Stats explained · TOV%
Turnover percentage (TOV%)
Fifteen turnovers mean something different in a slow game and in a fast one, so they are also counted as a share of plays (TOV%) and per 100 possessions (turnover ratio).
The formula
TOV% measures how often a team loses the ball before it gets a chance to score1; NBA.com gives the turnover ratio as turnovers per 100 possessions used.
Worked example
Example (made-up numbers)
A team turns the ball over 14 times in 98 possessions.
100 × 14 ÷ 98 = 14.3 turnovers per 100 possessions
An example for practice. Old games cannot help here: the NBA has counted team turnovers since 1973–74 and players' turnovers since 1977–782.
What it tells you
Ball security, compared fairly between fast and slow teams.
What it does not
Which turnovers good defence forced and which were careless. The players who handle the ball most will always have more.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Basketball statistics (version of 17 March 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0 checked 21 October 2026
- Wikipedia: Turnover (basketball) (version of 9 September 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0 checked 21 October 2026
Checked on 20 October 2026, unless a source has its own date. Wikipedia content is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; we take single numbers and facts from the versions linked above and say where a number is our own calculation. Spotted a mistake or a record that fell? Write to hello@boxscorestories.com.
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