On December 16th, all the exam in the fall semester finished, thus the winter vacation began. During the winter vacation, I will not go back Japan, but stay in the U.S. The other day, I watched a NBA game for the first time in my life in Brooklyn, thus I would like to write about NBA and basketball even though I am an amateur.
What is NBA?
NBA is an abbreviation of National Basketball Association and has been a basketball league located in the U.S. and Canada since 1947. It is regarded as the premier basketball league in the world.
In Japan, it is less common than baseball and soccer, but it has recently been getting popular and many of the students know the rule because they play it in the PE class at school.
The follower of the official NBA instagram account is about 89.2 million people, which is by far the largest of the four big sports in the U.S.(football, basketball, baseball and hockey), and basketball is one of the most popular sports in the U.S.
The number of NBA team is 30, and 29 are in the U.S. and 1 is in Toronto, Canada.
The 30 team is divided into two, which is same as baseball, and these two are called as east conference and west conference. The season begins in October and ends in April, and 82 games are held during the season.
NBA is played during the off-season of baseball, thus both baseball and basketball fans can enjoy watching sports throughout the year.
In New York State, where I am staying now, two NBA teams are located. One is New York Knicks and its home stadium is Madison Square Garden, Manhattan. The other is Brooklyn Nets and it plays at Barclays Center, Brooklyn. Both teams belong to east conference.
In MLB, many Japanese players are playing very well such as Shohei Ohtani, Kodai Senga and Seiya Suzuki, but there are only few Japanese players in NBA. Now, two Japanese players are in the association. One is Rui Hachimura playing for Los Angeles Lakers and the other is Yuki Kawamura who now plays as a member of Memphis Grizzlies.
↑This is the the view from my seat. It was the second floor, but I was easily able to see the play because the basketball was much bigger than baseball.
Some knowledge about NBA and basketball
Then, I would like to introduce some rules and knowledge about basketball that I learned in the arena through the game.
It is my perspective, who watched a professional basketball game for the first time, thus I only write something basic for those who have not watched a NBA game but have some interests.
Thus, it may not be helpful for readers who know a lot about basketball.
The number of players on the field
In a group sports, the number of players on the field at the same time is different depending on each sport.
For example, it is nine for baseball and eleven for soccer.
However, it is only five for basketball, which is less than half of the soccer.
Thus, during the game, totally ten players are on the field and play basketball.
Once you go to the arena and watch a game, you can understand that five players for each team are necessary because the court is not very big.
In NBA, the maximum number of roasters during the season is 15.
The length of the game
The basketball game is divided into four quarters.
The length of one quarter is different among each basketball league in each country, but in NBA case, it is twelve minutes, which is a very unique NBA rule.
Thus, totally, the length of the play is 48 minutes for four quarters, and the team that got higher points wins the game.
Between the second and third quarter, there is a half time, which is a fifteen-minute break and a lot of performances and dances are done on the field. Many of them are related to Christmas because I went there on December 21st, which was just before the Christmas.
Also, the game clock that measures the time left in each quarter stops due to some factors such as fouls and timeout, thus the total length of a game is about 2 hours and a half.
Scores
An interesting point of basketball is that the scores in each game is much higher than soccer and baseball.
In the last season (2023-24), the average score points of all the NBA games were 114.2, thus you do not need to worry about being tired because of the lack of scores.
In basketball, the team can get points by making fields goal, but the number of points changes depending on the location where you threw a ball.
The location is whether it was within the 3-point line or beyond it, and you can get 2 points by making a successful shot from within the line and 3 points from beyond the line.
A 3-point line is drawn 23 feet and 9 inch away from the goal (it is 22 feet in the corner), and a successful shot from beyond it is called as 3-point shot.
A free throw is making a shot behind a free throw line, which is located 15 feet away from the goal, and you can get 1 point by making a successful shot.
24-second rule
What I want to introduce in the last is 24-second rule.
This is a rule that one of the players in the team has to attempt a shot within 24 seconds after possessing a basketball.
If they are not able to attempt a shot within 24 seconds, the team loses the possession of the basketball and it is then given to the opposite team.
This rule was created in 1954 in order to shorten the length of the game and increase the thrill of the game, and it has been adopted since then for 70 years in NBA.
The 24-second clock is located in each goal, thus not only the players but also the audience can easily check that clock, thus it is a very understandable rule even for beginners like me.
This is the introduction of some knowledge about basketball.
Then, I am going to write about Barclays Center, a home of Brooklyn Nets, at which I watched the NBA game.
Barclays Center
I watched a NBA game Brooklyn Nets v. Utah Jazz at Barclays Center, Brooklyn on December 21st, 2024.
Utah Jazz, an opposite team, has a home stadium at Salt Lake City, Utah, and it is a member of the west conference.
As I explained above, New York Knicks is also the team in New York, but its home stadium is Madison Square Garden, which is located on Penn Station, a hub station of Manhattan. Thus, the ticket was extremely expensive and I chose the Nets’ game this time, which was cheaper than Knicks.
NYC has five boroughs, and Manhattan is by far the most expensive area of the five from many perspectives.
Many of the sightseeing spots are located in Manhattan, and you can easily get access to Brooklyn, south of Manhattan, and Queens, east of Manhattan. The price of these areas is much cheaper than that of Manhattan.
Other two boroughs are Bronx and Staten Island. The Bronx is famous for the high crime rate, thus you should not visit there except Yankee Stadium and Bronx Zoo.
Staten Island is an island located south-east of Manhattan, and you need to take a ferry from the south edge of Manhattan. This ferry is for free, and you can see the Statue of Liberty from the deck, which is a good spot to take a picture.
This time, I bought a ticket through Vivid Seats. You can also buy it from websites such as Seat Geek, Ticket Master, and Gametime. The price of the ticket differs a little depending on each website.
I bought the cheapest ticket on the second floor and it cost $43.74 per person. The game was held on Saturday, thus the game on weekdays tends to be cheaper than this.
Also, you have to pay 20% fee apart from the price of the ticket when using American ticket websites. Thus, the original price on the screen and the total price on the final screen are usually different.
The game began at 7:30 p.m., thus on that day, I enjoyed sightseeing in Manhattan that could only be seen during the Christmas season and went to the Barclays Center by MTA.
The location of the Barclays Center is very good.
The closest station from the Barclays Center is Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station, and 2, 3, 4, 5, B, Q, D, N and R lines stop at this station and you can directly go to Manhattan.
In case you live or stay in Long Island like me, you can use Atlantic Terminal Station for LIRR. The station is only 3 minutes away from the center on foot, thus it was really convenient (You can transfer to LIRR from subway underground).
This center was constructed in 2012, thus both the interior and the appearance were very beautiful and new. It is an indoor arena, thus the temperature in it was moderate even though it was extremely cold outside.
I did not buy any goods, but there are multiple official goods shops in the arena, and many goods such as official jerseys and basketballs were sold.
In American sports, almost all the fans of each team live in or near the city, thus no goods of the opposite teams are sold at all.
Also, no foods and drinks can be brought into the arena with you at Barclays Center, so please be careful.
↑The Barclays Center before entrance. I had to wait for about ten minutes for the security check.
My thoughts
Finally, I would like to briefly sum up my thoughts about watching NBA and end this blog.
NBA is the best basketball league in the world, thus even I who watched the basketball for the first time easily noticed its high level, and I guess everyone who even does not understand the rule very well can enjoy watching the basketball compared to baseball.
A good point of basketball is you can see a lot of shots, and I was impressed by an excellent 3-point shot.
When a player of the Utah Jazz made a successful 3-point shot, many Nets fans praised that play by clapping hands, which I felt was a really beautiful scene.
Even though they booed when Jazz players made a free throw, praising a good play of the opponent team is nice and cool.
Nets lost the game by 94-105 against jazz, but the staff in the arena took a picture for me and my friends, and it became a good memory.
We took the LIRR from Atlantic Terminal on our way back to Stony Brook, but not many audience took LIRR, thus it was empty.
On the other hand, the entrance of the subway was so crowded that many people had to wait outside. Most of the audience use subway after the game, thus you need to leave the arena before the end of the game or wait for a while after the game in order to avoid this crowd.
This is all about NBA, basketball and Barclays center. I especially wrote this blog for people who were interested in NBA and had a plan to watch a NBA or Nets game in the arena. Thank you very much for reading this blog.
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