Sportsbook handle on the NBA trails only the NFL in popularity and volume.

Online sports betting in Massachusetts is now live, and basketball fans in the state can get in on the action in a variety of ways.

Where’s the best NBA sportsbook action? Where can you bet on Jayson Tatum to go off for 30 or the Boston Celtics to win the East? What are the best NBA betting sites? Scroll down to see.

Best NBA betting apps in Massachusetts

At full capacity, Massachusetts could feature as many as 15 betting apps. Seven platforms have launched in Massachusetts. They are DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, WynnBET, Barstool Sportsbook, and Betr.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these platforms so you know what to expect when betting on the NBA in Massachusetts:

DraftKings Massachusetts

One of the biggest strengths of DraftKings, especially for NBA action, is its live betting platform FlashBet. FlashBet makes it very easy to bet on games at any point in the action.

When it comes to the NBA, that’s a big deal because scores change quickly, and live bettors look for that perfect moment to squeeze a bet in.

With that in mind, the DraftKings MA Sportsbook app may be your best option. Its other strong points include extensive same game NBA parlays, extensive NBA player props and playoff-focused futures bets.

FanDuel Massachusetts

FanDuel cut its teeth as a daily fantasy sports juggernaut. Now it consistently delivers one of the top sports betting experiences, especially for NBA bettors.

FanDuel Sportsbook value goes deeper than surface-level features. In addition to a great selection of NBA player props, bettors will find the bread-and-butter (moneyline, spreads, totals) along with futures, live betting, and futures.

Hoops bettors will appreciate the odds they find on FanDuel as well. FanDuel’s oddsmakers aren’t afraid to lean on their in-house analysis, even when it produces odds that may differ from much of the industry’s.

With the FanDuel Massachusetts Sportsbook app, you can buy up to 14 points on an NBA teaser. The only catch is that you will not make a lot of money by buying that many points as security. Still, there’s no better sportsbook for those who like to play big teasers in the NBA.

FanDuel also offers strong TNT Thursdays promo, futures odds on the NBA Finals, conference and division winners, and plenty of parlays.

BetMGM Massachusetts

One thing BetMGM does particularly well is lay out alternate NBA lines, which let you bet on a team winning by an exact range of points.

Let’s say that you think the Celtics will beat the Lakers, but it will be a close game. The BetMGM Massachusetts Sportsbook app can give you a range of one to six points for the spread.

Other strengths of the MGM app for NBA odds include frequently updated futures for NBA player awards, and betting on the state and division where the next NBA champ will come from.

BetMGM also does a good job of featuring regular daily odds boosts and specials on specific NBA games. Basketball betting at BetMGM also includes college, women’s, and Euroleague odds.

WynnBET Massachusetts

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to capture hoops bettors’ attention than by placing Shaquille O’Neal on the home page (desktop).

While WynnBET’s desktop site provides articles and betting tips, visitors can’t actually place bets. There is a WynnBET Sportsbook app, though. However, one potentially annoying factor is that it has an app for each of the individual states in which it’s active – i.e., you need WynnBET NY if you’re in Brooklyn; WynnBET Arizona if you’re in Phoenix, etc.

Again, this isn’t a reason to dock WynnBET with a stiff penalty, but it’s another small thing that can keep it from elevating to a similar standing as its peers and competitors. Finally, those who are drawn to aesthetically pleasing interfaces and the use of official team logos will be disappointed.

The latter are non-existent and the user interface is not as clean and sharp as the leaders in the industry.

How to start NBA betting at online sportsbooks

If you want to bet on the NBA at Massachusetts online sportsbooks, the first thing you’ll need to do is choose a sportsbook. Once you do that, here are the next steps:

• Download the sportsbook’s app or visit its website via our links
• Create an account
• Claim any promos and bonuses
• Deposit money and start betting

You’ll need to provide personal information like your name, age and banking or credit card details to transfer money into the account. Once you have all of that information accounted for, you are ready to place your first bet.

In addition, be sure to be on the lookout for the various Massachusetts sports betting promos and bonuses that are available to new users.

How to read NBA betting odds and lines

Listings for NBA games follow virtually the same format at all sportsbooks. The following are the main ways for you to bet on NBA games online:

NBA spreads

Spread bets require a team to either win by a certain amount of points or lose by less than that amount (or win by any score).

Say tonight’s Celtics odds show they’re favored by five points over the New York Knicks. In this case, the spread would be Boston Celtics -5. If Boston were to win by only four points, you would lose the bet if you had the Celtics covering the spread. The Celtics would have to win by six points or more for you to win the bet.

Spread bets can help bring odds down on big favorites or give you a fighting chance to win a bet with a big underdog.

NBA moneylines

The moneyline is a little more straightforward than the spread. This is because all you care about is which team wins the game.

So, in the above scenario, you may decide to take the Celtics’ moneyline instead of giving up five points against the Knicks. This means the Celtics would only have to win the game rather than cover a spread. If the Celtics did beat the Knicks by four points, you would win your moneyline bet because Boston won the game.

NBA over/unders

Another route you can go for NBA betting is predicting the point total of a game. This is what bettors call the over/under. In an over/under bet, you decide whether the two teams playing will combine to score more or fewer points than the point total that the sportsbook has set.

Let’s say that with the Celtics vs. Knicks, the sportsbook has the line at 212.5. If you bet under, you’re betting that both teams will combine for 212 points or fewer. If you bet over, you’re predicting that the Celtics and Knicks will combine for more than 212 total points.

NBA alternate lines

An alternate line offers a different spread or point total than the one the sportsbook has as its main listing. Bettors can buy points or sell points to get better odds.

If you move the line from Celtics -5 to Celtics -1 on the spread, you will be in line to make less of a return on your wager, but your bet has a much higher chance of winning.

Finding the best NBA lines

Before the game begins, your best bet to finding the right NBA lines for you is to review all of your options. If Massachusetts decides to allow wagering on sports, this would mean checking different sports betting sites in MA before a game starts to see if one offers a better deal than the others.

For example, DraftKings may have the Celtics as -5 favorites on the spread at -115 odds. This means you would have to wager $115 to win $100. But FanDuel may have the Celtics at -5 and odds of -110. This means you’d have to risk only $110 for a chance to win the same amount.

NBA props and futures

A futures bet is a prediction of how a team or individual will perform throughout the season. For example, you can bet on Boston to make a run in the playoffs or on any team’s expected Win Totals over the season.

As for prop bets, you have the option to bet on smaller aspects within a game, such as whether certain circumstances will come to pass, total stats for one of the teams or the performance of individual players. This might mean predicting point totals, assists or rebounds, for instance.

You might be able to, say, bet on the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum to have over/under 25.5 points in a game. These can be great options if you are more confident in an individual player having an impressive or lackluster performance rather than the team. See tonight’s live NBA player prop odds.

Live betting on the NBA

One of the standout ways to bet on the NBA is live betting. Because a basketball game can change rapidly, perhaps more than any other sport, in game betting odds give you a chance to factor in how a team is playing in real time and place a spread, moneyline, over/under or prop bet while the game is happening.

So, if the Celtics came into a game against the Knicks as five-point favorites and started off by giving up 10 straight points to New York, that would knock the in-game spread down. If you believe the Celtics will come back in that game, now would be the time to strike. Instead of getting the Celtics at -5, you might get them at -1.

The same applies to player props, as well. If Tatum’s over/under point total was 25 before the game and he got shut out in the first quarter, you might be able to get a lower point total in the second quarter. Here are some things that you can bet on live:

• The point spread and moneyline
• Over/under
• Quarter and second-half bets
• Player and game props

NBA betting rules at Massachusetts sportsbooks

The NBA is like most sports and follows the same general rules at sportsbooks. Some specific things may vary, such as how many points you can buy with a teaser and when you can cash out on a bet if your team isn’t playing well. Here are some of the basic rules for NBA betting at online sportsbooks:

• In most states where sports betting is legal, you must be 21 or older.
• Must be physically located in the state where the sportsbook can legally operate.
• Bets include overtime.
• Games must be official for player props to count. (Games must last at least 43 minutes to be considered official.)
• If the player is listed as inactive, then any props involving that player will be void.
• Teams must play in all scheduled regular-season games for futures bets to be valid.