In a game of basketball, a team has 24 seconds from taking possession of the ball to complete its attempt at their opponent's net.

Points are scored as follows:

• If a shot is successfully scored from outside of the arc of the three-point line, three points are awarded.
• If a shot is successfully scored from inside of the arc of the three-point line, two points are awarded.
• If a team is awarded a technical foul then they will receive between one and three free shots. Each shot scored will be awarded with one point.

The rules below are constant between both forms of the game.

• A basketball team can have a maximum of 5 players on the court.
• Player substitutions can be made at any time and there is no restriction on the number of substitutions made.
• Players move the ball around the court by dribbling or passing.
• A player is no longer able to dribble with the ball once the player puts two hands on the ball. This does not include catching. At this point, the player must either pass or shoot. If the player does dribble the ball again after placing two hands on it, the player will be penalised for a 'double-dribble' violation. If a team wins possession back in their own half, they have ten seconds to get it into their opponent’s end or a foul will be called.
• An attacking team has 24 seconds from gaining possession of the ball to shoot at the basket.
• After the shot is taken, the clock is restarted for another 24 seconds.
• After a team scores a basket, the ball is returned back to the opposition to restart the game.
• All fouls that are committed throughout a game are to be accumulated - when a certain number is reached, the umpire will award a free throw.
• Depending on where a technical foul is committed, the umpire may award a number of free throws.
• A player who commits five personal fouls must be replaced in the game by another player.
• The officials in basketball can award violations for player handling errors. These include travelling, goal-tending and back court violation.

The rules below are specific to wheelchair basketball.

• A dribble can occur when the player bounces the ball and pushes the chair simultaneously or when the ball is placed on their lap for a maximum of two pushes of the wheels, before bouncing again. Players that violate these rules are penalised for 'travelling'.
• There is no 'double dribble' rule in wheelchair basketball.
• Advantage fouls are given if a player uses their legs to raise themselves in their seats, steer their chairs or balance in any way to gain advantage.

During a competitive game of basketball there are two referees, a scorekeeper, timekeeper and a shot clock operator. To ensure that everybody is aware of a decision made, the referees perform a series of hand and arm signals.wheelchair basketball competition team consists of five players per side and is open to athletes with a permanent physical impairment in the lower limb(s), which can be objectively verified. It embraces a wide range of disabilities including paraplegia, spina bifida, lower limb amputations, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. Not all players are daily wheelchair users and can include players with walking difficulties.

The wheelchair basketball classification system is based on the players' functional capacity to complete the skills necessary to play - pushing, pivoting, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, passing and catching. Players are classified by a points system from 1 to 4.5 – 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the recognised classes, with 0.5 classes between for the exceptional cases which do not fit exactly into one class. The 4.5 category represents those with the least physical impairment such as a lower limb permanent injury.

The total number of points allowed on court at any one time is 14. That is, the total number of points of all five players actually playing on court at any one time.