How many points does a team get for a win in basketball standings?

Two classification points under FIBA Appendix D. A loss gives 1 point, including a loss by default, and a loss by forfeit gives 0. That is why a team that lost every game can still sit above a team that forfeited.

Does head-to-head come before points difference in FIBA groups?

Yes. The games between the tied teams decide first: record, then points difference and points scored in those games. Points difference across the whole group is only the fourth step. In example D.2.1, team B is second with a −35 overall difference.

Three teams are tied. What happens after one of them is separated?

Article D.1.4 sends the remaining teams back to the first step, and only their games against each other count. With two teams left, that is the single game between them.

How is the best second-placed team chosen across groups?

Article D.4.1 ranks the runners-up by win-loss record, then points difference, then points scored, and finally the FIBA ranking. If the groups had different numbers of games, the games against the last-placed team of the larger groups are cancelled first (D.4.2).

What score does a forfeit give in basketball?

20-0 for the opponent, and 0 classification points for the team that forfeited (Article 20.2.1). The calculator and JudgeMate both use 20-0. A second forfeit by the same team cancels all its results (D.3.2), which you have to do by hand here.

What if the teams are still level after every criterion?

National teams are separated by the FIBA ranking. In club, school and other competitions without a FIBA ranking, a draw decides. The calculator does not draw: it marks the tie, and the organizer settles it.

Basketball Standings Calculator

FIBA Appendix D for a round-robin group, with the rule behind every place

Under the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026, a team gets 2 classification points for a win, 1 for a loss and 0 for a game lost by forfeit. When teams finish on the same record, the games between those teams decide first: their record in those games, then points difference and points scored in them. Only then do points difference and points scored across the whole group count. If one team is separated along the way, the procedure starts again for the rest. Enter a group of 3 to 6 teams and the calculator applies that order.

Rule set

Entrants

Entrant AEntrant BEntrant CEntrant D

Results

Leave a match empty if it has not been played.

A–B
Walkover
A–C
Walkover
A–D
Walkover
B–C
Walkover
B–D
Walkover
C–D
Walkover

Table

Enter at least one result.

Learn more

How to organise a basketball tournament: schedule, table, FIBA

Plan a club, school or amateur basketball tournament: how long a game really takes, who sits at the table, 12-player rosters, the FIBA 2-1-0 table and forfeits.

Basketball competition rules

Formats, judging, technology, equipment — the full competition reference.

Basketball glossary

50 basketball terms from the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026: the disruptive foul and flagrant foul, technical foul categories, team fouls, the 24/14 shot clock, scoresheet marks and box score abbreviations such as 3PA, PF and +/-.

What you enter and what you get

Pick 3 to 6 teams. The calculator lists every pairing once, and you type the final score, for example A 84-78 B. Basketball games cannot end level, so a drawn score is not accepted: enter the result after overtime. Leave a game empty if it has not been played yet.

Column	Meaning
P	games played
W, L	wins and losses
Goals	points scored-conceded
Pts	classification points: 2 per win, 1 per loss
Why this place	the FIBA rule that fixed the position

The rule set comes from Appendix D of the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 (v1.1, valid from 1 October 2026). A forfeit is entered as a 20-0 win, the score Article 20.2.1 awards. The loser gets 0 classification points, and the 20 points count in the points difference like any other result.

Appendix D, step by step

Article D.1.3 applies when two or more teams have the same win-loss record over all group games. The games between those teams decide, in this order:

win-loss record in the games between them
points difference in the games between them
points scored in the games between them
points difference in all group games
points scored in all group games
the FIBA ranking for national teams, a draw for everyone else

Article D.1.4 adds a restart. If any step separates one or more of the tied teams, the procedure goes back to step 1 for the teams still level, and only the games among them count. With three teams tied, the leader may come out on points difference among the three, and the other two are then split by the one game they played against each other.

The calculator does step 6 on paper only. It marks the teams as still level and leaves the ranking or the draw to the organizer.

Two worked examples

FIBA example D.2.1. Four teams, six games: A 100-55 B, B 100-95 C, A 90-85 C, B 80-75 D, D 80-75 A, C 60-55 D.

Team	W-L	Points	Diff.	Pts
A	2-1	265-220	+45	5
B	2-1	235-270	−35	5
C	1-2	240-245	−5	4
D	1-2	210-215	−5	4

A is first because A beat B 100-55. C is third because C beat D 60-55. The overall difference of C and D is the same, and it never comes into play.

Three teams on 5 points. A 78-69 B, C 80-77 A, B 84-78 C, and each of them beats D: A 90-60, B 72-70, C 85-65.

Team	Games among A, B, C	Points	Diff.
A	78-69, 77-80	155-149	+6
B	69-78, 84-78	153-156	−3
C	80-77, 78-84	158-161	−3

All three are 1-1 among themselves, so step 2 applies. A is first with +6. B and C are level on −3, and D.1.4 restarts the procedure for those two alone: B beat C 84-78, so B is second. Had the calculator moved on to points scored among all three, C (158) would have finished ahead of B (153). Ranked by overall difference the group would read A (+36), C (+17), B (−1), D.

Best second-placed team across groups

When several groups send their winners and the best runners-up through, Article D.4.1 puts the teams from the same place in one list and ranks them by:

win-loss record in the revised final group standings
points difference in those games
points scored in those games
the relevant FIBA ranking

FIBA's own example has four groups of five. Team 2D finished 7-1, the others 6-2, so 2D is the best second. Among the rest, 2B has +63 and goes next. 2A and 2C both have +25, and 2A takes the place with 531 points scored against 525.

If the groups played a different number of games, D.4.2 cancels the games of the last-placed team in the larger groups until the counts match. This only affects the cross-group list; the group table stays as it was. Article D.3.2 has a similar rule for a team that forfeits twice: all its results are nullified.

This calculator ranks one group at a time. To compare runners-up, run each group, then line up the second-placed teams and apply the four steps above.

Running the tournament in JudgeMate

JudgeMate ranks group tables with the same code as this calculator. A new basketball draw (round robin, groups and knockout) and a new basketball league start with the FIBA rule set: 2/1 classification points, a forfeit worth 0, and the D.1.3 order with the D.1.4 restart. In a tournament table, teams that no criterion separates are marked as tied. JudgeMate does not draw lots.

If you switch to your own points, for example 3/1/0, the table uses JudgeMate's general order instead: points, then the games among the tied teams (points, difference, points scored), then overall difference and points scored.

When a groups-and-knockout draw takes the best second- or third-placed teams, JudgeMate compares them by points, points difference and points scored under the FIBA rule set. It only allows this when all groups are the same size, so no games need to be cancelled.

By default the organizer enters results. In groups and round robins the organizer can let teams report and confirm their own scores. In the league module only the organizer and co-organizers enter results. Knockout, consolation and third-place games are confirmed by the organizer; a referee with the game's QR code runs the score on the board. The forfeit score defaults to 20-0 and can be changed in the draw or league settings.

Run the tournament in JudgeMate and the table updates as results come in. For a single game, the basketball live scoreboard keeps quarters, team fouls and the 24-second shot clock. The basketball scoring guide covers points within a game.

What this calculator does not do

One game per pairing. Home-and-away leagues have two games between the same teams, and this form takes one.
No loss by default. A team left with fewer than 2 players loses by default under Article 21 and still gets 1 classification point. Enter it as a normal result: the score at the stoppage if the winner was ahead, otherwise 2-0.
No cross-group list. D.4 is described above but not computed here.
No FIBA ranking and no draw. When every step leaves teams level, the "Why this place" column says so and the decision stays with the organizer.
Not an official table. Federation and league tables come from the organizer's records. Use this one to check them or to plan the last round.