Rules

1.1The court

The court has a basket 10 feet high at each end, a free-throw line 15 feet from the backboard, a lane under each basket and a three-point arc. The boundary lines are out of bounds.

1.2Out of bounds

The ball is out when it touches the floor, a person or an object on or outside the boundary line. It is awarded to the team that did not touch it last.

2.1Five on the court

Each team has five players on the court. Leagues set the fewest a team may start and finish with.

2.2Substitutions

A substitute comes in when the ball is dead and the official waves them on. There is no limit on substitutions.

3.1Periods

High school games are four quarters of eight minutes. Recreational leagues commonly play two halves on a running clock that stops only late in the game.

3.2Time-outs

Each team has a set number of time-outs, which may be called only by the team with the ball or when the ball is dead.

3.3Overtime

A game tied at the end of regulation goes to an extra period, repeated until there is a winner, unless the league lets ties stand.

4.1Jump ball and alternating possession

The game starts with a jump ball at centre. After that, held balls and other jump-ball situations go to the teams in turn, shown by a possession arrow.

4.2Throw-ins

After a made basket, a violation or a foul that is not shot, the ball is passed in from out of bounds. The thrower has five seconds and may not step onto the court before releasing it.

5.1Points

A field goal is worth two points, or three when the shooter's feet are behind the three-point line. A free throw is worth one.

5.2Free throws

A player fouled while shooting gets two free throws, or three if it was a three-point attempt, and one if the shot went in. Players along the lane may not enter it until the ball is released.

6.1Travelling

A player holding the ball may pivot on one foot but may not lift and replace that foot, or take more than the allowed steps on a catch, without dribbling.

6.2Double dribble and carrying

A player may not dribble with both hands at once, start a new dribble after ending one, or let the ball come to rest in the hand during a dribble.

6.3Three seconds in the lane

A player whose team has the ball in its front court may not stay in the lane for more than three seconds.

6.4Ten seconds and over-and-back

A team has ten seconds to bring the ball across the centre line, and once across may not take it back into the back court.

6.5Five-second counts

A player has five seconds to inbound the ball, and a closely guarded player holding or dribbling the ball in the front court may be called for holding it too long.

6.6Goaltending and basket interference

A defender may not touch a shot on its way down toward the basket, and no player may touch the ball while it is on the rim or in the cylinder above it.

6.7Kicking the ball

Deliberately kicking the ball or striking it with a fist is a violation.

7.1Personal fouls

A personal foul is illegal contact: holding, pushing, hitting, tripping, blocking a moving player without position, or charging into a defender who has it. A player is disqualified on their fifth personal foul in a high-school-rules game; leagues with longer games allow six.

7.2Team fouls and the bonus

Team fouls are counted each period or half. Once a team passes the limit, the other team shoots free throws on every further foul, shooting or not.

7.3Offensive fouls and screens

A screen must be set standing still, with room for the defender to avoid it. A foul by the team with the ball gives the ball to the other team with no free throws.

7.4Technical fouls

Unsporting behaviour, such as arguing, taunting or hanging on the rim, is a technical foul: free throws and the ball for the other team. Two technicals and the player is ejected.

7.5Intentional and flagrant fouls

A foul that is deliberate, excessive or not a play on the ball brings free throws and the ball; a flagrant foul also ejects the player.

8.1Officials

The officials' judgment is final. A captain may ask politely for an explanation of a rule.

8.2Leagues without officials

In pick-up style leagues the player fouled calls it, the ball is taken out of bounds in place of free throws, and disputed calls are replayed.

9.1Standings

The rulebook decides a match; the league decides what a result is worth in its standings.

In this league: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss.

9.2Teams level in the standings

The league also decides how teams level in the standings are separated.

In this league: Teams level on points are separated by most wins, then head-to-head, then point differential, then most points scored, then a coin flip recorded by the league. Head-to-head counts only when the tied teams have all played each other equally.