Image via Complex Original
It's a basketball fan's favorite time of the year: the start of the NBA Playoffs. With the rest weeded out and the best set to tip off later today, you can expect nearly every bar television to be tuned in. But what if you don't follow or really like basketball? What are you to do? We'd recommend having a seat and not making any comments that will have your friends looking at you as if you said Amanda Bynes is sane. However, if you want to join in on the conversation your friends will undoubtedly be having, there some apps you can use to keep abreast of everything that's going on and everything that's happened so far this season.
NBA Game Time 2012-2013
Platform: Android, iOS; Free
Good For: Scores, stats, watching live games
As you would expect, the NBA's official Game Time app allows you to customize it to track the scores, stats, and schedules of your favorite NBA teams. But we bet you didn't expect features like Excitement Notifications which alerts you when a game gets down to the wire; or Threshold Notifications, which alerts you when a player of your choosing passes a certain stat. Want to know if Steph Curry breaks another record? This app will tell you.
SI.com
Platform: iOS ; Free
Good For: News, scores, rumors, stats
In addition to giving up updates on scores, this app will give you access to all the stories written on SI.com. If that can't keep you informed, nothing will.
Ball is Life
Platform: iOS; Free
Good For: News, rumors
Ball is Life is an excellent website the covers, as it says, "everything basketball." You can be kept up-to-date on high school, college, and even street ball. But, more importantly, it can also keep you informed about what's going on in the NBA. The biggest reason to download this app, in our opinion, are the dunk videos. Trust us. If anyone gets Brandon Knight-ed in the playoffs, it'll be here.
Basketball Live
Platform: Windows Phone; Free
Good For: Scores, stats
Unfortunately, a good number of the best sports apps are not yet available for Windows Phone. Fortunately, there's Basketball Live. Similar to ESPN's ScoreCenter app, Live gives you up-to-date scores and stats on players and games. In addition, you can also peep tweets from the NBA, videos from ESPN, and great game summaries in the event that you miss a match.
NBA by Statsheet
Platform: Android; Free
Good For: Stats
The makers of this app claim to have a "database of over two billion statistics to give you unique insights and proprietary metrics, including team power rankings." The app also pulls news stories from local blogs and papers to give the best news for every team in the NBA.
Team Stream
Platform: Android, iOS; Free
Good For: News, scores
Those of you who are fans of The Bleacher Report should download the sites app which delivers scores and corresponding news stories. Pick which teams you want to follow and stay informed with real-time alerts and the best videos and photos from around the web.
Pro Basketball Pocket Reference
Platform: iOS; $1
Good For: Research
In order to understand what's happening today, it's good to know what happened yesterday. That's where Pro Basketball Pocket Reference comes in. Acting as a basketball encyclopedia, the iOS app lets you look up a multitude of statistics from back in the day and lets you compare them to those of the players currently in the league. Is LeBron really the next Jordan? This app will help you answer that question.
WatchESPN
Platform: Android, iOS, Free
Good For: Watching live games
There's a good chance that you're not going to be able to catch all of the playoff games. Sure, you can DVR them, but why not just watch 'em live? With the WatchESPN app you can do just that. For the games that are on TNT, well, you may want to try rocking with a Slingbox.
The Hardwood Nation
Platform: Android; Free
Good For: News, rumors
If you're looking for a less mainstream take on the news surrounding the playoffs, you can do much worse than The Hardwood Nation app. Based on the website of the same name, the app delivers news and rumors from all corners of the league.
