![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2244396466.jpg\")
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Jamal Murray hit a buzzer-beater in Denver\u2019s 2nd game of the season.<\/p>\n
The NBA might want to pre-emptively apologize now, while this season is still fresh, for any longer wait times at the restrooms during halftime or slower lines at concession stands.<\/p>\n
The opportunity to get a head start on the concourse a few seconds before each half or quarter break might be significantly curtailed thanks to a 2025-26 rule change. The league has altered how it tracks and allocates those desperation shots in the dwindling seconds of each period, in hopes of getting more of them that matter.<\/p>\n
A logical consequence is that fans will stay in their seats longer, right to the final horn or buzzer, lest they miss a memorable, miracle fling, a highlight of the night and potentially the turning point of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about wanting to make every moment of the game competitive,\u201d said James Jones, the league\u2019s new Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. Jones played 14 years in the NBA and most recently served as President of Basketball Operations and GM of the Phoenix Suns.<\/p>\n
Here is what\u2019s new, besides Jones moving into the job previously held by former Detroit Pistons star Joe Dumars:<\/p>\n
Any shots taken within the final three seconds of the first three quarters, launched from at least 36 feet away on plays that begin in the backcourt, will no longer count as missed field-goal attempts in the shooter\u2019s stats line. It will be added to team statistics, make or miss, but will be a free shot for the players, only counting as 1-of-1 if successful.<\/p>\n
The rule change was approved at the Board of Governors in September after being tested in the summer league games in Las Vegas, Utah and California.<\/p>\n
The intent? Increase the number of legitimate attempts, thereby reducing the familiar charade in which a player will somehow manage to get his heave off a split-second after time has run out. Even when one of those tardy shots hit, it was anti-climactic rather than game-altering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone knew what they were doing and why they were doing it,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt was an unspoken understanding of \u2018I know what you\u2019re doing, but I can\u2019t blame you.\u2019 Because of the implication.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results so far have been notable. More shots that beat the buzzer were taken in the first two weeks, per NBA.com stats, with more highlight buckets:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/heaves-comparison@2x.png\")
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So, there has been a 66.7% increase in attempted \u201cprayer\u201d shots (105-63), with three successful ones compared to one at a similar point last season.<\/p>\n
In Denver\u2019s second game this year, Jamal Murray took an inbounds pass against Phoenix with 2.8 seconds left in the first quarter. A newfound seriousness was evident as the Suns converged on two defenders on him, well behind the half-court line. Murray\u2019s shot swished with the horn still blaring, the red light already on.<\/p>\n
JAMAL MURRAY BEATS THE 1Q BUZZER FROM BEYOND HALFCOURT \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/8diZV7iha6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Granted, it might have seemed silly for athletes paid millions of dollars to sweat over an occasional failed attempt, literally a long shot, that would drag down their field-goal rate way to the right of the decimal point. But Jones noted that for players with a knack for taking and sometimes making them, the misses could add up.<\/p>\n The NBA and Basketball-Reference.com have tracked \u201cbackcourt shots\u201d in the past, with NBA.com updating its stats glossary to meet the new definition (36 feet or more). Based on Basketball-Reference.com\u2019s data for last season, Denver\u2019s Nikola Joki\u0107 hoisted the most (22), making two of them. New York\u2019s Mikal Bridges (0-for-12) and Minnesota\u2019s Anthony Edwards (0-for-10) bravely ranked second and third in willingness to miss.<\/p>\n Do the math \u2013 eliminate the misses from their 3-point rates \u2013 and Jokic\u2019s would bump up from 41.7% to 44.3%. Bridges would improve from 35.4% to 36.4%, and Edwards would have gone from 39.5% to an even 40.0%.<\/p>\n Among the concerns: At the negotiating table in the summer, a tough GM might point to the numbers without regard for those valiant but futile efforts. So everyone, fans and players alike, saw the winks and understood.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to be the grumpy old guy sitting on the porch yelling at people who didn\u2019t take that shot because they were afraid of what it does to their shooting percentage,\u201d Golden State sharpshooter Steph Curry said this fall about the \u201cheave\u201d rule. \u201cNow guys\u2019ll be out there just throwing it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Said Jones: \u201cLet\u2019s be real \u2013 this is a league where you\u2019re paid for performance. So this could mean the difference between being in the Top 5 in 3-point percentage or being invited to the 3-Point Contest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf your best shooter is always the one \u2026 putting up two full-court shots, you can just imagine after 20 or 30 attempts, how a 0.5% chance of making it is killing his percentages.\u201d<\/p>\n Coaches would like to think their players all would put the team before individual statistics, but they\u2019re realists, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been talked about for many years,\u201d Indiana\u2019s Rick Carlisle said during a break at the National Basketball Coaches Association\u2019s preseason meetings in Chicago. \u201cMy hope is that it\u2019s going to be a positive. I would expect a lot more long shots to be made. Big momentum plays.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of our guys shoot the ball no matter what, some more than others. But I don\u2019t have stats on who\u2019s done it, who doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Oklahoma City\u2019s Mark Daigneault, Carlisle\u2019s Finals counterpart, has seen and felt the impact of a well-aimed, extra-long fluke 3-pointer.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an element of good fortune and, if your team makes one, it can be deflating to them or it can be a momentum shift for you,\u201d Daigneault said.<\/p>\n Historically, teams didn\u2019t practice shots from midcourt or beyond. A coach sometimes might line up players to shoot them at the start of practice on a challenge that, if one of them hit, the workout would be over. Now it almost behooves a team to add such situations into their situational scrimmages.<\/p>\n An even better strategy? \u201cWe try to make sure we\u2019re not the team getting the ball with less than five seconds left,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cWe like to manage the clock better than that. But we have competitors and if we are in that situation, our guys try to score.\u201d<\/p>\n Without penalty now.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n