Defensive Rating
How many points a team allows per 100 possessions. The lower the number, the better the defense.
What Defensive Rating measures
Points allowed per game feels like the obvious way to measure defense, but it lies. A fast team gives up more possessions, so more chances to score, without defending any worse. Defensive Rating takes pace out. It asks the purer question: when the other team has the ball, how often do you stop them?
How Defensive Rating is calculated
Defensive Rating = (Points Allowed ÷ Possessions) × 100
DEF RTG: Defensive Rating / PA: Points Allowed
The catch
A great defender can play for a bad defensive team
Defensive Rating is a team number. A player can be an elite individual defender, forcing steals or protecting the rim, while his team still bleeds points because the four around him break down. Individual effort and team structure are different things. This stat measures the system, not the man.
Allowing fewer points does not always mean playing slower
A team with a great Defensive Rating can play fast. It just forces bad shots and quick turnovers. Pace and efficiency are separate. A low-scoring game does not always mean good defense. Sometimes it just means both teams are slow.
The same Defensive Rating can come from very different plans
One team reaches 111 by forcing turnovers. Another by walling off the rim. Another by chasing shooters off the line. Defensive Rating tells you the result, not the method. Two identical numbers can hide completely different defensive identities.
Seen in a game
Fenerbahçe built their 2025–26 season on defense. Their 109.6 rating was second only to Olympiacos, and it carried a team whose offense sat mid-pack at 111.4 to a 27-16 finish. That is the point of the number: a defense this good is a foundation to win on, not just a complement to a great offense. Olympiacos happened to own both ends at once, but Fenerbahçe showed a team can get most of the way to the top on stops alone.
Common questions
- What is defensive rating in basketball?
Defensive rating is how many points a team allows per 100 possessions. Lower is better. It measures how good a defense is once you remove the effect of pace.
- How is defensive rating calculated?
Divide points allowed by possessions faced, then multiply by 100. A team giving up 76 points on 72 possessions has a defensive rating of about 106.
- Is a lower defensive rating better?
Yes. Defensive rating counts points allowed, so the fewer you give up per 100 possessions, the better your defense. The best EuroLeague defenses sit well below the league average.
