In basketball, run and gun is a fast, freewheeling style of play that features a high number of field goal attempts, resulting in high-scoring games.
[4][5] In the National Basketball Association (NBA), the run and gun was at its peak in the 1960s when teams scored an average of 115 points a game.
[6] The Boston Celtics were a run-and-gun team in the 1950s and 1960s while winning 11 NBA championships, as were the five-time champion Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s.
[3] Coach Doug Moe, who ran the run and gun with the Denver Nuggets in the 1980s, believed the high scores surrendered were more indicative of the fast pace of the game than a low level of defense.
Though his offensive strategy led to high scores, Moe's Denver teams were never adept at running fast breaks.
[8] Loyola Marymount successfully used the system in 1990 when they advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament, beating the defending champion Michigan 149–115 along the way.