturning a 26-point deficit against Memphis in Game 3.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Pistons ended a 15-game postseason losing streak with a dramatic Game 2 win over the Knicks, while the Cleveland Cavaliers set a postseason record by draining 11 three-pointers in a single quarter and later clinched a series with a record-setting 55-point win over the Miami Heat.
The Indiana Pacers, however, stole the headlines with a string of miraculous comebacks. They erased a seven-point overtime deficit in just 40 seconds to beat Milwaukee, rallied from a similar hole in the final minute against Cleveland, and stunned the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals by overcoming a 14-point deficit with just over three minutes left, capped by Tyrese Haliburton’s improbable game-winner.
NBA Finals
The 2025 NBA Finals featured the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, two franchises seeking their first title since relocating to their current cities. The series was fiercely contested, going the full seven games, making it the first NBA Finals to have a Game 7 since 2016. Indiana opened the series with a stunning comeback and a game-winning shot by Haliburton, but the Thunder responded with dominant performances, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Game 7 proved decisive and bittersweet. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana’s inspirational leader, suffered a torn Achilles in the first quarter, leaving the Pacers shorthanded. The Thunder capitalized, securing a 103–91 victory and their second championship in franchise history (their first since 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics, and first since moving to Oklahoma City). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP, capping a historic postseason run.
NBA 24/25 Best Players and Individual Honors
The 2024/25 season was defined by the brilliance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (in photo). He not only led the Thunder to the best record and the championship but also swept the league’s top individual honors: NBA Most Valuable Player, scoring champion, and Finals MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists during the season, becoming only the second player in history (alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to win MVP, Finals MVP, and a scoring title by age 26.
Other notable accolades included Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs winning Rookie of the Year, and the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton earning widespread recognition for his clutch play and leadership during Indiana’s remarkable playoff run.
NBA Betting Stats
If you are serious about your NBA expert picks, it’s important to understand the biases reflected in betting markets. Examining a large sample size of stats can help you identify betting angles other bettors and tipsters are missing. There wouldn’t be NBA expert picks if it wasn’t for the stats gathered every year. Each game is carefully examined and data is collected that you can use for your betting picks. Following betting trends can give you an edge but it takes a lot of time and experience to recognize which stat matters at the moment.
Straight Up Win-Loss NBA Stats
The table below displays the win-loss percentages for teams across a number of situations for past seasons. We can see that home teams almost 60% of games in the NBA which is one of the highest home advantages in American sports. Sometimes looking at the average teams like the New York Knicks might be a good idea because the odds will always be higher when betting only on 1×2.
| Situation | WIN PCT | LOSS PCT |
|---|
| Home Teams | 59.5% | 40.5% |
| Away Teams | 40.5% | 59.5% |
| Favourites | 69.1% | 30.9% |
| Underdogs | 30.9% | 69.1% |
| Home Favourites | 71.0% | 29.0% |
| Home Underdogs | 35.1% | 64.9% |
| Away Favourites | 64.9% | 35.1% |
| Away Underdogs | 29.0% | 71.0% |
| After A Win | 53.9% | 46.1% |
| After A Loss | 46.0% | 54.0% |
| With More Rest | 55.5% | 44.5% |
| After 1 Days Rest | 51.6% | 48.4% |
NBA Stats Against The Spread
The most popular way to bet on the NBA is to bet against the spread. As we can see from the data below, there has been no clear advantage for teams playing across a range of situations for the past 10 seasons. While we saw that teams playing with an advantage in rest won almost 56% of games played, that advantage was not mirrored when playing against the market, in which case such teams covered the spread just under 50% of the time.
| Situation | WIN PCT | LOSS PCT |
|---|
| Home Teams | 49.6% | 50.4% |
| Away Teams | 50.4% | 49.6% |
| Favourites | 50.2% | 49.8% |
| Underdogs | 49.8% | 50.2% |
| Home Favourites | 49.8% | 50.2% |
| Home Underdogs | 49.1% | 50.9% |
| Away Favourites | 50.9% | 49.1% |
| Away Underdogs | 50.2% | 49.8% |
| After A Win | 49.4% | 50.6% |
| After A Loss | 50.6% | 49.4% |
| With More Rest | 49.6% | 50.4% |
| After 1 Day Rest | 50.2% | 49.8% |
Over Under NBA Betting Stats
Points totals in the NBA can vary between south of 180 points to north of 240 points depending on the playing styles of the teams involved. We can see that there has been a slight advantage for bettors who have bet the Under, particularly in Division and Playoff games, in which almost 52% of games ended up going under the total. Of course, this depends on the team like the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics that tend to have solid defense but not that good to stop top players.
| Situation | OVER WIN PCT | UNDER WIN PCT |
|---|
| Conference Games | 49.4% | 50.6% |
| Division Games | 48.3% | 51.7% |
| Playoff Games | 48.3% | 51.7% |
| Non-Conference Games | 49.2% | 50.8% |
| Non-Division Games | 49.6% | 50.4% |
| Regular Season Games | 49.4% | 50.6% |
Teams play 82-season games, so even before the excitement of the playoffs and the final, there is an abundance of weekly games to bet on and plenty of our free NBA expert picks to take full advantage of!
When consistently betting on any sport it is advisable to employ a sports betting strategy. The bettingexpert Academy can help with forming a strategy. Our NBA Betting Guide is detailed and concise, and you will find everything you need to improve your predictions by checking it out.
NBA Expert Picks: Crafting Winning Strategies
Crafting a winning strategy in NBA betting requires a blend of discipline, keen observation, and an ongoing willingness to learn. Mastering the art of placing smart bets isn’t just about luck—it’s also about making informed decisions based on solid NBA betting tips.
- Stay Informed: They must keep up with the latest news, including player injuries, team dynamics, and coaching strategies. Information is power in the world of sports betting.
- Understand Value Betting: It’s not always about picking a winner but finding bets that have better odds than they should. This means sometimes betting on an underdog if the situation seems favourable.
- Bankroll Management: Bettors should set aside a specific amount for wagering purposes and stick to it. This helps them avoid emotional decision-making that can lead to chasing losses or overspending.
- Specialize: Rather than spreading their bets across every game, they might focus on certain teams or types of bets where they have more knowledge or better information.
- Shop for Odds: Different sportsbooks offer varying lines so it pays to shop around. They must find the best value for their bet by comparing odds across platforms before placing their wager.
- Avoid Bias: Emotional attachment to teams can cloud judgment. Successful bettors make decisions based on data and trends rather than personal preference.
More specific NBA-related advice includes:
NBA Computer Picks
Even if computer picks can be great because you are taking the statistics as the main factor for your bets, the computer picks work only in cases when nothing changed before the last game. Even then, every game is unpredictable to a certain extent. You can’t use statistics for the finals by looking at what happened in the past decade because for each finals things change a lot, new players and ways of playing basketball are changing.
Picks Against the Spread
One of the most common things people bet on when it comes to betting tips are picks against the spread. Sportsbooks offer a lot of options but most played are picks against the spread for the teams and players. You can check top NBA sportsbooks at the bottom and see what the picks against the spread look like. Most NBA picks on bettingexpert will include picks against the spread as one of the tips.
Check Head-to-Head Matchups
One of the best ways of forecasting a result is by examining their previous Head-to-Head matches. By seeing the previous six results between two teams that are scheduled to meet, one can often form a solid opinion as to the outcome of their latest meeting.
If you would like to know more, visit the bettingexpert Academy and read our basketball betting guide.
Past NBA Champions and Regular Season Win Total
| SEASON | CLUB | WINS |
|---|
| 2024/25 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 68 |
| 2023/24 | Boston Celtics | 64 |
| 2022/23 | Denver Nuggets | 53 |
| 2021/22 | Golden State Warriors | 53 |
| 2020/21 | Milwaukee Bucks | 46 |
| 2019/20 | Los Angeles Lakers | 52 |
| 2018/19 | Toronto Raptors | 58 |
Bookmakers For Betting On NBA
It wasn’t always the case, but these days it’s not too hard to find a top online bookmaker who caters in-depth for fans of NBA predictions and comes armed with expert picks.
When choosing your online bookmaker try and stick to the well-established names you are familiar with, and be sure that your bookmaker provides these four key elements:
- Consistently Competitive Odds
- A Wide Range Of Betting Markets
- All Major Competitions Covered
- Extensive In-Play Betting Markets
To find the ideal bookmaker for your tips, be sure to read our detailed bookmaker reviews.
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