In this guide I’d like to briefly go over the important games that have taken place throughout Season 1 and 2 of Kuroko no Basuke.

I tried to focus only on the relevant and exciting games. There’s quite a few of them to go through. So let’s get you caught up for Season 3!

Kuroko no Basuke Season 3 PV

1. Practice Matches [Season 1]

1. Seirin Freshmen vs Sophomores (38 – 37)

Though it wasn’t an “official” game, it was still very interesting.
This was the first time we saw Kagami and Kuroko working together. Kagami immediately started off playing much stronger than the sophomores expected. He easily carried the freshmen on his own, until the sophomores started to play serious and triple team him whenever he had the ball. The older members overcame the score deficit and pulled ahead.

However, Kuroko began to make an impact on the court. He impressed everyone with his unnaturally quick passes and surprisingly small “presence” on the court.
All the players recognized why he was accepted as a member of the Generation of Miracles.

2. Seirin High vs Kaijō High (100 – 98)

That was the first practice match against another school. We were introduced to another member of the Generation of Miracles, Ryōta Kise.
At first, the head coach of Kaijō seriously underestimated Seirin, he didn’t even want Kise to play in the match. He thought his team wouldn’t learn anything or get any real practice out of the game.

The combination of Kagami and Kuroko quickly forced the coach to put in Kise. The two teams struggled greatly against each other. Kise’s athleticism and ability to “copy” any move he sees kept his team in the game.

Kuroko’s one “weakness” was also revealed in this game. Kuroko can only use his misdirection ability for 40 minutes before the other team becomes accustomed to it.
Then, it will no longer work against them. Even with a slight head injury, he managed to re-enter the game near the end, synchronize with Kagami, and pull off an alley-oop to him for the winning basket.

2. Interhigh Preliminaries

1st round: Shinkyō Academy vs Seirin High (67 – 74)

The first match of Seirin’s Interhigh run. The main player they were worried about was Papa Mbaye Siki. He was an exchange student from Senegal who is extremely tall, much taller than any other player we’ve seen in the series, up to this point. His height became a problem early on.
Kagami had trouble guarding and blocking his shots. It didn’t help that Papa teased the japanese players about their height. An angered Kagami took on the challenge of stopping him.

As the game progressed, Kagami played stronger and increased his jump height.
At the start of the game he couldn’t keep up with Papa, but by the end he was getting rebounds over, jumping higher than, and blocking shots from the Senegalian. Kagami’s impressive play and the strategic use of Kuroko’s misdirection ability won the game for Seirin High.

2nd round: Seirin High vs Jitsuzen High (118 – 51)

This game wasn’t shown in the anime. It was mentioned in a voice over by Seirin’s coach, Riko Aida, that even with Kuroko benched their team crushed the competition.

3rd round: Kinga High vs Seirin High (71 – 92)

Another match that was not shown.
This team was able to reach top 16 in the previous year’s Interhigh tournament.
The match went surprisingly well for Seirin. They outplayed them offensively and defensively. They were also able to keep Kuroko benched and preserve his low stamina for future matches.

4th round: Seirin High vs Meijō Academy (108 – 41)

This game was very briefly shown. The starting members of the opposing team were a group of bullies that Kagami and Kuroko had encountered, on a street court, after their game with Kaijō High.
In that meeting, Kagami, Kuroko, and Kise had worked together (3-man team) to outclass and basically humiliate the five Meijō players in a pick-up game.

So, this time around, the Meijō players were scared of facing the duo and rest of the Seirin team (rightfully so). They were easily destroyed.

5th round: Seirin High vs Hakuryō High (89 – 87)

This match was only mentioned.
This game took place on the same day as their 4th round match. They were tired going into the match, but they still managed to win. Unsurprisingly, Kagami was fired up for this match. He relished the challenge of having to play two games on the same day. He wanted to get in some extra practice before facing Hakuryō High, but the coach wouldn’t allow it.

Semi-finals: Seirin High vs Seihō High (73 – 71)

This was a revenge match from the previous year, where Seihō High had defeated the newly formed Seirin team.
This time, Seirin was fired up, especially Kagami and Kuroko (who were not on last year’s team) because they wanted to meet up with Shūtoku High in the Finals. There, they hoped to go up against Shintarō Midorima.

Against Seihō, Kagami was put into some foul trouble. He picked up four fouls early on.He and Kuroko were benched and the sophomore players took it upon themselves to beat the opposition.
During this time Shun Izuki used his “eagle eye” ability to see everything on the court and make the best decisions for his team. All the sophomore members played at their peak and were determined to get revenge for their previous loss.
Seirin High was victorious and advanced to the Preliminary Interhigh Finals.

Finals: Seirin High vs Shūtoku High (Interhigh) (82 – 81)

Finally, Seirin High arrived at the Interhigh Finals.
Their opponent was one of the “Three Kings” Shūtoku High, led by Midorima. The overall fundamentals and intensity from this team pushed Seirin to their limit. Add to that, Midorima’s ability to perfectly shoot three-pointers, and Kagami was forced to push himself beyond his limit.

Both teams fought for every point and possession. The Generation of Miracles member (Midorima) was not going down without a fight. He strategically positioned himself for his shots and forced Kagami to expand all of his energy on his “super jumps”.
The final seconds came down to Kagami defending Midorima and preventing him from making a final shot which would put Shūtoku ahead as the victors.

Midorima lined up his shot and made an excellent fake that forced Kagami to expand the last of his energy on a jump in an attempt to block it.
With Kagami in the air, Midorima was free to take a shot unhindered. That is until Kuroko unexpectedly slapped the ball out of Midorima’s hands. Kuroko knew that Midorima would go for a fake and force Kagami to jump. This gave him just enough time to steal the ball before Midorima could pull up for his real shot.
This last defensive play secured the win for Seirin High and they became the winners of their Block.
Now, they could advance to the Final League. The advancing teams, four of them, would play each other round robin style. The top three teams would then go on to compete in the actual Interhigh and play against teams from other regions.

Tōō Academy vs Seirin High (112 – 55)

The first and hardest game, for Seirin, in the finals league.
This game was the third time they went up against a member of the Generation of Miracles, Daiki Aomine. He is by the far the member with the most natural talent. He can basically do anything on the court. He can even make shots at angles that would be impossible for others. He doesn’t have to push himself very hard to out-play everyone else.

Even against Kagami, he didn’t feel the need to play his best. His offensive play was unstoppable, even when he was double teamed.
Kagami pushed himself to the limit. He tried playing through a leg injury, but his coach noticed and benched him (for several games).

Kuroko and the other Seirin players were no match for Tōō. They were outclassed in every aspect. This loss lead to a major slump for the Seirin team. Kuroko took the loss the hardest.

Seirin High vs Meisei High (78 – 79)

This match was briefly shown in the anime.
Seirin was still under the heavy loss of their previous game. Kagami was unable to play and Kuroko was not performing anywhere near his normal level. Even with their broken spirit, Seirin managed to make it competitive and only lost by one point.

J. Senshinkan High vs Seirin High (96 – 78)

Their broken state of mind and burden of their losses weighed heavily upon them. They could not play well and were easily defeated.
The Seirin team went from going undefeated to losing three straight games. They did not advance to the Interhigh.

3. Winter Cup Preliminaries [Season 2]

Seirin High vs Josei High (108 – 61)

Their first Winter Cup match started out rough.
Kagami was double-teamed early on and Josei started out with a lead.
But, with the return of Teppei Kiyoshi, the founding member of the original Seirin basketball team, their inside strength had increased dramatically. They no longer had to rely on Kagami scoring or Kuroko using his misdirection ability to pass the ball.
Now, they had a reliable center who was very strong and had his own special abilities. The team began to find their rhythm, and Kagami was able to break through the weakened double-team defense.
All the members worked together for a decisive victory.

Seirin High vs Senshinkan High (78 – 61)

This was a rematch from their loss at the Interhigh preliminaries.
The addition of Kiyoshi brought a new spirit to the team, that carried over to this game.
It was a tough match, but it showed how much stronger Seirin had become since the Interhigh showing.

Seirin High vs Shūtoku High (104 – 104)

The rematch that fans had been waiting for since season 1.
This was a very intense game that went back and forth. From the tip off, both teams were firing on all cylinders. Every person was playing their absolute best.
Because these teams had faced each other before, Kuroko’s misdirection ability was not utilized like in most games. This high caliber team forced him to reveal his new technique, that he’d been working on since the Interhigh loss, Vanishing Drive.

Midorima was also forced to play differently than before. He didn’t only shoot three pointers, he also started to pass the ball to his teammates. This made it much difficult to guard against Shūtoku High.
Even with the addition of Teppei and Kagami’s increase in jumping power, they were only able to end the game at a draw.

Seirin High vs Kirisaki Daīchi High (76 – 70)

The last game of the Winter Cup preliminaries is another rematch.
These two teams played each other the previous year. In that game, Teppei was injured and hospitalized. This team is strong, but they are infamous for playing cruelly (especially Makoto Hanamiya) and obstructing the view of the referee.
They do this in in order to injure players without being noticed. They continued to use this strategy vs Seirin High.

It worked early on, almost angering Kagami to the point of punching an opposing player.
However, Kuroko calmed him down.
Though Kuroko was furious inside, he did his best not to show it. He played strategically and did everything he could to prevent Hanamiya from provoking his team and ruining the game that he loves.

Teppei also was instrumental in the victory over Kirisaki.
Even though this team injured him the previous year, he asked his teammates to leave the center to him alone. He was willing to sacrifice his body for his team. He was constantly beaten by the members of Kirisaki Daīchi, but he was willing to take the pain so that his teammates didn’t have to.
His courage inspired the team and led them to victory.

4. Winter Cup

1st round: Seirin High vs Tōō Academy (101 – 100)

This is the last rematch in season 2.
It is however the most anticipated game so far. Aomine dominated the game early on, as he always does. He was even able to shut down Kuroko’s Vanishing Drive and frustrate him to the point that Riko had to bench Kuroko. As the game progressed, Kagami started to reach the same level of play as Aomine.

But, whenever they seemed even Aomine pushed ahead slightly. He enjoyed this rivalry that he’d never felt before. The two pushed each other in a way that left everyone else in awe of their abilities.

In the last quarter, the score was very close, thanks in part to Kuroko’s new Misdirection Overflow technique.
But, the last thirty seconds of the game were solely placed on the shoulders of Kagami and Aomine.
These two enter “the zone”. This is a technique that allows a player to play at almost superhuman levels. All of their abilities and reflexes are maximized which leads to a super-fast paced battle between the two star players. Their eyes gave off slight streaks of light as they move across the court at high speeds and their movements become unmatched by anyone else.

Tōō Academy was ahead by one point with five seconds on the clock.
Teppei purposely missed his free throw attempt so that Kagami could rebound and score for the win.
However, Aomine slapped the ball out of Kagami’s hands. It bounced to Kuroko who set up Kagami for an alley-oop. Kagami and Aomine both jumped for the ball. Kagami caught it and slam dunked it right past Aomine’s block attempt.
Seirin won the game 101-100.

2nd round: Seirin High vs Nakamiya South High (83 – 77)

Seirin’s second Winter Cup match was supposed to be an easy win. They thought they could defeat Nakamiya South without using their freshman players. This, however, proved to not be the case. Nakamiya was much stronger than anticipated and Kuroko and Kagami had to step in to ensure their team’s victory.

3rd round: Seirin High vs Kogōmo North High (87 – 82)

This game was a similar situation to the previous one. Seirin tried to give their freshman players a rest.
But, the opposing team was stronger than anticipated and forced the duo to enter the game and secure a win.

Quarter-finals: Yōsen High vs Seirin High (72 – 73)

The Winter Cup quarter-finals match was the last game from season 2.
This time they were up against the fourth member of the Generation of Miracles, Atsushi Murasakibara. He is the tallest player we have seen yet.
Not only is he tall and powerful, but he is surprisingly athletic as well. Also, another strong member from this team is Tatsuya Himuro. He is a character from Kagami’s past in America. He is a brother figure for Kagami. They played a lot of streetball and trained together.

Yōsen’s defense was so strong that Seirin was unable to score in the first quarter.
The first points from Seirin were actually scored in the second quarter by Kuroko. He revealed another technique, the Phantom Shot. This revitalized the team and they started to pick up a few more points. However, Yōsen did not let up. Himuro was shown to be an exceptionally strong player. His specialty shot, Mirage Shot, proved to be a problem for Seirin’s defense.

Many high level strategies and techniques were seen throughout this match.
Teppei stepped out and took the point guard position. Kuroko marked up against Murasakibara. Kagami was able to force himself to enter “the zone”. They pulled out all the stops and constantly tried to one-up each other in their strategies.
Near the end of the last quarter, Murasakibara entered the zone as well. He played exceptionally well and was able to counter Kagami for a bit. Unfortunately, this technique and having covered Teppei all game put a huge strain on his knees.

The final shot was breakaway for Murasakibara. He was unable to jump and dunk because of the pain in his legs. He went for a quick shot without jumping, but Kuroko was there and blocked it. Giving the win over to Seirin.

So, that’s it so far.
You’re caught up on all of the important matches from season 1 and 2. You could jump on season 3, which started this past week, if you wanted to.
But, I would still highly recommend watching the first two seasons because each game was highly entertaining and exciting to watch. Also, there has been some character development and build up towards the last member from The Generation of Miracles.

I hope you enjoyed this guide. Is there anything important I missed?
What was your favorite moment so far?
What game are you most looking forward to in season 3?

Let me know what you think in the comments below!