3x3 basketball isn't a simplified version of the regular game — it's its own Olympic discipline with its own rulebook, added to the Games at Tokyo 2020 and run directly by FIBA, with rules that diverge from 5x5 in several places. It's also the format actually being played on most of Chișinău's outdoor half-courts, where a single basket and half a court are all there is. What follows is the rulebook, not the version every group of friends improvises for itself.
The court is half the size of a full basketball court, with one basket
A regulation 3x3 court measures 15 metres wide by 11 metres long inside the boundary lines, with a single backboard and basket set at 3.05 metres — the same height as on a full court. The game is played with a size-6 ball, smaller than the size-7 ball used by men in 5x5. The area in front of the basket is split by a semicircular arc with a 6.75-metre radius from the centre of the hoop, plus a free-throw line 5.80 metres from the end line.
How the game starts — a coin toss decides, not a jump ball
There is no jump ball in 3x3, unlike 5x5. Before the game, a coin toss determines which team gets to choose: take first possession in regulation time, or save that choice for a possible overtime — the other option then goes automatically to the opponent. The game starts with the defending team passing the ball to the attacking team from behind the arc.
Scoring: a shot from inside the arc is worth 1 point, from outside it's 2
This is the biggest departure from the regular game. Any basket scored from inside the 6.75-metre arc is worth 1 point, and any basket scored from beyond it is worth 2 — in 5x5 the same shots would be worth 2 and 3 points respectively. Every made free throw adds 1 point, no matter how serious the foul that earned it was.
There's no jump ball — a contested possession simply goes to the defence
In regular basketball, a held ball or a ball that goes out after touching both opponents at the same time is settled with the alternating-possession arrow. 3x3 has no such arrow at all. Possession automatically goes to whichever team was on defence at that moment, and play restarts with a pass from behind the arc, exactly as it would after any other dead ball.
After a rebound or a steal, the ball has to be cleared behind the arc first
You can't shoot straight after grabbing a defensive rebound or stealing the ball. The rule requires that after any change of possession — a made basket, a defensive rebound, a steal or a blocked shot — the team now on offence must first move the ball behind the 6.75-metre arc, by dribbling or passing, before attacking the basket. A player only counts as "behind the arc" once neither foot is touching or inside the arc line.
The shot clock runs 12 seconds, not 24
The team in possession has 12 seconds to get a shot at the basket, half the 24 seconds used in 5x5. If those 12 seconds expire without the ball touching the rim, possession automatically turns over to the opponent, no matter how many passes were made in between.
The game ends at 10 minutes or 21 points, whichever comes first
Regulation time is a single 10-minute period of playing time, with the clock stopped on every dead ball. If a team reaches 21 points before time runs out, the game ends immediately regardless of how much time is left on the clock — this is the sudden-death rule, and it only applies to regulation time.
Overtime ignores the 21-point mark — the first point wins
If the score is level at the end of the 10 minutes, overtime is played. The 21-point threshold no longer matters at all here — the first team to score 2 points wins, meaning a single basket from behind the arc is enough, and the game stops the instant that point is scored.
Team fouls: free throws from the seventh, plus possession from the tenth
A team enters a penalty situation after its sixth team foul in a game. From the seventh foul through the ninth, the opponent gets two free throws for each additional foul. From the tenth team foul onward, the penalty doubles — the opponent gets both the two free throws and possession of the ball afterward.
There's no coach on the sideline — talking to the crowd gets penalised
At an official tournament, coaching from the sideline is banned outright, whether by gesture or by voice, and any communication between players and people off the court during play can be treated as unsportsmanlike conduct. The first such breach earns the team only a warning; any repeat is punished directly with a technical foul. The game is run by one or two referees plus a scorer and a timekeeper — teams don't settle disputed calls themselves the way they often do in a pickup game.
One 30-second timeout, plus two mandatory stoppages
Each team gets exactly one 30-second timeout for the whole game, which can only be called on a dead ball. On top of that, the referee stops play twice regardless of either team's wishes — once after the third minute of playing time and once after the sixth — and those two technical stoppages don't count against either team's timeout.
Every rule above is what a FIBA referee actually enforces at an official 3x3 tournament, even if nobody's counting the shot clock out loud on a neighbourhood court in Chișinău. Sporta MD currently covers football, basketball, volleyball and tennis, so you can quickly find who to play with and where in the city.