Points
The total number of points a player scores in a game, or averages per game across a season. The most visible number in basketball — and the most misread.
Points have been tracked since the first organised basketball game. They're the most immediate answer to "did this player help us win?" But raw scoring totals are distorted by playing time, pace, and shot volume. A player scoring 18 points in 22 minutes is doing something very different from one scoring 18 in 35. Points matter most when you know how efficiently they were produced.
Benchmarks
- League average: 8–10 per game
- Good: 14–17 per game
- Elite: above 18 per game
EuroLeague scoring averages run lower than the NBA because of slower pace, stronger team defense, and shorter shot clocks that reward ball movement over isolation. In 2025–26, the league average sits at 9.4 points per game, with only a handful of players crossing the 18-point threshold.
In 2025–26, Sasha Vezenkov leads EuroLeague scorers at 19.2 points per game for Olympiacos — but the more telling detail is that he does it with elite efficiency, posting the league's top PIR at 22.7. Nadir Hifi averages nearly as much at 18.9 for Paris Basketball, yet his team sits at 15–23. The number is the same unit; the context is different.
Tensions
A player who takes 20 shots to score 18 points is less efficient than one who takes 12 shots for the same total. Points per game tells you the output; it hides the cost.
The player who draws the double team, sets the screen that frees the shooter, or makes the pass that creates the open look doesn't show up in the scoring column — even if they caused every point.
A player who scores 8 of their 16 points in the final two minutes of a blowout is padding a number, not competing in a game. Context around when points were scored matters more than the total.
Formula
PTS = (2PM × 2) + (3PM × 3) + (FTM × 1)
Each made two-pointer is worth 2 points, each three-pointer 3, each free throw 1. Total points is the sum of all three.
PTS: Points / 2PM: Two-Point Field Goals Made / 3PM: Three-Point Field Goals Made / FTM: Free Throws Made
