Beginning of Essay
Basketball, fast-paced game played on a rectangular court, generally indoors, by two teams of five players each. The primary objective of the game is to score more points than the opposition by putting a round ball through a circular band, called a rim. The two ri ....

Middle of Essay
.... Professional basketball courts are slightly larger, 94 ft (28.7 m) long and 50 ft wide. In addition to size, courts can vary in other ways, such as in the radius of the circle situated at the center of the court, in the size of the backboard, and in the distance of the 3-point line (from beyond which a score counts for 3 points) from the basket. For example, the 3-point line in high school and college games is 19 ft 9 in (6 m) from the basket, while in international play it is 21 ft 6 in (6.6 m) and in professional play it is 22 ft (6.7 m). In all variations of the game, the backboards, originally used to prevent spectators from interfering with p ....