Game Status Workflow

Every schedule entry and every game feed carries a status, and it is the field an integration keys on: when to start polling, how fast to poll, and when a result is final. This page maps the full lifecycle and the exceptional paths.

Where Status Lives

The same status value appears wherever a game does: on Schedule and Daily Schedule entries, and on the headers of Game Summary, Game Boxscore, and Game Play-by-Play. Playoff series carry their own, smaller status set (see below).

Coverage Flags

Alongside status, every game carries two flags that state what data depth to expect:

coverage: full means live play-by-play for the entire game, with scores, clock, and team and player statistics in near real time; extended_boxscore means scores, time remaining, and team leaders as the game progresses, with full team and player statistics shortly after official results post. Full coverage applies to all regular-season and postseason games; some preseason games may carry extended boxscore coverage. See Coverage Levels on the reference overview.
track_on_court: true: live on-court lineup data (the on_court player flags and lineupchange events)

Recent seasons consistently read full and true. Read the flags per game rather than assuming them; Live Game Updates shows where they steer the live workflow.

The Status Lifecycle

Game Status LifecycleFrom scheduled to closed, with the exceptional paths

Pregamescheduled→createdtime-tbdtime-tbd until tip time is set

In playinprogress→halftime→inprogressdelayeddelayed games resume under the same id

Wrap-upcomplete→closedcomplete: stats validating; closed: validated and final

Exceptionscancelledpostponedpostponed games return under a new game id

Series gamesif-necessaryunnecessarypotential series games that are or are not required

Statuses appear on schedule entries and every game feed; the full definitions are in the G League FAQ.

Status	Meaning
`scheduled`	The game is scheduled to occur
`created`	The game has been created and information logging has begun
`inprogress`	The game is in progress
`halftime`	The game is at halftime
`complete`	The game is over, but stat validation is not complete
`closed`	The game is over and the stats have been validated
`cancelled`	The game has been cancelled, with no makeup game to be played
`delayed`	The start of the game is delayed, or the game has gone from in progress to delayed
`postponed`	The game will be made up at another day and time; the makeup game arrives as a new game with a new ID
`time-tbd`	The game has been scheduled, but a start time has yet to be announced
`if-necessary`	The game will be scheduled if it is required
`unnecessary`	The series game was scheduled, but will not take place because one team clinched the series early

The full definitions live in the G League FAQ. Only closed, cancelled, and unnecessary are end states; treat everything else as a state to keep watching.

How Statuses Appear in Responses

A completed season shows the terminal states side by side. Two entries from the 2025-26 regular-season Schedule, one played to closed and one postponed:

GET https://api.sportradar.com/nbdl/trial/v8/en/games/2025/REG/schedule.json
x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY

{
  "league": {
    "id": "ac79301f-9b1a-4e72-a4cb-230d4418ae08",
    "name": "NBA G League",
    "alias": "NBDL"
  },
  "season": {
    "id": "fea41a6e-80d4-4756-bfea-37c7b347a21a",
    "year": 2025,
    "type": "REG"
  },
  "games": [
    {
      "id": "cc32f8b6-904d-4210-9f9b-b7a39c361db4",
      "status": "closed",
      "title": "Showcase Cup Quarterfinal",
      "coverage": "full",
      "scheduled": "2025-12-19T17:00:00+00:00",
      "home_points": 117,
      "away_points": 119,
      "track_on_court": true,
      "reference": "2022500001",
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Eastern",
        "home": "US/Central",
        "away": "US/Pacific"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "db7644f4-45dc-4ee1-a2ab-f4467ffc03c6",
        "name": "Orange County Convention Center",
        "address": "9800 International Drive",
        "city": "Orlando",
        "state": "FL",
        "zip": "32819",
        "country": "USA"
      },
      "broadcasts": [
        {
          "network": "ESPNU",
          "type": "TV",
          "locale": "National",
          "channel": "208"
        }
      ],
      "home": {
        "name": "Austin Spurs",
        "alias": "AUS",
        "id": "0f009580-dda8-4080-aa43-5d58a17028f6",
        "seed": 3,
        "reference": "1612709890"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Stockton Kings",
        "alias": "STO",
        "id": "b971b187-c542-4b76-9548-114acc564e05",
        "seed": 6,
        "reference": "1612709914"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "35062e4c-8fc1-4184-9ca6-b1b70db8ff9c",
      "status": "postponed",
      "coverage": "full",
      "scheduled": "2026-02-20T01:00:00+00:00",
      "track_on_court": true,
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Central",
        "home": "US/Central",
        "away": "US/Pacific"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "0c04b68b-a69e-451e-84a8-e9e60a1f17c3",
        "name": "Landers Center",
        "capacity": 8362,
        "address": "4560 Venture Drive",
        "city": "Southaven",
        "state": "MS",
        "zip": "38671",
        "country": "USA",
        "location": {
          "lat": "34.927201",
          "lng": "-89.996536"
        }
      },
      "home": {
        "name": "Memphis Hustle",
        "alias": "MHU",
        "id": "4e26f748-e98f-412e-9c27-f04b255e7f25",
        "reference": "1612709926"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Stockton Kings",
        "alias": "STO",
        "id": "b971b187-c542-4b76-9548-114acc564e05",
        "reference": "1612709914"
      }
    }
  ]
}

The postponed game carries no score: its makeup game was created as a new game with its own ID. In the playoffs, a potential series game that is never required finalizes as unnecessary, still titled as scheduled:

GET https://api.sportradar.com/nbdl/trial/v8/en/games/2025/PST/schedule.json
x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY

{
  "league": {
    "id": "ac79301f-9b1a-4e72-a4cb-230d4418ae08",
    "name": "NBA G League",
    "alias": "NBDL"
  },
  "season": {
    "id": "d32bbe62-5116-42c5-a96c-95ff0c87de03",
    "year": 2025,
    "type": "PST"
  },
  "games": [
    {
      "id": "5b13f219-10bf-4ff7-b91d-721a9f53600d",
      "title": "Game 2",
      "status": "closed",
      "scheduled": "2026-04-11T02:00:00+00:00",
      "home_points": 104,
      "away_points": 119,
      "home": {
        "id": "b971b187-c542-4b76-9548-114acc564e05",
        "name": "Stockton Kings",
        "alias": "STO"
      },
      "away": {
        "id": "e74de5ce-3e98-4414-afe5-b56a90e527a2",
        "name": "Greensboro Swarm",
        "alias": "GBO"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "072d9d92-2081-4a4e-be36-7dca20c1d3e1",
      "title": "Game 3 (if necessary)",
      "status": "unnecessary",
      "scheduled": "2026-04-14T00:00:00+00:00",
      "home": {
        "id": "e74de5ce-3e98-4414-afe5-b56a90e527a2",
        "name": "Greensboro Swarm",
        "alias": "GBO"
      },
      "away": {
        "id": "b971b187-c542-4b76-9548-114acc564e05",
        "name": "Stockton Kings",
        "alias": "STO"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Series Statuses

Playoff series move through a status set of their own on Series Schedule entries:

scheduled: the series is scheduled to occur
inprogress: the series is in progress
closed: the series is over

Playoffs and Tournaments covers how series wire into the bracket.

Status-Driven Polling

scheduled and time-tbd: track through the Daily Schedule at its normal cadence; watch time-tbd games for a start time
About 10 minutes before the scheduled start: begin requesting the game feeds
inprogress and halftime: poll the game feeds at your live cadence
delayed: keep polling; play has not been abandoned
complete: the game is over but stats are still validating; keep polling lightly until closed
closed: make one final pull, stop polling, and let the daily change log catch late corrections (Monitoring Data Changes)
postponed: stop polling the old game ID and pick up the makeup game from the schedule feeds
cancelled: stop polling; no makeup game will be played

Cadences come from Update Frequencies.