Offensive, Defensive and Net Rating, Explained

Points per game mixes two things: how good a team is and how fast it plays. A fast, average team can score more per game than a slow, excellent one. Ratings remove pace by counting points per 100 possessions.

The three ratings

• Offensive rating (ORtg): points scored per 100 possessions.
• Defensive rating (DRtg): points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better.
• Net rating: ORtg minus DRtg. Across a season it tracks point differential and wins closely.

Opponent adjustment

Early schedules are uneven. We adjust each game's rating for the opponent's current strength and for home court, then time-weight the adjusted games. Before a team has played many games, the rating leans on a preseason prior: last season's rating pulled halfway back toward league average.

Why ratings alone are not enough

Team ratings describe the players who produced them. When a star misses time or changes teams, the team rating lags. That is why HoopVantage builds team strength from the players expected to play and uses the team rating as a second, supporting input. You can see both on every team page.

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