NBA games are some of the most exciting events in professional sports. From thunderous dunks to spectacular blocked shots to pinpoint passes in transition, there’s always something to get excited about. And if you’re lucky enough to have an excellent seat, you can enjoy the action in person with some of the most dedicated fans in the world.
The NBA season runs from October to April each year. The league’s 30 teams compete in 82 regular-season games, 41 each home and away. The Play-In Tournament and the NBA Playoffs follow, culminating in a best-of-seven series for the championship. The NBA Finals are usually played in late May or early June, depending on the calendar.
There are many ways to follow the NBA, including live streaming of games and radio broadcasts. There are also a variety of mobile apps that allow players and fans to stay on top of the latest news and scores. The app ClutchPoints provides comprehensive team, player and game information. There are also features for betting and analyzing trends.
In the 1940s, the NBA started with seventeen franchises in a mix of large cities and smaller towns. Over the next decade, the league continued to expand and contraction, with new teams joining in the Minneapolis Lakers, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Milwaukee Hawks, Rochester Royals, and Fort Wayne Pistons. Eventually the league consolidated to its current eleven franchises, although the Minneapolis and Los Angeles teams have since moved.
The NBA’s end-of-season showpiece event, the NBA Playoffs, are a complex and intense competition that pits the best teams against one another. The top six teams in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences automatically advance to the playoffs, while teams ranked seventh through tenth participate in a play-in tournament at the end of the regular season to determine the final two Playoff spots. Tiebreaker criteria include head-to-head record, better record against division rivals, and overall winning percentage.
Each round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven game series, with the semifinals and conference finals each requiring seven games as well. In addition, the NBA has a unique rule in which teams must attempt a basket within 24 seconds of getting the ball, called the 24-second clock.
The season is structured so that each of the thirty teams plays division rivals four times, six other teams in their conference three times, and a pair of games against the remaining fifteen teams in their conferences once. There have been rumors in recent years that the length of the NBA season could be cut by several games in the future.
Each spring, the league conducts a lottery, consisting of ping-pong balls drawn in an audited event, to decide the order of selection for the draft. The first three picks in the draft are determined by lottery, with the next three in reverse order of finish in the previous season. The remainder of the order is determined by a combination of regular-season finish, inverse order of play-in tournament performance, and team needs.