Half court

Half court is a term used in basketball for the middle line of the basketball court. A shot taken from half court, referred to as a half court shot, is a shot taken from beyond the line at center circle. Anything beyond the half court line is considered a full court shot. It is most commonly used as a buzzer beater. It is also 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". Since an NBA game court is 94 feet long, the midcourt line is 47 feet away from each baseline.

Half court shots are widely considered to be the lowest percentage shot in basketball. 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, its 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. As a result, some believe that half court shots should not be included in field goal percentage.

Andre Miller may have attempted over his career the most half court shots of any player. During his first 13 seasons in the NBA, Miller went 3-for-102 from beyond half court. Jason Williams and Andre Miller each attempted 12 half court shots in 2001. Take the half court misses away and Miller’s three-point percentage goes from roughly 26 to 32%.

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 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 in a game; since the year 2000, it has been attempted at least a total of 40 times. During his career, Baron Davis went 2-for-43 from beyond half court.

2010 and 2012 are the only NBA seasons when two half court shots were made on the same night.

During Jason Kidd's career, he has made 4 of 44 (roughly 10%) from beyond half-court.

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