NBA

Preseason is a run of exhibition games in October, and they do not count in the standings. The regular season has 82 games for each team and usually runs from late October to mid-April.

The postseason opens with a play-in tournament for the seventh through tenth seeds in each conference. After that, the playoffs are best-of-seven series, and the NBA Finals usually end in June. The exact dates change each year.

A play is any event in the feed, such as a shot, a rebound, a turnover, a foul or a substitution. Play-by-play lists them in order, with the game situation.

A made shot from inside the three-point line is worth two, and a made three-pointer is worth three. A made free throw is worth one. Games have four 12-minute quarters. For example, two 2-point baskets, one three-pointer and two free throws make 9 points.

An Antic Rating is a player's score for one game on a 0 to 10 scale. It reflects what the player did and how much their plays helped the team win, so it describes that game, not the season.

Above 10 is reserved for outstanding games. Antic also gives each game a game rating, from how much the win chance swung. Ratings describe what happened: they are not picks or predictions.

Player props are bets on one player's stat or event. In the NBA you will see points, rebounds, assists, made three-pointers and points plus rebounds. Most are over or under a number, and the app shows both sides.

Antic never places bets. If betting stops being fun, set limits or call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Polls ask who wins before tip-off and who covers the spread, where there is one. During a game, a poll can appear at the end of a quarter, asking who wins the next one. Votes show the split.

Lineups show the starters once they are posted, then the bench. Positions are point guard (PG), shooting guard (SG), small forward (SF), power forward (PF) and center (C). Each row shows injury status when the league has reported one.

Standings rank each conference by seed, and the division view groups the teams. Ties are broken first by head-to-head results, then by division and conference records, then by results against playoff teams and point differential. The league's rulebook has the full order.