NBA

The 2024-25 NBA season is the 79th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The pre-season matches will commence on October 4th, 2024, while the regular season begins on October 22nd, 2024.

The 2024-25 NBA season will feature the second NBA In-Season Tournament which is the latest concept of the league. This move has been made primarily to add a bit more excitement.

1. NBA Scores
2. NBA Playoffs and Play-In Tournament
3. NBA Standings
4. NBA Schedule
5. NBA Draft
6. NBA Teams
7. NBA Power Rankings
8. NBA Trade Rumors
9. NBA Rankings
10. FAQs

NBA Scores

In the NBA, a point is scored by a team when the basketball goes through a hoop, that is placed 10 feet high. But it doesn’t end there, as there are different ways to score points.

If a team scores a basket, throwing it from within 22 feet of the basket, the team will be awarded 2 points. However, if the shot is taken from more than 22 feet away from the basket the team will get 3 points. There is an arc on the court to represent the 3-point line.

Further, if a player gets fouled while shooting within the 3-point line, and the player misses the basket, the team will be awarded two free throws, each shot worth one point. If the same is done from outside the three-point line, the player will be awarded three free throws. A single free throw is awarded if the player makes the shot while being fouled.

Teams can also be awarded free throws if a player on the opposing team is found eliciting inappropriate behavior of any kind, and is given a technical foul by the referee.

NBA Playoffs and Play-In Tournament

After all the teams have completed the 82-game regular season, the top 6 franchises from each conference directly enter the postseason known as the NBA Playoffs.

Teams placed 7 to 10 in each conference participate in the NBA Play-In Tournament to decide the 7th and 8th seeds. The 7th and 8th placed teams get two chances to qualify for the NBA Playoffs while the 9th and 10th placed teams must win two games in a row to qualify for the postseason. As a result, the Play-In Tournament comprises three games in either conference with the following format:

1. Game 1: Team #7 vs Team #8 (Winner qualifies as 7th seed)
2. Game 2: Team #9 vs Team #10 (Loser gets eliminated)
3. Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 2 (Winner qualifies as 8th seed, loser gets eliminated)

During the postseason, each team plays against another team from their own conference in a 7-game series, where the first team to win 4 games moves on to the next round. A team goes through 3 rounds of intense playoff series, before reaching the NBA Finals, where champions of the Eastern and Western conferences face off against each other. The winner here would win an NBA Championship, bringing the NBA Playoffs to a close.

The 2024-25 NBA Play-In Tournament is slated to take place from November 12 to December 17. The 2025 NBA Playoffs are scheduled to begin on April 19 and the 2025 NBA Finals will begin on June 5, 2025.

NBA Standings

As mentioned before, the NBA is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. As we wait for the 2024-25 NBA season to begin, here is a look at the final standings for the 2023-24 regular season for both conferences. The standings have been adjusted to account for the 2023-24 NBA season.

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics
2. New York Knicks
3. Milwaukee Bucks
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Orlando Magic
6. Indiana Pacers
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Miami Heat
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Atlanta Hawks
11. Brooklyn Nets
12. Toronto Raptors
13. Charlotte Hornets
14. Washington Wizards
15. Detroit Pistons

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Denver Nuggets
3. Minnesota Timberwolves
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Los Angeles Lakers
8. New Orleans Pelicans
9. Sacramento Kings
10. Golden State Warriors
11. Houston Rockets
12. Utah Jazz
13. Memphis Grizzlies
14. San Antonio Spurs
15. Portland Trail Blazers

NBA Schedule

As mentioned before, each team plays 82 games in the regular season, with the purpose of deciding the top 6 teams in each conference that will qualify for the NBA Playoffs with teams placed 7th to 10th going through the grind of the NBA Play-In Tournament. The league schedules some of the best and most interesting games on Opening Day and Christmas Day, making them the most popular days for NBA fans apart from the All-Star Weekend.

Another key staple of the NBA is the All-Star Weekend. This lasts for three days where the best players in the league face off in a myriad of competitions. The best rookies and sophomores from the season compete in the Rising Stars Challenge which takes place on Friday. This is preceded by the Celebrity Game where celebs from all walks of life come together to play a friendly game. Saturday is all about fun mini-games such as the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest. All of these are followed by the main event of the weekend on Sunday, the NBA All-Star Game.

The 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game will be played at Chase Center in San Francisco, the home arena of the Golden State Warriors, on February 16, 2025.

NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is an annual event through which, some of the top prospects from around the world, who have declared their availability for the NBA will be chosen by one of the 30 NBA teams. The order to determine who chooses when is decided by the wins-to-losses ratio of each team throughout the previous year’s regular season.

The 14 teams who don't qualify for the playoffs participate in the NBA Draft Lottery. The three teams with the most losses in the previous season will have the highest odds of winning the first overall pick. All the remaining teams in the lottery will have reduced odds of landing the No.1 pick, with the odds being inversely proportional to the number of wins that the said team has.

This 2024 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2024, at the Barclays Center. The Atlanta Hawks held the first overall pick and they drafted Zaccharie Risacher, who played for JL Bourg.

NBA Teams

There are 30 total teams in the NBA, with 29 teams representing a certain city from the United States of America and 1 team from Canada. The following is a complete list of all the teams in the NBA:

1. LA Lakers
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. LA Clippers
4. Toronto Raptors
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Boston Celtics
7. Houston Rockets
8. Indiana Pacers
9. Oklahoma City Thunder
10. Miami Heat
11. Utah Jazz
12. Philadelphia 76ers
13. Dallas Mavericks
14. Brooklyn Nets
15. Portland Trail Blazers
16. Orlando Magic
17. Memphis Grizzlies
18. Washington Wizards
19. Phoenix Suns
20. Charlotte Hornets
21. San Antonio Spurs
22. Chicago Bulls
23. Sacramento Kings
24. New York Knicks
25. New Orleans Pelicans
26. Detroit Pistons
27. Minnesota Timberwolves
28. Atlanta Hawks
29. Golden State Warriors
30. Cleveland Cavaliers

NBA Power Rankings

For the last half-decade, the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA power rankings, housing a team that was simply out of this world. But during the 2024-25 NBA season, many teams, like the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, and New York Knicks have become formidable teams and threaten to steal the throne.

NBA Power Rankings as of September 2024 -

1. Boston Celtics
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Denver Nuggets
4. New York Knicks
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Philadelphia 76ers
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Indiana Pacers
9. Phoenix Suns
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Cleveland Cavaliers
12. Sacramento Kings
13. New Orleans Pelicans
14. Orlando Magic
15. Miami Heat
16. Los Angeles Clippers
17. Los Angeles Lakers
18. Memphis Grizzlies
19. Golden State Warriors
20. Houston Rockets
21. Atlanta Hawks
22. Toronto Raptors
23. Utah Jazz
24. Chicago Bulls
25. San Antonio Spurs
26. Charlotte Hornets
27. Portland Trail Blazers
28. Detroit Pistons
29. Washington Wizards
30. Brooklyn Nets

NBA Trade Rumors

Throughout the NBA season and the off-season, the NBA is filled with trade rumors that, as the name suggests, cover stories about players potentially moving teams, what the chances of the trade happening at all are, and so on. Trade rumors are provided by NBA insiders who work with several sports news media outlets to deliver the latest scoop that they're aware of.

NBA Rankings

During the regular season, the NBA ranking of a team is decided based on their win-loss ratio. The top 8 NBA teams from each conference (following the conclusion of the NBA Play-In Tournament) qualify for the postseason. The 8th-ranked team goes up against the franchise placed at the 1st spot in that conference in the NBA Playoffs, while the 7th seed goes up against the 2nd. Similarly, the 6th seed faces the team seeded 3rd and the final first-round series sees teams ranked 4th and 5th take on each other.

NBA rankings also help in determining homecourt advantage. The top 4 teams get to host 4 out of the 7 games in the first round of the playoffs.

FAQs

How long is an NBA game?

An NBA game is 48 minutes long and is divided into four quarters, each 12 minutes long. If a game is tied at the end of 48 minutes, overtime periods of 5 minutes are played, until the two teams aren’t tied anymore.

When do the NBA Playoffs start?

The NBA Playoffs generally start in the second or third week of April, though the exact date varies from season to season.

Who has the most NBA championships?

The Boston Celtics have the most NBA Championships, with 18.