12.237.0
Threes per game, per team
Thirty seasons · 5.7 million shots
How the NBA changed
Every dot of heat below is real: the location of every shot attempted in an NBA game since 1997, drawn on the court where it happened. Watch the mid-range empty out and the three-point line catch fire.
37%10%
Share of shots from mid-range
10.8 ft13.8 ft
Average shot distance
60%67%
Field goal % at the rim
1997-98 season compared with 2025-26.
Colour shows how often the league shot from a spot, not how well it shot.
37% mid-range 16% threes
34% mid-range 20% threes
25% mid-range 28% threes
10% mid-range 42% threes
The crossover
In 1998 the league took four mid-range shots for every three-pointer. The lines crossed in the mid-2010s, and they never looked back.
Threes Mid-range
Every season, both lines:
| Season | Threes | Mid-range |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 16% | 37% |
| 1998-99 | 17% | 37% |
| 1999-00 | 17% | 38% |
| 2000-01 | 17% | 38% |
| 2001-02 | 18% | 37% |
| 2002-03 | 18% | 37% |
| 2003-04 | 19% | 36% |
| 2004-05 | 19% | 35% |
| 2005-06 | 20% | 34% |
| 2006-07 | 22% | 33% |
| 2007-08 | 22% | 33% |
| 2008-09 | 23% | 32% |
| 2009-10 | 22% | 32% |
| 2010-11 | 22% | 31% |
| 2011-12 | 23% | 30% |
| 2012-13 | 25% | 28% |
| 2013-14 | 26% | 27% |
| 2014-15 | 26% | 26% |
| 2015-16 | 28% | 25% |
| 2016-17 | 32% | 22% |
| 2017-18 | 34% | 19% |
| 2018-19 | 36% | 15% |
| 2019-20 | 39% | 13% |
| 2020-21 | 39% | 13% |
| 2021-22 | 40% | 13% |
| 2022-23 | 39% | 12% |
| 2023-24 | 39% | 11% |
| 2024-25 | 42% | 10% |
| 2025-26 | 42% | 10% |
Why it happened
The math was always there: a 35% three-pointer is worth more than a 45% long two. What changed is that teams started acting on it. Analytics departments priced every spot on the floor, spacing became a roster-building strategy, and a generation of players grew up shooting from thirty feet. The result is the widest, fastest, highest-scoring game the league has ever played.
Shot locations from the NBA's official play-by-play archive, 1996-97 through 2025-26. The 1996-97 season is excluded from comparisons above because the league used a shortened three-point line until 1997-98.