## 4 Discussion  
The aim of this current study was to determine the acute effects of the FCM and PAP protocols on the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game demands and thermal asymmetry in male basketball players and compare the effects of these protocols. We hypothesized that the FCM and PAP protocols applied before a 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game would have an acute significant effect on the game demands and thermal asymmetry. The first main finding is that the highest significant total distance in the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game was after the FCM, and after all protocols, the total distance was covered mostly in band 2 (distance at 20-\(\sim\)40% of the maximum velocity), and the highest significant value in this distance was reached after the FCM, and the jump and CoD counts were not significantly different in the game after three different protocols. The second main finding is that 1 PA was significantly higher in the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game following the FCM, and turnover was significantly higher following the PAP. The third main finding is that although significant thermal asymmetry did not occur after the baseline protocol, significant thermal asymmetry was observed in the abdominals and lower back after the FCM and PAP, and additionally in the hamstring muscle group after the PAP. Figure 4: The jump counts (**a**) and CoD metrics (**b**) of the basketball players during the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game following the baseline, FCM, and PAP protocols. Previous research indicates that 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball games are completed at higher RPE than 5 vs. 5 matches [27], and male players have higher RPE than female players [53]. In general, RPE in international 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball games has been reported to be between 5.7 and 6.3 [7; 54], 4.3 \(\pm\) 2.0 in group games, and 7.7 \(\pm\) 1.6 in the final round [53]. The findings of our study confirm the relatively higher RPE compared to previous studies. Notably, the lowest RPE was obtained following the PAP. This result may be due to the protocol order. PAP was the third protocol, which can be explained by the possibility of the better adaptation of players to the game structure. The lower RPE in the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game after PAP than after FCM may also have been affected by the higher volume of the FCM. Although 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball has grown exponentially in popularity over the past decade and has recently become an Olympic sport, the scientific literature focused on depicting the profile of 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball players is limited [6]. In our research, the highest 1 PA was in the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game after the FCM, and this finding was significantly higher than that after the baseline protocol. However, significantly higher turnover was found after the PAP than after the FCM. Previous studies examining most international tournaments have shown that in a 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game, 28 shots are attempted [7], the 1 PA is 13.7-29.4, the 2 PA is 8.9-15.9 [55; 56], the 1P (average per game: 7.6-11.9; [55; 56]) and 1P% (39-50.8%; [7; 57]) are higher than 2P (average per game: 2.1-4.4, [55; 56]) and 2P% (19-25%; [7; 57]), turnover is 3.9-29.4 [7; 56], and block is approximately 1 per game [7]. The reason why the 1P, 2P, rebounds, and turnovers in our research were lower than those in previous studies is that in our research, the average was taken with the game profile analysis data of only one player from each team (i.e., player-based analysis). However, data on the total shots, rebounds, turnovers, assists, steals, and blocks for a team in a game have not been provided. Therefore, this difference may be due to the data analysis method used. After multiplying the data in the 3 \(\times\) 3 basketball game by three where we used only three unchanging players in the game, the data reached values similar to those of previous studies.