A legal basket is worth one, two or three points according to the release.

The controlling rules used on this page

This explanation applies to five-on-five basketball governed by FIBA, using the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a and Official Basketball Rules Interpretations 2024 v1.0a, both valid from 1 October 2024. FIBA's resource library still labels that edition as current on 26 August 2026.

FIBA has published Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1 for 1 October 2026. Its Article 16 keeps the same scoring values and own-basket rules. Its revised act-of-shooting and replay provisions do not control games played before that effective date. This page therefore states the current 2024 rule and flags the incoming change where it matters.

FIBA 3x3, the NBA, WNBA, NCAA, school federations and domestic competitions can use separate rules or competition regulations. The NBA comparison below is labelled; nothing else on this page should be assumed to override the appointed competition's rules.

The ball must make a legal goal

FIBA Article 16.1 says a goal is made when a live ball enters the basket from above and remains within it or passes through it entirely. The ball is already considered within the basket when its slightest part is below ring level and inside the basket.

• 1 point: a goal released from a free throw.
• 2 points: a goal released from the 2-point goal area.
• 3 points: a goal released from the 3-point goal area.

A ball going through the net is not conclusive by itself. A dead-ball throw, a prior offensive violation, offensive interference or a ball forced up through the basket can produce no score. Defensive goaltending or interference can instead cause points to be awarded even though the ball never passes through.

Freeze the shooter's floor status at release

FIBA Article 2.5.4 places the outside edge of the arc 6.75 metres from the point directly below the centre of the opponents' basket. Crucially, the 3-point line is not part of the 3-point goal area. A foot touching that line, or the floor inside it, gives the player 2-point status.

Article 11 determines a player's location from the floor being touched. While airborne, the player keeps the status of the last place touched. A player may therefore jump from the 3-point area, release while airborne and land in the 2-point area; a legal goal is still worth three. Conversely, jumping from the 2-point area and drifting beyond the arc does not create a three.

A pass can score, but a throw-in cannot score three

FIBA's Article 16 interpretations use the place of release even where the ball was intended as a pass. Under Interpretations 16-5 and 16-6, a pass released from the 3-point area that enters the opponents' basket directly, after touching a player, or after touching the court counts three.

A throw-in is different because it is released from outside the court. If a throw-in pass is legally touched by a player in the frontcourt 3-point area and then enters the basket without that player controlling it, Interpretation 16-10 awards two points. A throw-in that enters untouched is a throw-in violation, not a field goal.

One point depends on a legal free-throw attempt

FIBA Article 43 defines a free throw as an uncontested opportunity to score one point from behind the free-throw line and inside the semi-circle. The shooter must release within 5 seconds, cause the ball to enter from above or touch the ring, must not fake the attempt, and must not touch the free-throw line or restricted area until the ball enters the basket or touches the ring.

Players in rebound places may enter after the ball leaves the shooter's hands. Players outside those places must stay behind the free-throw line extended and the 3-point line until the free throw ends. If the shooter violates on a made free throw, the point is cancelled. If another player commits only an Article 43 free-throw-position violation and the free throw is made, the point counts and that violation is disregarded under Article 43.3.2; goaltending and interference remain governed by Article 31.

A miss is not always the end of the scoring chance. After a last free throw touches the ring, the ball can remain live. If any player then legally taps it into the basket, Article 16.2.1 awards two points for the tap; it is not recorded as a one-point free throw.

A made goal can count with one extra free throw

For games under the current FIBA 2024 edition, Articles 10, 15 and 34 work together. If an opponent fouls a player in the act of shooting and the legal goal is made through the same continuous shooting motion, the goal counts and the shooter receives one free throw. If the goal is missed, a 2-point attempt produces two free throws and a 3-point attempt produces three.

The whistle alone does not cancel a try already in flight. Nor must the ball have left the hands at the instant of contact: Article 10.4 lets a shooter complete a continuous motion that started before the opponent's foul. It does not protect an entirely new shooting act after the whistle.

• Pass after the foul: the act of shooting ends when the fouled player passes. The foul is then administered under the applicable non-shooting or team-penalty rule.
• Travel after the foul: FIBA Interpretation 15-10 says the later goal does not count, although the shooter still receives two or three free throws for the shooting foul.
• Team-foul penalty: after a team has committed four team fouls in a quarter, later player personal fouls on a non-shooter normally produce two free throws. A foul by the team controlling or entitled to the ball instead gives the opponents a throw-in under Article 41.2.2.

The release must beat the relevant signal

FIBA Article 10.4 keeps the ball live when it is already in flight and the referee whistles, the period-ending signal sounds, or the shot-clock signal sounds. If that shot then legally enters, it counts. If the ball is still in the shooter's hands when the game-clock or shot-clock signal sounds, there is no late field goal. A referee's whistle is different because the continuous-motion provision for an opponent's foul can still apply.

Touching the floor ends a shot under Article 31. That creates an unusual boundary: FIBA Interpretation 16-9 gives no goal where a shot is released before the period horn, then touches the court and enters the basket. Once it touches the floor, it is no longer the protected shot in flight; the earlier horn means it can no longer produce a score.

For a throw-in or a rebound after the last free throw, Article 16.2.5 requires 0.3 seconds or more for a player to gain control and attempt a shot. With 0.2 or 0.1, only a tap or direct dunk can score, and the player's hands must no longer touch the ball when the clock reaches 0.0.

Some illegal touches remove points; others award them

FIBA Article 31 separates goaltending from basket interference. Goaltending includes touching a shot when the ball is completely above ring level and descending toward the basket, or after it has touched the backboard, while it still can enter. Interference includes specified contacts with the ball, basket or backboard around the ring and basket.

• Offensive violation: no points; the opponents receive a throw-in from the free-throw line extended, unless another rule controls the restart.
• Defensive violation: award the attacking team one, two or three points according to whether the release was a free throw, from the 2-point area or from the 3-point area. The award is treated as though the ball entered.
• Defensive violation on the last free throw: award one point and also administer the technical-foul penalty in Article 31.3.3.

This is why “the ball never went in” does not settle a defensive goaltending replay, and “the ball did go in” does not rescue offensive interference.

An accidental own goal is two points

Under FIBA Article 16.2.2, a player who accidentally scores in that player's own basket gives the opponents two points. The score is entered for the opponents' captain on the court. A deliberate attempt to score in the player's own basket is a violation and no goal counts.

If a player causes the entire ball to pass through the basket from below, Article 16.2.4 also treats it as a violation. The legal goal definition requires entry from above.

A review ruling is not an unlimited score correction

Where approved Instant Replay System equipment is available, FIBA 2024 Appendix F.3.3 permits referees to review at any game time whether a successful goal was released from the 2- or 3-point area. “At any time” describes when in the game the incident may occur; the review still belongs at the first permitted stoppage after the goal and requires clear, conclusive video evidence.

Article 44 separately treats an erroneous award or cancellation of points and scorekeeping mistakes as category 1 correctable errors. The correction windows are strict. An error arising before the final 2:00 of the fourth quarter normally must be addressed before that final two-minute stage, subject to the first-stoppage exception; one arising in the final 2:00 or overtime must be corrected before the ball becomes live after the first referee stoppage following the error. Later play and fouls generally remain valid.

From 1 October 2026, the incoming FIBA Appendix F also adds an at-any-time replay route for a goaltending or interference decision after a foul. That future provision must not be used in a game still governed by the 2024 edition.

How to rule a disputed basket

1. Name the ruleset. FIBA, NBA, NCAA and other codes do not share every definition or procedure.
2. Check live-ball status. Identify any whistle, game-clock signal, shot-clock signal or earlier violation.
3. Identify the release. Free throw, 2-point area, 3-point area or out-of-bounds throw-in.
4. Fix the player's location. Use the floor last touched; include the line as part of the 2-point area.
5. Follow the ball. Decide whether it entered legally and whether a touch, the floor, goaltending or interference changed the result.
6. Apply any foul. Was the player in the act of shooting, was the goal made, and did a later violation cancel it?
7. Administer the outcome. Record or award the points, then give the correct free throws, throw-in or other possession penalty.
8. Use review only if authorised. Apply the equipment, trigger and time limit in the controlling competition rules.

Five FIBA 2024 scoring examples

1. Toe on the arc: A1's toe touches the 3-point line at takeoff. A1 releases in the air, lands beyond the arc and scores. Ruling: two points. The line is outside the 3-point area, and airborne status comes from the last floor contact.
2. Deflection inside: A1 releases from the 3-point area; B1 legally touches the rising ball while standing inside the arc; it enters. Ruling: three points. Interpretation 16-2 uses A1's release area, not B1's location.
3. Foul, then travel: B1 fouls A1 during a 2-point shooting act. A1 then travels and the ball enters. Ruling: no goal; two free throws. The violation cancels the basket, while Interpretation 15-10 retains the shooting-foul penalty.
4. Two tenths left: with 0.2 on the game clock, A1 catches a throw-in, turns and releases before the horn. Ruling: no goal. A controlled catch-and-shot requires at least 0.3; only a tap or direct dunk can score from 0.2 or 0.1.
5. Put-back after a free throw: A1's last free throw hits the ring and misses; A2 legally taps the rebound through. Ruling: two points to A2. The free throw did not score, but the later live-ball tap did.

The point values match; important details do not

The NBA's 2025-26 Official Rules also use one point for a free throw, two from on or inside the 3-point line, and three from outside. Rule 5 expressly allows the shooter to touch the line or land inside after release without changing an otherwise valid three.

• Arc: FIBA uses a 6.75 m arc with straight sections whose outer edges are 0.90 m from the sidelines. NBA Rule 1 uses a 23 ft 9 in arc with parallel lines 3 ft from the sidelines; its court diagram marks the corner distance as 22 ft.
• Free-throw clock: FIBA gives the shooter 5 seconds after the ball is at the shooter's disposal. NBA Rule 9 gives 10 seconds after control.
• Accidental own basket: FIBA credits two points to the opposing captain on the court. NBA Rule 5 credits the opposing player nearest the player whose action caused the ball to enter.
• Administration: foul penalties, continuation, lane violations and replay triggers must come from the league's own rulebook, not from the shared 1/2/3 scoring values.

Six claims that are too broad

• “A long shot is a three.” Only the release location controls; distance travelled does not.
• “Landing inside makes it two.” Under FIBA, an airborne player keeps the status of the last floor contact.
• “Any foot on the arc is close enough for three.” The 3-point line is part of the 2-point area.
• “The horn makes every ball dead immediately.” A qualifying shot already in flight can still score.
• “Every foul on a made basket creates an and-one.” The foul must carry that penalty, and a later offensive violation can cancel the goal.
• “Replay can fix the score whenever officials notice.” The competition must authorise the review, and FIBA imposes trigger and correction windows.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2024 v1.0a, valid 1 October 2024: Articles 2.5.4, 10, 11, 15, 16, 31, 34, 41, 43, 44 and Appendix F
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules Interpretations 2024 v1.0a, valid 1 October 2024: Articles 15–16 and Appendix F
• FIBA — official rules resource library: current 2024 edition and incoming 2026 edition status
• FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026 v1.1, effective 1 October 2026: Articles 15–16 and Appendix F
• NBA — 2025-26 Official Rules: Rules 1, 4, 5 and 9

Checked on 26 August 2026 against the current FIBA 2024 rulebook and interpretations, FIBA's published 2026 book effective 1 October 2026, and the NBA 2025-26 rulebook for the labelled comparison only. Competition regulations, approved trials and national federation rules may supplement the FIBA baseline; FIBA 3x3 is outside this page's scope.