Half-court shot

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A half-court shot is a shot taken from beyond the 3-pointer line as defined by a semicircular line before the 2-pointer zone. Anything beyond the half-court line and on the side of the court a team or player is defending is considered a full-court shot. It is most commonly used as a buzzer beater as there is a limited amount of time before a turnover. It is also used as a streetball term where the teams only use half of the full court. The most common backcourt shot style is known as "the Runner". If the shooter has a few seconds to spare, "the Runner" can be used to shorten the distance to the rim while also adding extra power to the shot. Other backcourt shot styles include: "the Sheed" (named after Rasheed Wallace); "the Contested Prayer"; and "the Zoran".^[1] Since an NBA game court is 94 feet (29 m) long, the midcourt line is 47 feet (14 m) away from each baseline.

Half-court shots are widely considered to be the lowest percentage shot in basketball.^[2] Collectively, NBA players try shots from beyond half-court a few hundred times each season; approximately 1 in 100 of those shots are made. A half-court shot is attempted roughly 25 percent of the time to finish the first, second, or third quarter; though, and much rarer in the fourth. In some instances, NBA players will intentionally avoid shooting a half-court shot before the buzzer. Such players are more interested in protecting their field goal percentage than providing an opportunity (though unlikely) for the team to acquire 3 more points. Since field goal percentage is accounted for during contract negotiations, some players think it is an intelligent business decision to refuse to toss a low percentage shot at the rim.^[2][3][4] As a result, some believe that half-court shots should not be included in the field goal percentage.

The record for most half-court shots made in a single NBA season (by all NBA players combined) was set in the 2014 season at 13. The longest successful shot in NBA history was 89 feet (27 m) by Baron Davis on February 17, 2001. He shot it with 0.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter as a defender closely guarded him. Baron Davis is the only player to have hit a shot from at least 85 feet (26 m) in a game; since the year 2000, it has been attempted at least a total of 40 times.^[5] During his career, Baron Davis went 2-for-43 from beyond half court. Based on official NBA court dimensions,^[6] the player with the most half-court shots made in NBA history (minimum shot distance of 47 feet) is Stephen Curry, with 6.^[7][8]