Sportsbooks have seen home teams in the NBA rolling along this season. Of the 30 teams in the NBA, 22 have winning home records. Four other teams are at .500 or within a game of .500 at home. When you look at Internet sportsbook odds in the NBA, the home team is almost always going to be favored.
Sportsbooks really don’t like home teams doing so well in the NBA. One of the few teams that have excelled on the road is Cleveland and their success is not always good news for the Internet sportsbook since they are such a public team. What is weird about the Cavaliers this season is that they have struggled versus the NBA odds at home even though they have a winning record straight up.
The lack of success on the road is not a surprise for weak teams but there are three teams in the Western Conference that will probably make the playoffs that are struggling on the road. Denver, Phoenix and San Antonio are all below .500 on the road. Some teams have a huge home/road dichotomy as sportsbooks stats show. Charlotte is 14-4 at home but just 3-15 on the road. New Orleans is 14-3 at home but 5-14 on the road. Some divisions really have struggled away from home. If you take Cleveland out of the Central Division, the rest of the teams are 14-58 on the road.
Normally in the NBA the home team wins about 60 percent of the time but this year it has been much higher. That might change as the NBA sportsbooks season continues. How much weight do oddsmakers at sportsbooks give to the home teams? The general edge is that the home team gets about a six point edge at the Internet sportsbook. That sportsbooks number is tweaked by situations and is of course added to whatever the power ratings were between the two teams.
Just because a team does well at home straight up does not mean they always cover the sportsbooks odds. The Lakers and Cavaliers are both great home teams straight up but neither team has a winning record vs. the odds at the Internet sportsbook in home games. The worst team on the road this season is the New Jersey Nets as they are 1-19 straight up and not much better against the spread at 7-13.