Box scores · the abbreviation dictionary
Basketball Stat Abbreviations, Defined
Sheets, score apps and broadcast graphics use the same English abbreviations everywhere, Chinese games included. All 48 of them are here with the term spelled out in both languages, the arithmetic, and a worked example. Open any one for the full entry.
Updated 20 Aug 2026
The basic columns
The eleven columns every sheet carries, each one counted an event at a time. Learn these and the page stops being a wall of letters.
- MIN上场时间Minutes playedMinutes actually spent on the floor, bench appearances included. A FIBA game runs 40 minutes and an NBA game 48, so “played the whole game” is a different number in each.Also writtenMP · MINS→
- PTS得分PointsPoints this player scored, free throws included. Two for a shot inside the arc, three for one behind it, one for a free throw, and nothing else.Also writtenP→
- REB篮板ReboundsTotal boards taken, offensive plus defensive. Sheets usually print all three side by side as OREB / DREB / REB.Also writtenTRB · R · TOT→
- OREB进攻篮板Offensive reboundsA board taken off your own team’s miss. It does not end the possession, it buys a fresh one, which makes an offensive rebound worth roughly what a steal is worth.Also writtenORB · OR · OFF→
- DREB防守篮板Defensive reboundsA board taken off the other team’s miss. It ends their possession, and is the action that actually finishes a defensive stop.Also writtenDRB · DR · DEF→
- AST助攻AssistsThe pass that leads directly to a teammate scoring. A dribble in between is allowed, but the more dribbles there are the less likely a scorer credits it.Also writtenA · AS · ASS→
- STL抢断StealsTaking the ball off an opponent or out of a passing lane, with your team ending up in possession. An opponent throwing it out of bounds on their own is their turnover, not your steal.Also writtenST · S→
- BLK盖帽BlocksGetting a hand on a shot after release and before it starts to fall. Touching it on the way down is goaltending, not a block.Also writtenBS · B→
- TOV失误TurnoversGiving the ball up without getting a shot off. Bad passes, steals against you, travels, double dribbles and the 8- and 24-second violations all land here.Also writtenTO · T→
- PF个人犯规Personal foulsFouls charged to this player. Under FIBA rules five ends their game and the NBA allows six. Once a team reaches four in a period, every further defensive foul is two free throws — three if the shot was from behind the arc, and none at all if the foul was an offensive one. A foul on a shot that goes in is always a single free throw, whatever the team count says.Also writtenF · FC · PFS→
- +/-正负值Plus-minusYour team’s points minus theirs over the minutes this player was on court. It records nothing the player did, only how the score moved while they were out there.Also writtenPM · +-→
Shooting columns
Makes and attempts always travel together, printed as makes-attempts. Reading the makes alone flatters everybody.
- FG投篮命中数与出手数Field goals made and attemptedEvery shot taken from the floor, twos and threes together; free throws never count. Sheets print it as makes-attempts — the first number is FGM, the second FGA.Also writtenFGM · FGA · FGM-FGA · 2FG+3FG→
- FG%投篮命中率Field goal percentageThe share of shots from the floor that went in — the most quoted number on the sheet and the most misleading.Also writtenFG PCT · FGP→
- 2P两分球命中数与出手数Two-pointers made and attemptedShots from inside the arc: layups, dunks, hooks and everything from mid-range. FIBA sheets usually print this as 2FG.Also written2FG · 2PM · 2PA · 2PM-2PA→
- 2P%两分球命中率Two-point percentageThe share of shots inside the arc that went in. Cleaner than FG% because threes are out of it, though it still prices a layup and a long two the same.Also written2FG% · 2P PCT→
- 3P三分命中数与出手数Three-pointers made and attemptedShots from behind the arc. They are already inside FGM-FGA, so adding threes back on top of field goals double-counts them.Also written3FG · 3PM · 3PA · 3PM-3PA→
- 3P%三分命中率Three-point percentageThe share of attempts from behind the arc that went in. It needs volume before it means anything, and it is the number small samples distort most.Also written3FG% · 3P PCT→
- FT罚球命中数与出手数Free throws made and attemptedAttempts from the line. They never count towards FGA, so a night built on free throws leaves FG% untouched while still showing up in TS%.Also writtenFTM · FTA · FTM-FTA→
- FT%罚球命中率Free throw percentageThe share of free throws made. It is the only shot nobody defends, so it comes closest to measuring the stroke itself, and it is the one most worth practising on its own.Also writtenFT PCT · FTP→
Efficiency and rate stats
The numbers that turn volume into efficiency. None of them are on the original sheet; all of them are computed from it afterwards.
- eFG%有效命中率Effective field goal percentageField goal percentage with the extra point a three is worth credited back, so volume shooters stop being punished by FG%. It is worth more than FG% every single time.Also writtenEFG→
- TS%真实命中率True shooting percentageFolds twos, threes and free throws into one efficiency, which makes it the most complete single number for scoring. The 0.44 estimates how many free-throw attempts actually ended a possession; it is an approximation, not an exact figure.Also writtenTS · True Shooting→
- AST/TO助攻失误比Assist-to-turnover ratioHow many assists come back for each ball given away — the most direct read on a ball handler. It cancels out minutes and handling volume on its own.Also writtenA/T · AST:TO · ATO→
- USG%使用率Usage rateThe share of the team’s possessions this player finished while on the floor — by shooting, by being fouled, or by turning it over. It measures how much of the offense runs through someone, not how well.Also writtenUSG · USAGE→
- ORtg进攻效率Offensive ratingPoints scored per 100 possessions. Dividing by possessions instead of games is what lets a fast team and a slow one be compared at all.Also writtenOffRtg · OFF RTG→
- DRtg防守效率Defensive ratingPoints allowed per 100 possessions. Lower is better, which is the opposite of almost every other column on the sheet.Also writtenDefRtg · DEF RTG→
- NetRtg净效率Net ratingOffensive rating minus defensive rating: how many points a team nets per 100 possessions. It is the shortest honest summary of a team.Also writtenNET RTG · Net→
- POSS回合数PossessionsOne possession runs from gaining the ball to losing it. Grabbing an offensive rebound continues the same possession, which is why the estimate subtracts OREB. No sheet prints this column; it is computed.→
- PACE节奏PacePossessions per game, normalised to a standard length: 40 minutes under FIBA and 48 in the NBA. The two leagues’ pace numbers therefore cannot be read against each other.→
- PER球员效率值Player efficiency ratingJohn Hollinger’s composite: every positive and negative event on the sheet, weighted by an estimated value, reduced to a per-minute score and then rescaled so that the league average is always exactly 15.00.→
- PIE球员影响估值Player impact estimateThe NBA’s own composite: what share of everything positive that happened in the game this player produced. By design, everyone in the game adds up to roughly 100%.→
- PIR效率值Performance index ratingThe composite printed directly on FIBA and EuroLeague sheets. It adds every positive event and subtracts every negative one, with no weighting at all. NBA sheets do not carry it.Also writtenIndex Rating · Valuation→
- BPM百回合正负值Box plus/minusA box-score estimate of how many points per 100 possessions a player adds over a league-average player. Zero is average. It usually splits into an offensive OBPM and a defensive DBPM.Also writtenOBPM · DBPM→
- VORP替代球员价值Value over replacement playerBPM turned into a season total: how much a player is worth over a freely available replacement, whose level is fixed at a BPM of −2.0. It rewards being good and being available.→
- WS胜利贡献值Win sharesThe team’s wins for a season, divided among its players by estimated contribution. Everyone’s win shares add up to roughly the number of games the team actually won.Also writtenOWS · DWS · WS/48→
Team columns
The columns a broadcast panel and the margins of a sheet carry. Some are charged to the team and some to a player; what they share is that none of them is one of the five basic categories.
- PITP禁区得分Points in the paintPoints scored on shots taken inside the lane. It is the quickest read on how a team plays: a high number means the offense is organised from the inside out.Also writtenPIP→
- FBPS快攻得分Fast break pointsPoints scored before the defense got set. Where exactly that line falls is the scorer’s call, and competitions do not apply it identically.Also writtenFB PTS→
- 2ND PTS二次进攻得分Second chance pointsPoints scored after an offensive rebound, within the same possession. It is the column that turns OREB into a number of points.Also writtenSCP · 2nd Chance→
- BLKA出手被盖次数Blocked attemptsHow many of this player’s own shots got blocked. It appears on both player and team lines, the NBA sheet carries it, and it is one of the terms subtracted in the FIBA index rating.Also writtenBA→
- FD被侵犯次数Fouls drawnHow many fouls opponents were called for while defending this player. FIBA and EuroLeague sheets print it; the standard NBA box score does not.→
- TF技术犯规Technical foulA foul unrelated to contact: dissent, delay, unsportsmanlike conduct. Under FIBA rules it gives the other team one free throw and possession, and two of them disqualify the player.Also writtenT · Tech→
Roster marks and season totals
The marks on a season table or a game-day roster: whether someone played, how often, and the combined numbers built on top.
- GP出场场次Games playedHow many games this player actually appeared in, a few seconds counting the same as forty minutes. It is the denominator under every per-game number.Also writtenG · Games→
- GS首发场次Games startedHow many of those appearances began in the starting five. Read next to GP it gives the role away: 62 of 62 is a fixture, 3 of 62 is a bench player.Also writtenStarts→
- DNP未出场Did not playDressed but never entered the game. The night does not count towards GP, so it does not dilute any per-game average.→
- DNP-CD教练决定未出场Did not play — coach’s decisionDid not appear, and not because of injury — the coach simply did not use them. The same column also carries DND for injury and NWT for not travelling with the team.Also writtenDNP - Coach's Decision · CD→
- PPG场均得分Points per gameSeason points divided by games played. The same pattern names all the others: RPG for rebounds, APG assists, SPG steals, BPG blocks, MPG minutes and TPG turnovers.→
- DD两双Double-doubleTwo statistical categories reaching double figures in the same game. Only five count: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.Also writtenDD2→
- TD三双Triple-doubleThree categories in double figures in one game, drawn from the same five: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Nearly all of them are points, rebounds and assists.Also writtenTD3→
- PRA得分篮板助攻合计Points, rebounds and assists combinedThe three columns simply added together. It shows up in fantasy leagues and stat round-ups; no official sheet carries it.Also writtenP+R+A · PTS+REB+AST→
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One term down, the whole sheet to go
A dictionary answers one term at a time, but a box score is a set of numbers that lean on each other. How many free throws appear depends on the team foul count; how many rebounds exist depends on how both teams shot. That layer only reads whole.