Net Rating
The difference between a team's Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating. Positive means you outscore opponents, negative means you don't.
What Net Rating measures
Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating each tell half the story. Net Rating puts them together into the simplest read on whether a team is good. A net rating of +5 means you score five more points per 100 possessions than you give up, which is a winning formula. It is also the single number that best tracks final standings and playoff success.
How Net Rating is calculated
Net Rating = Offensive Rating − Defensive Rating
NET RTG: Net Rating / OFF RTG: Offensive Rating / DEF RTG: Defensive Rating
The catch
Net Rating ignores who you played
A team that beats weak opponents by 15 per 100 possessions can post a better Net Rating than one that beats strong opponents by 6. Schedule matters. Two teams at +4 can be in very different places once you know who they faced.
Small samples make it swing
After five games a Net Rating can lurch on a few clutch shots or a garbage-time blowout. Over a full season it becomes one of the most reliable numbers in the sport. Do not read too much into it early, and do not dismiss it late.
Seen in a game
The 2025–26 table is Net Rating at its clearest. Olympiacos posted +10.8, almost twice the next-best mark, by pairing the league's best offense (120.1) with its best defense (109.3). At 30-12, they turned that margin straight into wins. Real Madrid (+6.7) and Valencia (+5.3) also cleared the elite line. Fenerbahçe had a near-elite defense (109.6) but only a mid-pack offense, so they landed at +1.8. Net Rating rewards balance. Do both things well and the gap shows up here.
Common questions
- What is net rating in basketball?
Net rating is offensive rating minus defensive rating — how many more points a team scores than it allows per 100 possessions. It is the clearest single number for how good a team really is.
- How is net rating calculated?
Subtract defensive rating from offensive rating. A team scoring 114 and allowing 106 per 100 possessions has a net rating of +8.
- What is the difference between net rating and point differential?
Point differential is just points scored minus points allowed per game, so it is influenced by pace. Net rating adjusts for possessions, making it a fairer comparison between fast and slow teams.
