Coral present a beginners guide to the NBA

The National Basketball Association is one of the fastest growing professional sports leagues, both in North America and around the world. With players from 39 countries playing in the NBA in 2014, basketball has clearly established itself as an international sport, perhaps second only to football.

While basketball appears to be a fundamentally easy sport to understand, it incorporates some sophisticated rules, related to scoring and league structure that are important for those betting to understand before placing their first wager on an NBA game.

Below are some quick pointers for sports fans who are new to the NBA, which will help them to follow the game and make wise decisions when placing a bet on NBA action.

The NBA is comprised of 30 teams aligned into two conferences, with each conference comprised of three divisions, made up of five teams each.

The Western Conference includes the Northwest Division, Pacific Division and Southwest Division, while the Eastern Conference is made up of the Atlantic, Central and Southeast Divisions.
The NBA regular season begins around November 1 and ends in mid-April, with each team playing 82 regular season games.

There are two primary ways of scoring points in basketball; field goals and free throws. The value of a field goal is determined by where the scoring shot takes place. If a field goal is scored on a shot taken from outside the three-point line, the team is awarded three points. If the successful shot is taken from inside the three-point line, two points are awarded.

When a team takes possession of the ball, they must attempt a shot at the basket before a 24-second shot clock expires. The shot-clock ensures that a game is played to a high tempo, leading to great point production.

Free throws are awarded to a team in the event of a rule violation known as a foul. Depending on the type of foul committed, a team may be awarded one, two or three unopposed free throws, which are taken from the free-throw line, which exists directly in front of the basket, just inside the three-point line.