What is offensive rating in basketball?

Offensive rating is how many points a team scores per 100 possessions. It measures how efficient an offense is, independent of how fast or slow it plays.

How is offensive rating calculated?

Divide points scored by possessions used, then multiply by 100. A team scoring 82 points on 72 possessions has an offensive rating of about 114.

Why use offensive rating instead of points per game?

Points per game rewards fast teams that take more shots. Offensive rating strips pace out, so it tells you which offense is actually more efficient per trip down the floor, not just busier.

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Intermediate — OFF RTG

Offensive Rating

How many points a team scores per 100 possessions. The offensive mirror of Defensive Rating.

What Offensive Rating measures

Points per game is hostage to pace. A team that plays fast scores more, not because it is better, but because it has the ball more often. Offensive Rating strips that out. It measures how much damage a team does each time it has the ball, whatever the tempo.

How Offensive Rating is calculated

Offensive Rating = (Points Scored ÷ Possessions) × 100

OFF RTG: Offensive Rating / Pts: Points Scored

The catch

Watch for

A great Offensive Rating can go with a losing record

If your offense scores 120 per 100 possessions but your defense allows 122, you lose, efficiently. Offensive Rating tells you half the story. A team can be an elite offense and still finish near the bottom. Net Rating is the number that tracks winning.

Watch for

Pace can hide the quality of an offense

A slow team with a modest Offensive Rating can be harder to defend than a fast team with a high one. Pace makes more possessions and more variance. Per-possession numbers level the field. A team that scores 118 in 62 possessions is doing something different from one that scores 118 in 72.

Seen in a game

Olympiacos posted the league's best Offensive Rating in 2025–26 at 120.1, scoring more than 120 points for every 100 possessions they used, around six above the league average. What made them a champion rather than just a good offense is that they owned the other end too, with the league's best defense at 109.3. That combination produced a +10.8 net rating and a 30-12 record. A great offense wins nothing on its own. Paired with a great defense, it wins the league.

Common questions

What is offensive rating in basketball?: Offensive rating is how many points a team scores per 100 possessions. It measures how efficient an offense is, independent of how fast or slow it plays.
How is offensive rating calculated?: Divide points scored by possessions used, then multiply by 100. A team scoring 82 points on 72 possessions has an offensive rating of about 114.
Why use offensive rating instead of points per game?: Points per game rewards fast teams that take more shots. Offensive rating strips pace out, so it tells you which offense is actually more efficient per trip down the floor, not just busier.