NEW YORK – In a stunning development that promises to reshape the landscape of sports analytics, a multi-year research initiative has definitively concluded that basketball teams accumulate more points when they successfully put the ball through the hoop. The findings, published today by the Institute for Advanced Sports Metrics (IASM), challenge long-held assumptions about game outcomes.

“For years, we’ve operated under the assumption that points were a factor in winning, but the precise mechanism remained elusive,” stated Dr. Evelyn Reed, lead researcher and head of the IASM’s Department of Obvious Observations. “Our data, meticulously collected over thousands of games, shows a clear and undeniable trend: when a team scores, their score increases. This is a paradigm shift.”

The study utilized state-of-the-art statistical modeling and a panel of 37 former professional athletes who confirmed, under oath, that scoring is indeed a primary objective. "I always told my guys, 'Get that ball in the basket!' Now I know why," remarked legendary coach 'Slam' Johnson, an IASM fellow, wiping a tear from his eye.

Industry experts are already scrambling to integrate this new understanding into their predictive models. Sportsbooks are reportedly adjusting odds, though many admit the implications are still being fully processed. One anonymous analyst confessed, “We thought it was more about the vibes, honestly. This changes everything.”

The IASM plans to follow up with a study investigating whether teams that prevent their opponents from scoring tend to win more often.