Basketball scorekeeping

{{short description|Basketball unit of scoring accumulated by making field goals and free throws}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

Points in basketball are used to keep track of the score in a game. Points can be accumulated by making field goals (two or three points) or free throws (one point). The team that has recorded the most points at the end of a game is declared that game's winner.

If a player makes a field goal from within the three-point line, the player scores two points; if that player is fouled in the act of shooting, a made free throw turns it into a three-point play.{{cite web |date=31 January 2008 |title=Men's Basketball Survives at the RAC; Outlasts Rutgers, 84–71, in OT |url=http://www.shupirates.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=1378589&DB_OEM_ID=12600 |access-date=12 May 2008 |work=Shupirates.com}}

If a player makes a field goal from beyond the three-point line, the player scores three points; if that player is fouled in the act of shooting, a made free throw turns it into a four-point play.{{cite web |title=Four-point play – (Basketball): Definition |url=http://en.mimi.hu/basketball/four-point_play.html |access-date=10 January 2009 |publisher=MiMi.hu}}