Basketball under FIBA rules is played by two teams with five players each on court. A free throw is worth one point, a basket from the two-point area is worth two, and a basket from the three-point area is worth three. Games have four ten-minute quarters, with five-minute overtime periods when the score remains tied.
This beginner guide uses the Official Basketball Rules 2026, version 1.1, listed by FIBA as applying from 1 October 2026 and checked on 7 November. FIBA also cautions that its rules differ from those used in the NBA, WNBA and NCAA. Identify the competition's rule set before applying something seen in a different league.
| Basic question | FIBA answer |
|---|---|
| Players on court | Five per team |
| Regulation playing time | Four quarters of ten minutes |
| Overtime | Five minutes per period |
| Normal possession clock | 24 seconds to attempt a qualifying shot |
| Individual foul limit | A player must leave after five fouls |
How basketball scoring and game time work
The aim is to score in the opponents' basket while preventing them from scoring in yours. Field goals are worth two or three points according to the area from which the shot is released. Free throws are separate attempts worth one point each. The team with more points at the end wins; an ordinary tied game continues into overtime until the tie is broken.
Four ten-minute quarters mean forty minutes of regulation playing time, rather than a promise that the event finishes forty minutes after it starts. The rules also provide breaks: two minutes between the first and second quarters, between the third and fourth, and before overtime, plus a fifteen-minute half-time interval. Stoppages make elapsed viewing time longer.
A team can list no more than twelve players entitled to play, including its captain. Only five play at once. Substitutions are administered through the officials and the permitted substitution process. A player on the bench cannot simply run onto the court while a team-mate runs off, as might happen in an informal practice session.
Dribbling, travelling and the pivot foot
A dribble involves controlling the live ball by bouncing, tapping, rolling or throwing it onto the court and touching it again before another player does. A player cannot put a hand under the ball, carry it from one place to another, bring it to a pause and then continue dribbling. Those details explain why control of the ball matters as much as the number of bounces.
When a stationary player catches the ball with both feet on the floor, lifting one foot makes the other the pivot foot. To begin a dribble, the ball must leave the hands before that pivot foot is lifted. For a pass or shot, the player can jump off the pivot foot, but neither foot may return to the floor before releasing the ball.
The moving-player rule needs separate attention. A player who catches the ball while progressing, or finishes a dribble, may take two steps while stopping, passing or shooting. When receiving the ball and starting a dribble, it must be released before the second step. Simply counting every footfall without identifying when control began can produce a mistaken travelling call.
What are the 24-second and eight-second rules?
The normal shot-clock requirement gives a team twenty-four seconds to attempt a shot after gaining control, subject to the rulebook's restart and reset provisions. The ball must leave the shooter's hands before the signal, then touch the ring or enter the basket. Throwing the ball towards the basket without reaching either does not satisfy that requirement.
A team controlling the ball in its backcourt must also get it into the frontcourt within eight seconds under the specified conditions. During a dribble across halfway, both feet and the ball must be completely in contact with the frontcourt for the transition to be established. These are different clocks governing different actions, so crossing halfway does not start a fresh twenty-four-second possession.
There is also a three-second restriction on an attacking player remaining in the opponents' restricted area while their team controls a live ball in the frontcourt and the game clock runs. The law includes allowances for a player trying to leave or participating in a shot. It is not a blanket ban on entering the painted area.
Basketball fouls and free throws
For a personal foul during an unsuccessful two-point shot, the shooter receives two free throws; an unsuccessful three-point attempt brings three. If the basket is made, it counts and one additional free throw is awarded. A player who commits five fouls must leave the game. Team foul penalties are a separate calculation, with the penalty situation beginning after four team fouls in a quarter.
These basics are enough to follow most possessions without trying to memorise the entire officiating manual. For other rule guides, see volleyball scoring and rotation, badminton service rules and tennis tie-break scoring.
