Scoring and shooting are historically at their lowest in the first month of the NBA season and then steadily climb. But that's not the way this season has started.

To greet the new type of rims rolled in by the league last month, league-wide scoring has risen by nearly five points through the first seven days of the regular season compared to last season. Teams are averaging a hearty 99.96 points per game, up from 95.17 during the same span in 2008-09.

So what gives?

Conclusions are difficult to draw just a week into a regular season that spans some six months, but teams are undeniably taking more 3-pointers with each passing year. A few new teams every season tend to decide they want to play at a faster pace and the general trend throughout the league finds coaches working 3s into their offenses and practice routines more than ever.

Atlanta, Houston, Memphis and Milwaukee are prime examples of teams that have upped the tempo of their offenses this season to contribute to the scoring increase, while Phoenix and Philadelphia -- teams that eventually ran freely in 2008-09 -- started last season at a much more measured pace.

Less clear, though, is what sort of impact on leaguewide scoring, if any, can be traced to the new -- and some say more forgiving -- rims ushered in at the start of exhibition play in early October.

The league switched rim manufactures for the 2009-10 season, introducing a new Spalding basket system that includes the "Arena Pro 180 Goal" rim, which breaks away at both the front and sides. Previous collapsible rims used in the NBA broke away only from the front.

"I would liken these new rims to the ones found on the playgrounds that we grew up on," Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "If you miss on the back iron, it deadens the rebound. If you miss on the front rim, it gives the rebound spring and your chances of rolling the ball in are better."

Some shooters, in other words, are finding that the new rims deliver softer bounces that could lead to more baskets.

Yet league officials are adamant that the most significant change to the NBA's rims since the 1981 introduction of breakaway rims was made purely for safety reasons -- just as in '81 -- as opposed to any potential scoring benefit. Rims with more give on the sides, they say, are beneficial for players when they drive to the basket.

Spalding's rims also feature a "tube-tie net system" designed to prevent players' fingers from getting caught in the hooks used on old rims as well as new padding at the base of the rim to help limit scrapes and bruises from the rim.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Wednesday that the size, material and tension (elasticity) of the rims has not changed from last season.

"We upgraded to the 180-degree breakaway rim to improve safety and reduce the risk of players injuring or straining their bodies, hands, wrists or fingers," Frank said. "We're always looking for products that are safer without tangibly changing the game."

Seven days' worth of games last season is considered to be a small sample by statistics experts, but the jump from 95.17 points per game to the current 99.96 comes at at a time when offenses are traditionally still getting in sync.