A field goal is any basket scored from the floor during play, worth two points inside the three-point line and three points beyond it.
Almost everything a box score records as scoring flows through this term. A field goal is a made shot taken from the floor while the clock is live: layups, dunks, jump shots, hooks, and floaters all count, and each is worth two points unless it is released from beyond the three-point line, in which case it is worth three. Free throws are the one scoring play that is not a field goal, because they are taken from a dead ball at the line.
The term matters because it separates shooting from charity. Field goal percentage, made field goals, and attempted field goals are the raw materials of shooting analysis, and the league's oldest records are stated in them. Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game in 1962, for example, was built from 36 field goals and 28 free throws, a split every account of that night reports.
In everyday fan usage, field goal is the neutral scorer's word. Commentators say a player is heating up when the field goals start falling in bunches, and a cold night is described as a poor field goal percentage long before anyone reaches for an advanced metric.
In use"His turnaround jumper counted as a field goal, two points on the board."