NBA

The NBA — the National Basketball Association — is the top professional basketball league in North America, made up of 30 teams from the United States and Canada, split evenly into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each team plays an 82-game regular season that typically tips off in late October and runs through mid-April. The playoffs follow, with best-of-seven series in every round, and the NBA Finals usually wrap up the season in June.

During the regular season there are games almost every night, and most tip-offs fall between 7:00 and 10:30 PM US Eastern time — meaning overnight or early-morning starts for fans in Europe and Asia. Budget roughly two to two and a half hours per game, longer if it goes to overtime. Weekend afternoon games and the traditional Christmas Day slate are the main exceptions to the late-night pattern. To skip the time-zone math, use the countdown timers on this page: every tip-off is shown in your local time, so you know exactly when to tune in.