Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2024-25 NBA Preview
The 2024-25 NBA season gets underway in the early hours of the 23rd of October when the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks at TD Garden.
This will be the 79th season of the NBA and their win last season made the Boston Celtics the outright most successful franchise in the NBA with their 18th Championship, now one ahead of the Lakers.
The NBA Cup made its debut last season and they have stuck with it for this season also, the NBA All-Star game will take place on the 16th of February 2025 in San Francisco at the Chase Center.
We have seen five retirements at the end of last season, Kemba Walker has moved into coaching joining the Hornets, Gordon Hayward, Joe Harris, Derrick Rose and AJ Griffin have all also retired from the game.
Do you need some advice on who to back in the NBA? If so why not check out who OLBG's expert basketball tipsters are tipping? Check out the current basketball tips on OLBG.
NBA Coaching Changes
Here are the coaching changes from the 2023-24 to the 2024-25 season.
- Brooklyn Nets: Jordi Fernández replaces Kevin Ollie (interim)
- Charlotte Hornets: Charles Lee replaces Steve Clifford
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Kenny Atkinson replaces J. B. Bickerstaff
- Detroit Pistons: J. B. Bickerstaff replaces Monty Williams
- Los Angeles Lakers: JJ Redick replaces Darvin Ham
- Phoenix Suns: Mike Budenholzer replaces Frank Vogel
- Washington Wizards: Brian Keefe was promoted from interim
NBA International Games in 2024-25
Two regular season NBA games will be played at international venues this season and this season they will both be played at the same venue.
The United Arab Emirates will be the host for this season's games, both being played at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi which hosted games in both 2022 & 2023 and has also hosted some of the top UFC events.
- October 4th - Celtics vs Nuggets
- October 6th - Nuggets vs Celtics
How often do Favourites win in the NBA?
As you can see below in the table which highlights the favourites winning percentages when playing either at home or away during the regular season only do not differ a great deal when the side is on the road which is very interesting.
If you look at least the season's record, more favourites won on the road than they did at home which was also the case during the 2021-22 season, meaning two of the last three seasons have seen more winning favourites on the road than at home.
| Season | Home (W-L) | Road (W-L) | Overall (W-L) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 447-213 (67.73%) | 260-134 (65.99%) | 707-347 (67.08%) |
| 2020-21 | 418-198 (67.86%) | 295-168 (63.71%) | 713-366 (66.08%) |
| 2021-22 | 521-246 (67.93%) | 315-146 (68.33%) | 836-392 (68.08%) |
| 2022-23 | 543-245 (68.91%) | 269-171 (61.14%) | 812-416 (66.12%) |
| 2023-24 | 524-232 (69.31%) | 327-139 (70.17%) | 851-371 (69.64%) |
| Totals | 2453-1134 (68.39%) | 1466-758 (65.92%) | 3919-1892 (67.44%) |
How many Points are scored in the NBA?
Below is a table highlighting the regular season games over the last five seasons and how many points both the hosts and visitors averaged during those seasons as well as the game average.
As you can see the totals do not differ a great deal, however, the past two seasons have seen higher averages for both the hosts and visiting teams compared to the previous three seasons.
| Season | Total Games | Home Ave | Road Ave | Game Ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 1059 | 112.9 | 110.7 | 223.6 |
| 2020-21 | 1080 | 112.6 | 111.6 | 224.2 |
| 2021-22 | 1230 | 111.5 | 109.8 | 221.2 |
| 2022-23 | 1230 | 115.9 | 113.4 | 229.4 |
| 2023-24 | 1224 | 115.2 | 113.1 | 228.4 |
| Totals | 5823 | 113.7 | 111.8 | 225.4 |
NBA Finals - Past Champions
The NBA's history stretches back to 1947 when the now-defunct Chicago Stags defeated the Philadelphia Warriors for what would become the NBA Championship.
Only two franchises have won double-digit championships, the Lakers on seventeen wins and the Celtics whose win in 2024 ended a sixteen-year wait for a championship and moved them on to eighteen championships.
The Last 10 NBA Champions:
| Year | Western Champions | Result / MVP | Eastern Champions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd | 1 - 4 Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics (Joe Mazzula) |
| 2023 | Denver Nuggets Michael Malone | 4 - 1 Nikola Jokić | Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra |
| 2022 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 4 - 2 Stephen Curry | Boston Celtics Ime Udoka |
| 2021 | Phoenix Suns Monty Williams | 2 - 4 Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks Mike Budenholzer |
| 2020 | Los Angeles Lakers Frank Vogel | 4 - 2 LeBron James | Miami Heat Erik Spoelstra |
| 2019 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 2 - 4 Kawhi Leonard | Toronto Raptors Nick Nurse |
| 2018 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 4 - 0 Kevin Durant | Cleveland Cavaliers Tyronn Lue |
| 2017 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 4 - 1 Kevin Durant | Cleveland Cavaliers Tyronn Lue |
| 2016 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 3 - 4 LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers Tyronn Lue |
| 2015 | Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr | 4 - 2 Andre Iguodala | Cleveland Cavaliers David Blatt |
If you need more info for your basketball bets why not check out the Best Basketball Tipsters page to see which of the top OLBG tipsters currently have tips on this sport. The highlighted tipsters have shown a recent profit for their basketball tips.
Most Successful Franchise
Which team has won the most NBA Championships? There are only two franchises who are in double figures for championships and eleven who have won multiple championships.
- 18 - Boston Celtics (.783)
- 17 - LA Lakers (.531)
- 7 - Golden State Warriors (.583)
- 6 - Chicago Bulls (1.000)
- 5 - San Antonio Spurs (.833)
- 3 - Philadelphia 76ers (.333)
- 3 - Detroit Pistons (.429)
- 3 - Miami Heat (.429)
- 2 - New York Knicks (.250)
- 2 - Houston Rockets (.500)
- 2 - Milwaukee Bucks (.667)
New to betting on basketball? Why not head over to our betting school where you can find a great article on Basketball Betting Advice?
Author Information
Andy Powell manages this NBA Preview, Statistics and Betting Guide and other basketball content in this section of the site as well as the Basketball Tipsters in the OLBG tipster competition in his role in the OLBG Expert Team. Andy meticulously updates the data and results for these pieces. You can get Basketball betting advice in our bookmaker reviews as well as in our Best Basketball Betting Sites Guide.
**Statistics included in this blog include regular season matches only from the start of the 2019-20 season to the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, home and away teams are decided by the matchup.
Other Basketball Blogs
We are continuing to build our Basketball content here on OLBG, you may be interested in this FIBA Champions League blog previewing the season which is packed full of statistics to help your betting.
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