Glossary / Pace (PACE)

What Is Pace (PACE)?

Pace is a basketball metric measuring the number of possessions a team uses in 48 minutes. It has nothing to do with whether a team is good or bad, it just measures how fast or slow a team plays.

Formula

PACE = 48 × (Possessions / (Team Minutes / 5))
PossessionsThe team's total possessions over the game or season being measured
Team MinutesTotal minutes played by the team (5 players × game minutes)

Worked Example

A team uses 100 possessions over a 48-minute game (240 total team minutes).
PACE = 48 × (100 / (240 / 5))
PACE = 48 × (100 / 48)
PACE = 100.0
PACE by Team, 2025-26
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PACE FAQ

Is a fast pace better than a slow pace?

Neither is inherently better. Pace measures style, not quality; a team can be excellent or terrible while playing fast, and the same is true playing slow. What matters for winning is how efficiently a team scores and defends at whatever pace it plays.

Does Pace affect a team's total points per game even if their efficiency stays the same?

Yes. A faster pace means more possessions in a game, so a team scores more total points per game even if its per-possession efficiency (its Offensive Rating) doesn't change at all. This is exactly why ORTG and DRTG measure production per 100 possessions instead of per game, so pace doesn't distort the comparison.

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See It Live

Every team's PACE this season is on the Team Stats page, alongside the rest of each team's profile.

Related Stats

Often discussed alongside PACE: ORTG, DRTG, NETRTG.

See how PACE compares against a player's specific role on Role Stats, or browse the rest of the Glossary for more stat breakdowns.