Basketball score counter · Free · No sign-up
Basketball Score Counter
A basketball score counter adds 1, 2 or 3 points per team and keeps the score by period. This one also counts team fouls and says when the bonus starts under FIBA, NBA, NCAA or US high school rules, including the one-and-one, overtime carry-over and the NBA’s last-two-minutes rule.
Free, no sign-up, works offline, and nothing leaves this browser.
Team A 0–0 Team B, Quarter 1
Team fouls reset each quarter. Overtime counts as the 4th quarter, so they carry on.
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | 0 | — | — | — | 0 |
| Team B | 0 | — | — | — | 0 |
Tap +1 for a free throw, +2 or +3 for a basket. Tap Foul for every foul charged to a team, shooting fouls included, and Offensive foul for a foul by the team with the ball. Each side then says what the team’s next common foul gives the other team. In NBA mode, tap 2:00 left when the clock reaches two minutes in each period. Ctrl+Z undoes.
This keeps the score and the team fouls; it does not referee the game. It applies the team-foul penalty rules of FIBA Article 41, NBA Rule 12B, the NCAA rules and NFHS Rule 4-8-1. It has no game or shot clock, keeps team fouls rather than each player’s, does not decide whether a foul happened or what kind it was, and is not an official scoresheet.
The points are the easy part. The number people argue about is the team fouls: whether the next one is free throws, and whether overtime starts from zero. That depends on which rulebook you play under.
In basketball, a team scores 1 point for a free throw, 2 for a field goal and 3 for a shot from beyond the arc. Every foul by a player is also a team foul, and once a team passes the limit for the period, the other team is in the bonus and shoots free throws on common fouls.
- No sign-up
- No ads
- Counts never leave your browser
- Works offline
- Unlimited counters
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no ads |
| Scoring | +1, +2 and +3 per team, with a points-by-period box score |
| Rules | FIBA, NBA, NCAA men, NCAA women and US high school (NFHS) |
| Team fouls | Counted per quarter or per half, as each rulebook says |
| Bonus | What the next common foul gives: throw-in, 1-and-1 or 2 free throws |
| Fouls to give | Shown for each team, including the NBA’s last two minutes |
| Overtime | Carries team fouls on (FIBA, NCAA, NFHS) or resets them (NBA) |
| Offensive fouls | A team foul without free throws; not a team foul in the NBA |
| Possession arrow | Yes, for the rulebooks that use one |
| Undo | Every basket, foul, period change and arrow flip |
| Where data goes | Nowhere. Local storage in this browser only |
| Official record | No. No clock, no player fouls; it keeps score and team fouls |
How to keep score in basketball with the counter
Pick the rulebook once, then tap as the game goes.
Choose the rules
FIBA for most of the world, NBA, NCAA men (halves), NCAA women or US high school. The rules decide how team fouls count, so changing them starts a new game.
Name the teams
So the score line and the box score read properly.
Tap the points
+1 for each free throw made, +2 for a basket, +3 for a shot from beyond the arc. Undo takes back a mis-tap.
Tap every foul
Foul for any foul charged to a team, shooting fouls included; Offensive foul for a foul by the team with the ball. Each panel then shows fouls to give or what the next foul is worth.
In the NBA, mark two minutes
Tap 2:00 left when the clock reaches two minutes in each period, so the last-two-minutes rule applies from the right moment.
End each period
End Q1, End Q2 and so on. At the end of regulation a tied game goes to overtime, and a decided one is final. Undo reopens it.
Where a basketball score counter gets used
Any game without a scoreboard operator, and any game where the operator wants a second check.
Youth and rec leagues
A parent at the table keeping the score and the team fouls, so the bonus is called on the right foul.
High school and AAU
Quarters, the fifth-foul bonus and overtime carried on from the 4th, as the NFHS rules have them since 2023–24.
Pickup and driveway games
Just the points, with a box score by period at the end.
Coaching from the bench
Fouls to give for both teams at a glance, which is what decides whether to foul late in a close game.
Watching on TV
Follow an NBA, college or FIBA game and see before each foul whether it is free throws.
Learning to keep the book
New scorers can check the team-foul count, the penalty and the possession arrow against the rulebook they are working under.
When the bonus starts: FIBA, NBA, NCAA and high school compared
Every basketball rulebook has a point at which a team’s fouls start costing free throws. It is called the bonus (or the penalty, from the side of the team committing them), and the five rulebooks most people play under put it in different places. The free scoreboards at the top of a search, checked on 2026-09-27, mostly assume one of them. Digital Tally Counter’s says team fouls are “tracked per quarter” with a “default 5 fouls in a quarter”, beside a “College 2×20 min” format that has no quarters. JudgeMate’s says, for “both FIBA and NBA”, that “team fouls reset for each overtime period”, which is the NBA rule and not FIBA’s. Neither mentions the one-and-one or the NBA’s last-two-minutes rule.
| Rules | Team fouls counted per | Free throws start on | Overtime | Offensive foul | Player fouls out on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIBA | Quarter | 5th team foul: 2 free throws | Counts as the 4th quarter; fouls carry on | Team foul, no free throws | 5th |
| NBA | Quarter, and each overtime | 5th team foul (4th in overtime), or the 2nd in the last 2 minutes: 2 free throws | Resets to 0; limit of 3 | Not a team foul | 6th |
| NCAA men | Half | 7th: 1-and-1. 10th: 2 free throws | Continues the 2nd half | Team foul, no free throws | 5th |
| NCAA women | Quarter | 5th team foul: 2 free throws | Continues the 4th quarter | Team foul, no free throws | 5th |
| US high school (NFHS) | Quarter, since 2023–24 | 5th team foul: 2 free throws | Continues the 4th quarter | Team foul, no free throws | 5th |
Sources: FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024, Articles 40 and 41; NBA Rule 12B, Sections V, VII and VIII; the NFHS 2023–24 rules changes to Rule 4-8-1; the NCAA men’s and women’s rules. The NCAA men’s changes for 2025–26 left the bonus alone, and the changes FIBA lists for its 2026 rules, in force from 1 October 2026, leave the team-foul penalty as it is.
What each rule means at the table
- “Five fouls” means the fifth one is penalised. FIBA puts a team in the penalty once it has four team fouls in a quarter; the NBA allows four “without additional penalties”. Either way, fouls one to four are free and the fifth is not.
- Overtime is where the rulebooks split. FIBA Article 41 treats team fouls in every overtime as committed in the fourth quarter, so a team on four fouls at the end of regulation is in the penalty from its first foul of overtime. In the NBA each overtime starts again at zero, with a limit of three.
- The one-and-one survives only in NCAA men’s basketball. The shooter must make the first free throw to earn the second. US high schools used it, on the 7th foul of a half, until the NFHS dropped it for 2023–24; some scorebook guides still describe the old rule.
- Offensive fouls count, but never pay. Outside the NBA a foul by the team with the ball goes on the team total and is penalised with a throw-in, never free throws (FIBA 41.2.2). In the NBA it is not a team foul at all.
The counter carries all five, and each team’s panel says what its next common foul is worth: a throw-in with fouls to give, a 1-and-1, or 2 free throws.
Fouls to give, the NBA’s last two minutes, and fouls that never pay
“Fouls to give” is the number of fouls a team can commit before the next one sends the other team to the line. Late in a close game, a team with one to give can foul to stop the clock or break up a play without conceding free throws. The counter shows it on each team’s panel, and it is the one figure that most needs the rulebook right.
The NBA’s last two minutes
NBA Rule 12B, Section V adds a clause no other rulebook here has: “If a team has not committed its quota of four team fouls during the first ten minutes of any regulation period, or its quota of three team fouls during the first three minutes of any overtime period, it shall be permitted to incur one team foul during the last two minutes without penalty.” So a team on one foul at the 2:00 mark does not have three to give. It has one. Worked through for one team in a 4th quarter:
| Situation | Team fouls | Fouls to give | Next foul gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 left | 1 | 3 | A throw-in |
| The clock reaches 2:00 | 1 | 1 | A throw-in |
| 1:40, a foul | 2 | 0 | 2 free throws |
| 0:50, another foul | 3 | 0 | 2 free throws; this foul was penalised too |
A team already on three fouls at 2:00 gets nothing extra: its fourth is free and its fifth is penalised, as it would have been anyway. A team on four is in the penalty already. The counter has no clock, so the 2:00 left button records each team’s count at that moment and applies the clause from there.
The fouls that never give free throws
Whatever the bonus says, some fouls are settled another way. A shooting foul gives free throws for the shot, bonus or not, and still counts as a team foul. An offensive foul gives the ball to the other team, and outside the NBA it still counts. So a team can be in the penalty and have a foul called against it that gives no free throws at all. The counter’s Offensive foul button adds to the total where the rules say so, and in NBA mode adds nothing.
| Foul | Before the bonus | In the bonus | Team foul? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common defensive foul | Throw-in | 2 free throws (1-and-1 in NCAA men, 7th to 9th) | Yes |
| Shooting foul, shot missed | 2 or 3 free throws | 2 or 3 free throws | Yes |
| Shooting foul, shot made | Basket counts, 1 free throw | Basket counts, 1 free throw | Yes |
| Offensive foul | Ball to the other team | Ball to the other team | Yes, except in the NBA |
Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet
Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.
| Feature | This online counter | Handheld clicker | Counter phone app | Pen and paper | Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $5–$15 | Free with ads, or paid | Cost of paper | Subscription |
| Anything to install | No | Buy the device | App store download | No | Yes, or a web login |
| Several counts at once | Unlimited | One per device | Usually limited | Yes, messy | Yes |
| Fix a miscount | Undo and redo | Start over | Sometimes | Cross it out | Edit the cell |
| Counts by more than one | Any step size | One at a time | Sometimes | Manual maths | Yes |
| Below zero | Yes | No | Rarely | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps the count if you close it | Saves automatically | Until you reset the dial | Yes | If you keep the paper | Yes |
| Works with no signal | Yes, after first load | Yes | Yes | Yes | Often not |
| Keyboard and shortcuts | Full | None | None | None | Partial |
| Sends your data anywhere | Never | Never | Often, for accounts and ads | Never | Yes, to the cloud |
Other counter types
The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.
Online counter
The all-purpose counter. Any step size, any number of counters, negative values allowed.
Open online counter →Tally counter
Tally marks in groups of five for surveys, stock takes and wildlife counts.
Open tally counter →Click counter
A browser clicker that replaces the handheld thumb counter for door headcounts.
Open click counter →Lap counter
Count pool lengths, track laps and treadmill intervals without losing your place.
Open lap counter →Rep counter
Track reps and sets during a lifting session, with a step size for supersets.
Open rep counter →Score counter
A scoreboard for cards, darts and board games. One counter per player, negatives allowed.
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A digital dhikr counter that stops at 33, 99 or 100 and keeps each dhikr separate.
Open tasbeeh counter →Differential counter
Six keys for a manual white cell differential, with an auto-stop and live percentages.
Open differential counter →Multi counter
Run as many counters as you like at once, side by side in a grid.
Open multi counter →Pitch counter
Count pitches, then get the rest days owed and the next eligible date.
Open pitch counter →Auto counter
Counts on its own from every 0.1 seconds to once an hour, and stops at your limit.
Open auto counter →Click speed test
Measure your clicks per second over 1 to 60 seconds, with your personal best kept on-device.
Open click speed test →Habit counter
Count toward a daily target and keep the streak, with a day boundary you choose.
Open habit counter →People counter
In and out at a door, with live occupancy against a capacity and a fix for drift.
Open people counter →Bird counter
A row per species recording the high count, so a circling flock is not counted twice.
Open bird counter →Inventory counter
A count sheet holding the book quantity beside the counted one, with the variance per line.
Open inventory counter →Knitting counter
Rows, pattern repeats and a shaping schedule that names the increase rows and then ends.
Open knitting counter →Omer counter
The 49 days of Sefirat HaOmer, in days and weeks, with the blessing state tracked.
Open omer counter →Yes/No counter
Two options, a live percentage, and the sample size and caveats the percentage needs.
Open yes/no counter →Golf scorecard
Strokes per hole with the course handicap allocated by stroke index, net and Stableford.
Open golf scorecard →Breath counter
Count breaths one to ten for meditation, with lost count recorded, or time breaths per minute.
Open breath counter →Badminton score counter
Rally scoring with the service court and doubles positions, for 3x21 and the 2027 3x15 system.
Open badminton score counter →Pickleball score counter
The 0-0-2 call with the right server and side, in side-out or 2026 rally scoring.
Open pickleball score counter →Squash score counter
Point-a-rally to 11 with the server, the service box, hand out and lets.
Open squash score counter →Penalty shootout counter
Five kicks each that stop the moment a team cannot catch up, then sudden death.
Open penalty shootout counter →
Frequently asked questions
How does the bonus work in basketball?
Each team’s fouls are added up over a quarter or a half. Once a team passes the limit, the other team is in the bonus: common fouls that would normally give only a throw-in give free throws instead. Under FIBA, NBA, NCAA women and high school rules that is the 5th team foul in a quarter, with 2 free throws each time.
How many team fouls until the bonus?
Four fouls are free and the fifth gives 2 free throws under FIBA, NBA, NCAA women’s and US high school rules, counted per quarter. NCAA men count per half: the 7th foul gives a 1-and-1 and the 10th two shots. In NBA overtime the limit is three, and in the last two minutes a team gets only one more foul before the penalty.
What is the double bonus in basketball?
The double bonus is NCAA men’s basketball’s second stage. From the 10th team foul of a half, a fouled player shoots 2 free throws on every common foul. Between the 7th and 9th fouls it is the ordinary bonus, a 1-and-1. Other rulebooks have no double bonus, because they go straight to 2 free throws on the 5th foul of a quarter.
What does one-and-one mean in basketball?
A one-and-one is a free throw that earns a second only if it goes in. Miss the first and the ball is live, so a one-and-one can be worth 0, 1 or 2 points. It applies in NCAA men’s basketball on the 7th to 9th team fouls of a half. US high schools used it until the NFHS removed it for the 2023–24 season.
Do team fouls reset in overtime?
It depends on the rulebook. Under FIBA, NCAA and US high school rules they do not: overtime is treated as part of the 4th quarter, or of the second half in NCAA men’s, so a team already in the penalty stays there. In the NBA each overtime starts at zero, and the penalty begins with the 4th team foul of that overtime.
What does fouls to give mean?
Fouls to give are the fouls a team can still commit before the next one gives the other team free throws. Under a five-foul rule, a team with two fouls in the quarter has two to give. Teams use them late in games to stop the clock or break up a play. In the NBA’s last two minutes a team has at most one to give.
Does an offensive foul count as a team foul?
Under FIBA, NCAA and US high school rules, yes: it goes on the team total, which brings the bonus closer, but it is penalised with a throw-in, never free throws. In the NBA an offensive foul is charged to the player as a personal foul but is not a team foul, so it does not count toward the penalty at all.
What is the NBA two-minute foul rule?
If an NBA team has fewer than four team fouls when the clock reaches 2:00 in a quarter, it may commit one foul in the last two minutes without penalty; the next one gives 2 free throws. So a team on one foul at 2:00 has one to give, not three. In overtime the same applies to a team under its limit of three.
Does high school basketball still have the one-and-one?
No. From the 2023–24 season the NFHS rules count team fouls per quarter, reset them at the end of each quarter, and give 2 free throws from the 5th foul. The old rule, a 1-and-1 on the 7th foul of a half and two shots on the 10th, is gone. Overtime is an extension of the 4th quarter, so fouls carry on.
Is this an official basketball scoreboard?
No. It is a score counter for rec leagues, youth games, pickup and following games on television. It keeps points by period, team fouls, the bonus and the possession arrow in this browser, and sends nothing anywhere. It has no game or shot clock, does not track each player’s fouls, and does not decide whether a foul happened.
Counting guides
Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.
- Swimming
How to count laps while swimming
Why swimmers lose count at length 14, and five methods that actually hold up.
- Tallying
Tally marks explained
Groups of five, the five-bar gate, and why the convention has survived for centuries.
- Events
How to do an accurate headcount
Counting people is easy. Counting them accurately, twice, is not.
- Habits
Track a daily habit streak
Why streak apps fail, and what a plain daily counter does better.
- Click speed
How to click faster
Hardware and grip account for most of the gap. Practice accounts for less than people think.
- Inventory
How to do a stock take
Counting is the easy part. Preparing, and knowing your count is right, is the job.
- Training
Reps and sets explained
How to read a programme, and why the rep range matters more than the total.
- Reference
Types of counters explained
Synchronous vs asynchronous, mod-N, ring and Johnson, plus mechanical and software counters.
- Build it
How to make a counter
Twenty lines gets you counting. Here is what to add after that, and why.
- Baseball
How to keep an official pitch count
Little League requires an official recorder at every game. Almost nobody explains the job.
- Dhikr
One tasbeeh is equal to how many?
The same phrase means a bead loop, a single dhikr, or a full set of a hundred. Which one is meant, and when.
- Haematology
How to do a manual differential count
Why the pattern matters, how many cells is enough, and the imprecision built into the method itself.
- Birding
How to count a flock of birds
Blocks, tens, and why the number to report is the most seen at one time.
- Knitting
How to read knitting shaping instructions
Every 4th row, alt rows, at each end, AT THE SAME TIME — translated, with the rows they land on.
- Golf
Stableford points and net scores
Stroke index, strokes received, net score, points — in the order you actually need them.
- Surveys
How many people do you need to survey?
Why 385 answers a city and 45 answers a club, and the margin each sample size buys.