BOX-SCORE GUIDE

Field goal (FG)
in basketball

A field goal is a basket from play; a free throw is counted separately.

Made, attempted and percentage.

FGM means field goals made; FGA means field goals attempted. FG% = FGM รท FGA ร— 100. Both two-point and three-point attempts belong in these field-goal totals.

Try the calculation.

Teaching example: 6 makes from 12 attempts gives 50%. If two of those six makes are three-pointers, the field-goal points are 4 ร— 2 + 2 ร— 3 = 14. Free throws would add separately.

Equal percentages can hide different scoring.

A percentage says how often attempts went in, not how many points every make was worth. Read FGM, FGA and the three-point breakdown together. When there are zero attempts, the percentage is undefined rather than evidence of accurate or inaccurate shooting.