Basketball stats glossary

In the box score

MIN

Minutes played. More →

FGM / FGA

Field goals made and attempted: every shot from the field, twos and threes together. More →

FG%

Field goal percentage: FGM ÷ FGA. More →

3PM / 3PA

Three-pointers made and attempted. They are part of FGM and FGA too. More →

3P%

Three-point percentage: 3PM ÷ 3PA. More →

FTM / FTA

Free throws made and attempted, one point each. More →

FT%

Free throw percentage: FTM ÷ FTA. More →

OREB / DREB

Offensive rebounds (a new chance for your team) and defensive rebounds (the opponent's possession ends). More →

REB

Total rebounds: OREB + DREB. More →

AST

Assist: a pass that leads directly to a made basket. More →

STL

Steal: taking the ball from the opponent, which causes a turnover. More →

BLK

Block: tipping or deflecting a shot so it cannot score. More →

TO / TOV

Turnover: the offence loses the ball to the defence. More →

PF

Personal fouls committed. More →

PTS

Points scored. More →

+/-

Plus-minus: the score difference while a player is on the floor. More →

DNP

Did not play: the player was available or listed but got no minutes. More →

GP

Games played.¹ More →

W / L

Wins and losses. More →

PFD

Personal fouls drawn: fouls the opponents committed against a player. More →

BLKA

Blocks against: a player's shots that a defender blocked. More →

PITP

Points in the paint. More →

FBPS

Fast break points. More →

PTS OFF TO

Points off turnovers: points scored right after the opponent lost the ball. More →

Team rebounds and turnovers

Rebounds and turnovers charged to a team, not to a player, so the players' lines do not always add up to the team line. In Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game the Warriors had 3 team rebounds and the Knicks 4.² More →

Advanced stats

TS%

True shooting percentage: points per shooting chance, with threes and free throws counted.³ More →

eFG%

Effective field goal percentage: FG% with a made three counted as 1.5 field goals.⁴ More →

USG%

Usage rate: the share of team plays a player uses while on the floor. More →

PER

Player Efficiency Rating by John Hollinger. League average is always 15.00.⁵ More →

WS

Win Shares: a player's share of his team's wins, an idea that comes from Bill James.⁶ More →

PIE

Player Impact Estimate: NBA.com's share of all the game's box score events that belong to one player. More →

AST%

Assist percentage: the share of teammates' baskets a player assisted while on the floor. More →

AST ratio

Assists per 100 possessions a player used. More →

AST/TO

Assist-to-turnover ratio: assists ÷ turnovers.¹ More →

OREB% / DREB%

Offensive and defensive rebound percentage: the share of available rebounds a player or team grabbed.⁷ More →

REB%

Rebound percentage: the same for all rebounds.⁷ More →

TOV%

Turnover percentage: the share of plays that end in a turnover.¹ More →

TO ratio

Turnovers per 100 possessions used. More →

FTA rate

Free throw attempt rate: free throw attempts ÷ field goal attempts. More →

Four factors

Four team numbers read together, for a team and its opponents: eFG%, FTA rate, TOV% and OREB%. More →

Possession

One turn with the ball for a team; it ends with a score, a missed shot the defence rebounds, or a turnover. An offensive rebound does not start a new possession, it makes the same one longer. More →

Pace

Possessions per game, or per 48 minutes.¹ More →

OffRtg / DefRtg

Points scored and allowed per 100 possessions.⁸ More →

NetRtg

Net rating: offensive rating minus defensive rating. More →

Games and records

Double-double

Ten or more in two of these: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks.¹ More →

Triple-double

Ten or more in three of them. Russell Westbrook holds the career record.⁹ More →

Shot clock

The time a team has to shoot; the NBA brought in 24 seconds in 1954–55.¹⁰ More →

14-second reset

Since 2018–19, after an offensive rebound off the rim the shot clock goes back to 14 seconds, not 24.¹¹ More →

Three-point line

Shots from behind it count three points: 23 feet 9 inches from the basket, 22 feet in the corners. In the NBA since 1979–80.¹² More →

Lane

The painted area under the basket, also called the key. 16 feet wide since 1964–65.¹³ More →

Regular season

The league schedule before the playoffs. Records on this site are regular season unless we say otherwise. More →

Playoffs

The knockout rounds after the regular season, ending with the Finals. More →

Box score

The table of every player's numbers in one game. More →

Play-by-play

The log of every event in a game, in order. More →

MVP

Most Valuable Player of the regular season, given since 1955–56.¹⁴ More →

Finals MVP

The Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award, given since 1969.¹⁵ More →

All-Star

A place in the season's All-Star Game. LeBron James holds the record with 22 selections in a row.¹⁶ More →

All-NBA First Team

The five players picked as the best of the season. There is a second team too.¹⁷ More →

65-game rule

Since 2023–24, players generally need at least 65 games to be eligible for awards such as MVP.¹⁸ More →

BAA

Basketball Association of America: the league that started in 1946–47 and merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to form the NBA.¹⁹ More →

ABA

American Basketball Association: a rival league that used the three-point shot from its first season, 1967–68. Four of its teams joined the NBA in 1976–77.¹²²⁰ More →

Hall of Fame

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.²¹ More →

62 terms, in our own words. A term is missing? Write to hello@boxscorestories.com.