Shaquille O'Neal fires back at Kendrick Perkins for doubting his Knicks playoffs assessment
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About NBA
The 2023-24 NBA season is the 78th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The pre-season matches commenced on October 8th, 2023, while the regular season began on October 24th, 2023.
The 2023-24 NBA season which marks the 78th season of the NBA is ushering in a new era of the league as it held the very first NBAIn-Season Tournament which is the latest concept of the league. This move has been made primarily to add a bit more excitement to the otherwise mundane and long regular season.
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 of three games in either conference with the following format:
Game 1: Team #7 vs Team #8 (Winner qualifies as 7th seed)
Game 2: Team #9 vs Team #10 (Loser gets eliminated)
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 must go through 3 rounds, before reaching the NBA Finals as champions of their own conference and face off against the champions from the other conference. The winner here would win an NBA Championship, bringing the NBA Playoffs to a close.
The 2023-24 NBA Play-In Tournament is slated to take place from April 16 to April 19. The 2023-24 NBA Playoffs are scheduled to begin on April 20 and will conclude no later than June 23.
NBA Standings
As mentioned before, the NBA is divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. As we wait for the new season to begin, here is a look at the final standings for the 2022-23 regular season for both conferences. The standings have been adjusted to account for the results of the 2022-23 NBA Play-In Tournament.
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 2023-24 NBA All-Star Game will be played at Gainbridge FieldHouse, the home arena of the Indiana Pacers, on February 18, 2024.
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 over the course of 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 2023 NBA Draft was held on July 22, 2023, at the Barclays Center. The San Antonio Spurs held the first overall pick and they drafted the 7 ft 4 French generational player Victor Wembanyama who played for Metropolitans 92.
NBA Teams
There are 30 total teams in the NBA, with each team representing a certain city in either the United States of America or Canada. The following is a complete list of all the teams in the NBA:
LA Lakers
Milwaukee Bucks
LA Clippers
Toronto Raptors
Denver Nuggets
Boston Celtics
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Miami Heat
Utah Jazz
Philadelphia 76ers
Dallas Mavericks
Brooklyn Nets
Portland Trail Blazers
Orlando Magic
Memphis Grizzlies
Washington Wizards
Phoenix Suns
Charlotte Hornets
San Antonio Spurs
Chicago Bulls
Sacramento Kings
New York Knicks
New Orleans Pelicans
Detroit Pistons
Minnesota Timberwolves
Atlanta Hawks
Golden State Warriors
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 2019-20 NBA season, many teams, like the LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, and the Miami Heat have become formidable teams and threatened to steal the throne.
With the onset of the pandemic, several other franchises made the headlines during the 2020-21 NBA season. The likes of Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn Nets topped the NBA Power Rankings quite frequently. The NBA power rankings usually get updated every week.
NBA Trade Rumors
Over the course of the 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 LA Lakers and Boston Celtics are tied for the most NBA Championships, with 17 each.
FAQs
The NBA regular season starts during the month of October, but the exact date varies from season to season.
Each team plays 82 games in the regular season of the NBA.
There are a total of 30 teams in the NBA, 15 each in the Western and Eastern Conference.
NBA stands for National Basketball Association.
The average amount that NBA referees make in a year ranges between $150,000 to $550,000.
Bill Russell has the most NBA Championship rings, with 11.
