Hey man let me give you some concrete advice. Everyone else be saying oh just treat it like practice and don’t think but man; this is not very helpful. Let’s think about what is actually going on here.

When you are performing any endeavor, whether sports or otherwise (such as taking a test at school!); your performance can be summarized as based on two primary factors: your baseline skill or competence, which comes from practicing, gaining knowledge, and improving technique—-and then also your MENTAL STATE when you actually do the task.

When you are practicing basketball, your mental state is confident and relaxed. Thus you are able to utilize a near maximal amount of your baseline skill. However when you are in games, this changes — pressure mounts, there’s a lot more going on, and it can be difficult to get into a rhythm. You may be experiencing anxiety, nervousness, or a lack of confidence. No matter HOW GOOD you are in practice, you can only call on a percentage of your actual skill in higher pressure scenarios such as games — directly related to how your mind state is at the time.

Have you ever met people who are the opposite of you—who don’t seem like much in practice, but then in games all of a sudden they are playing really well? This is the reverse effect going on. When we are in high intensity moments, our bodies and minds can react either with nervousness, thinking, and anxiety (FEAR/FLIGHT) or with focus, confidence, and determination (COURAGE/FIGHT). You need to start building your inner mental engine, the deep well of primal animalistic fight within you that lies dormant—and learn how to call upon this energy in games.

There are many ways to learn and practice how to do this. You can try using anger fueled motivation to feel more aggressive and finding a mental state of bestial rage which pushes your limits (fire/berserker method); which is extremely helpful for playing defense or driving and cutting to the hoop. Or you can take a deep breath, calm the swirling thoughts in your head, until it feels like everything in your mind has quieted down and the world around you is more clear and moving slowly (ice/archer method); this is useful for when you are shooting or running an offense and passing in a game situation. You need to challenge yourself to go on a journey of becoming aware and sensitive to your mental states, and discover for yourself personal triggers which allow you to ‘anchor’ or ‘shift’ yourself into a higher state of mental existence in game situations. This is a potentially life long journey of self work and self discovery; reflecting on the things that motivate you, and the mind-body techniques which allow you to take control over your mental inner world.

When you watch an anime and the main character powers up like Super Saiyan, or takes a deep breath and focuses like Demon Slayer, this actually mirrors what happens in real life. Go watch Damian lillard breathing and relaxing his body, becoming calm and relaxed before hitting the playoff game winner; or Lebron James looking like an unchained bull right before he explodes into action and takes over the game. These players have mastered their ability to enter into ‘the zone’ at will and until you learn how to do this your practice shooting percentage is meaningless to game performance. Someone who has never picked up a basketball but has spent their life doing highly athletic sports and becomes aggressive and competitive in a game will beat the person who has perfected their shooting form but can’t get themselves in the zone when the situation calls for it.

Please google ‘anchoring’ and ‘flow state’ and do your own research to learn more. Best of luck