NBA and ACB Basketball Leagues Differences

The NBA is often ranked as the most popular basketball league in the world. It’s not without reason – it’s home to some of the best players in the world, and the playoffs attract millions of viewers.

The NBA is the most popular choice regarding local championships, with the Spanish ACB League in second place.

In Europe, the ACB League is highly respected. Teams compete in club championships, such as the EuroLeague, the EuroCup, and the FIBA Champions League, and are consistently ranked among the favourites.

Every European basketball fan knows teams like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Baskonia, Valencia, and Unicaja.

FIBA basketball differs from the NBA in a few fundamental rules, the length of games, and the style of play.

If we look only at Europe, the ACB is a trendsetter. The league rules are different from those of other local championships, and the competitiveness can be felt among most teams. There is often talk of loose and fast Spanish basketball.

Could it be said that the ACB is the most similar European domestic championship to the NBA? Maybe so, but there are still many differences between the ACB and the NBA. Let’s talk more about that. First, let’s look at the differences between the leagues and see how that affects how bets are placed.

We have already mentioned that the ACB and the NBA are the two most popular local championships if the NBA league with a team from Canada could be classified as a local championship.

There is no doubt a huge difference between the leagues regarding talent, financial possibilities, and influence on the basketball world. However, Europe’s most popular domestic championship can at least somewhat match the NBA. Let’s take a closer look at the leagues themselves.

The ACB (Asociacion de Clubes de Baloncesto) is a basketball league in Spain founded in 1983. As of 2021, 18 teams compete in the league. The last two teams in the league are relegated to the second league, Primera FEB, and are replaced by the two first-placed clubs.

Since the league’s inception in 1983, 52 different teams have competed in the ACB. Seven clubs have been champions, with FC Barcelona winning the most times – 17 – and Real Madrid 15.

The other five champions are Baskonia, Joventut, Manresa Basquet, Malaga Unicaja, and Valencia Basket.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) is a basketball league founded in 1949 in the United States. It has 29 teams from the USA and 1 from Canada. The league was formed when the BAA (Basketball Association of America), founded in 1946, and the NBL (National Basketball League) merged.

The NBA and the ABA (American Basketball Association) merged in 1976. 18 organisations have been NBA champions at least once. The Boston Celtics have won the most titles until 2024 with 18, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers with 17.

Basketball fans are invited to read our EuroLeague predictions.

When comparing the NBA and ACB basketball leagues, it is important to note the differences in rules. The championships use a completely different format. The NBA is distinguished by being a closed league with 30 teams.

A salary cap includes many contract clauses, an NBA rookie exchange, etc. The ACB, on the other hand, is an open league, with teams competing not only to qualify for the playoffs but also to keep their place because, as we have already mentioned, two teams are relegated each year.

Apart from the differences in format, the NBA and ACB leagues have slightly different styles of play, different game lengths, a few basic rules, and the players’ attitudes. In the ACB regular season, teams play 34 games each, while in the NBA, they play 82.

As a result, regular-season games are much more important in Spain. At the same time, the playoffs are different: in the ACB, there are no playoffs; the quarter-finals are played in BO3 (Best-of-three) format, and the semi-finals and finals are in BO5 (Best-of-five) format.

In the NBA, on the other hand, the playoffs follow the playoffs, with games going to four wins.

Although the style of play is one difference between the ACB and the NBA, it’s worth admitting that the ACB is the most similar to the NBA of all the European domestic championships. In Spain, the basketball is fast and loose, while here, we see far fewer combinations.

In recent years, the rules have been changed to make the game even faster – the referee does not need to touch the ball before it is dribbled out on his side of the court.

This means that players can simply throw the ball away themselves after an opponent’s mistake, such as travelling or a foul, and run into a quick attack. This rule does not apply when two minutes are left in the match.

If fast and loose basketball is one of the similarities between the leagues, the main differences are the length of the game, the foul rules, the coaches’ reviews, and others.

First, the difference between ACB and NBA rules is that the game is played under FIBA rules in Spain. As a result, there are differences such as the distance of the three-point line, the size of the court, the playing time, and the three seconds rule in the penalty box.

The coach challenge rule can be distinguished. In the NBA, coaches have one challenge, which they keep if it is successful. If the challenge is unsuccessful, a second challenge is no longer given, and a minute’s time-out is lost.

In the ACB league, coaches have two challenges. If a challenge is used successfully, it is kept. In this case, coaches can use a challenge several times during a match.

One of the differences is the ejection rule, which has already been discussed and is currently only applied in the Spanish ACB League.

Another key difference between the leagues is the knockdown of the ball. In the ACB league, it is possible to shoot the ball after it has touched the hoop as long as it does not go into the basket.

In contrast, in the NBA league, it is not possible to touch/shoot the ball after it has touched the hoop, but rather to wait for it to go fully into the basket or to bounce off the hoop after a missed shot and fly to the other side of the floor.

Due to a few key rules, NBA games last much longer than ACB games. First, the NBA plays four 12-minute periods, whereas the ACB plays four 10-minute periods. This means that the NBA adds 8 extra minutes, almost a fifth in the case of the ACB.

Commercial breaks are also present. In the ACB, they are a minute long, like all other breaks, while in the NBA, they are about two minutes long, sometimes longer. This also contributes to the overall length of the game.

While FIBA rules often change the rules already in force in the NBA, the attack time has been adjusted primarily in Europe. In the ACB league, the time allowed for an attack is 24 seconds, while the time allowed for an offensive rebound is 14 seconds.

For a long time, the offensive rebound and 24 seconds after the rebound were given priority in the NBA. This changed in 2018, with 14 seconds on the offensive end in both ACB and NBA games.

Since the NBA plays 12 minutes per game, it’s not surprising that the foul limit varies. Here, each player is allowed 5 fouls – a sixth foul means that the player must be substituted and may not return to the game. In the ACB league, a player can foul 4 times – a fifth foul means he is out of the match.

Team fouls are slightly different. In the ACB League, a fifth-team foul in a single game will result in the opposing team’s player taking two free throws, even if the foul was not committed during the shot.

The same is true in the NBA, but in the NBA League, every foul sends a player to the free-throw line with two minutes left in the game, even if the team has not reached the four-foul limit in that game.

In addition to the differences in specific rules, the NBA and ACB leagues have different tactics. One reason for this is rule restrictions. The ACB league allows zone defence to some extent, while the NBA league allows it to some extent.

Defending the zone was not possible before, but it is now, and this is also linked to the 3-second free-throw rule. A defending player cannot stand in the penalty box for 3 seconds, which can make it difficult to apply zone defence.

At the same time, players don’t need complex schemes to create a good shot. As a result, the ACB league uses many more tactics and focuses more on defence, as there are fewer offensive talents.

Check our NBA regular season predictions article.

The player dynamics in the ACB and NBA leagues are quite similar, with the main difference being the offensive talent. Both leagues try to play fast, and we can see high-scoring games. Players are not afraid to take the initiative, and often, the ball is thrown away in the first seconds of an attack. Although there are similarities, there are certainly several differences in this respect.

Although the ACB league tries to speed up the game, it must be remembered that it is played according to FIBA rules – the defence is allowed to stand in the penalty box, and the court is slightly smaller than in the NBA.

This does not give as many options on offence as in the NBA, where players have much more space to play one-on-one.

At the same time, although there is some talent in the ACB league, it is certainly not on a par with the NBA league, so team play is not neglected either. Winning is critical here, and you have to use a wide variety of tactics to win.

Spaniards dominate the ACB, and there are some Americans, but they are not as numerous as local players or Europeans.

The main reason for this is the league’s rule that teams cannot register more than two non-European players. This is also reflected in the players’ achievements: since the 2007-08 season, no American has been named ACB Finals MVP.

It should be noted that much less physically strong players dominate the ACB. There are no athletes like in the NBA, where spectacular dunks can be seen in every game. The ACB is dominated by plasticity and long throws, but that does not mean that there are no showy actions.

The style of play of NBA players is much harder to define than in the ACB league, as the NBA has players from all over the world.

This league features the best Europeans, who bring their style of play, the best Americans, and other countries.

It’s dominated by one-on-one play, so it’s hard to get a foothold in the league for those who don’t have a good defence, don’t have individual offensive skills, or don’t have an elite shot. Here, you can see players with unique and physical abilities that stand out.

Read our article on the greatest scorers in NBA history.

It’s worth acknowledging that preparation and training also impact the style of play and the pace of the match. In the NBA, there is a strong emphasis on individual training.

During the regular season, the schedule is very demanding, with sometimes 4-5 games a week, plus travel and hardly any time for training.

Meanwhile, in the ACB League, not all 18 clubs play in European tournaments, meaning they can spend the whole week preparing for the upcoming weekend matches.

As a result, there is much more focus on analysing the other team, preparing for a specific opponent, and tactical aspects during training. In the NBA, there is a similar analysis once the playoffs start, but there is not much time for that during the regular season.

In Europe, the season lasts much longer than in the NBA. For example, the NBA season starts at the end of October, while players who are not in the playoffs can already rest from the second half of April.

This means they have just over five months before the start of the next season to focus on individual development. In Europe, local championships start in September and end in June. This means there are just two months for rest and training, plus the various national championships.

If you look closer at the ACB and NBA basketball leagues, you can see that the style of play and the rules are slightly different. Therefore, when placing basketball bets, this should also be considered.

Betting on regular season games in the ACB and the NBA is very different. You need to have a good understanding of the differences in the rules, which is why the results in the NBA are much higher than in the ACB, but also the importance of the games.

For less experienced gamblers, opening the NBA betting offer may raise an eyebrow when you see that the game totals are 240 more. However, for those interested in the league, such numbers are not surprising, and they often even bet on more points being scored.

In the ACB, on the other hand, the numbers are much lower, and bettors do not have to assume that if the NBA scores a lot of points, the ACB will score the same number of points. When betting on different leagues, you need to know the rules and the style of play.

For example, in the 2023-24 season, 16 teams in the NBA played games in which the number of points scored was less than the number of points allowed. Ten teams shot fewer points than made in 52.6%+ of their games.

The defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets had the most games that were not scored OVER, with 58.5% of all games ending with UNDER. The same is true in the ACB League, where some teams are likely to end with an OVER, while others are less likely.

When the NBA introduced the rule that 14 seconds are added after a rebound instead of 24, the total-over numbers increased dramatically.

Teams became slightly more efficient as the number of possessions increased. The same was true in the ACB league, with the introduction of the ejection rule also contributing to the increase in performance.

Rules such as personal fouls are now something to pay attention to.

This is due to fewer fouls and a rotation that almost never changes during the game. In the NBA regular season, the same pattern of substitutions is usually applied – no matter who you play against, the rotations remain the same.

Another rule related to fouls can be useful for live betting. For example, in the middle of the game, you can bet on OVER, as every foul will send a player to the free-throw line with two minutes left.

This usually results in more productive quarter ends. Also, it is usually the starting five players who close out the game.

NBA betting during the regular season and the playoffs is like night and day. Any team can beat another during the regular season, so betting on the favourites is particularly dangerous.

There are often surprises and last-second shots, so if the favourites win, it’s often worth taking the underdog’s plus advantage.

The reason for such a big difference is that the importance of the games in the regular season is not so high.

The value is highest at the end of the regular season when the teams compete for the final positions before the playoffs, and at the beginning of the season, when all teams are still playing at full strength after the summer, and the players are not overworked.

In the ACB League, regular season games have a different meaning. First, there are far fewer of them, and second, teams have more days to prepare.

The teams that play in the EuroLeague are worth following, especially after the double weeks of the EuroLeague; the ACB League often sees the big names stumble – Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, or Baskonia.

When looking for the safest bets on ACB and NBA games, you should look for situations where the game is a game-changer. For example, one team is playing for a playoff spot, or maybe there is some kind of rivalry between teams or players.

At the end of the NBA regular season, we need to look at the teams that are better off losing for a chance to get a higher draft pick in the NBA rookie draft. As a result, betting on these teams to win has no value at all.

In both the ACB and NBA leagues, you have to pay attention to the teams’ schedules. In the ACB league, some teams have a full week to prepare for their games, while others are playing in European tournaments and, therefore, have only a few days to prepare.

This changes dramatically during the playoffs, as the European tournaments are over, and teams can concentrate only on the domestic championship. As a result, the regular season should focus more on the outsiders and the playoffs on the favourites. Of course, there are exceptions.

Basketball played in the NBA and ACB leagues is entirely different. The differences start with simple rules and court size and end with the amount of talent and style of play. In both leagues, there are valuable bets to be found, but there are different aspects to pay attention to.

You must be careful during the regular season in the NBA, following team rosters and player injuries.

In the ACB league, the regular season is much more important, and the last-place teams should not be underestimated. Unlike in the NBA league, they want to win to keep their place, whereas in the NBA league, the last-place teams are waiting for a higher draft pick in the NBA rookie draft.