Points per game
Average points scored per game in a sport.
Points per game (PPG) is a statistic that measures the average number of points a player or team scores per contest, calculated by dividing total points by games played. It can apply to a stretch of games, an entire season, or a career. The term is most common in basketball and ice hockey.
Because many sports divide games into fixed time periods and allow players to enter and exit freely, PPG credits a player for participation in a game regardless of how much time they actually spent on the court or ice. This can understate the value of players used only in specific high-leverage or "clutch" situations. A metric like points per unit of time (e.g., points per 48 minutes in professional basketball) may better reflect their effectiveness in the roles coaches assign them.
While PPG does account for a player’s overall versatility—since effective players in varied situations tend to log more minutes and contribute more—it fails to separate an ineffective player from a specialized offensive threat or a primarily defensive player whose position title doesn’t reveal their role (for example, basketball forward and rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman).
In association football, PPG has been used as an alternative ranking method, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to compare teams fairly when they have played different numbers of matches. Major League Soccer employed it to determine standings for the 2020 season, where some teams had played as few as 15 of their scheduled 23 regular-season games.
- Abbreviation
- PPG
- Calculation
- Total points divided by number of games
- Sports using term
- Basketball, ice hockey
- Alternative use
- Association football (soccer) ranking method during COVID-19 pandemic
Lore & Background
In games divided into fixed time periods, especially those in which a player may exit and re-enter the game multiple or an unlimited number of times, a player may receive the same credit for participation in a game regardless of how long they were actually on the field or court. For this reason, the points-per-game statistic may understate the contribution of players who are highly effective but used only in certain specific 'pinch' or 'clutch' scenarios, such that a points-per-unit-time figure may better represent their effectiveness within the context in which a coach or manager plays them.
Reader's Guide
Although the points-per-game statistic has the advantage of factoring in the breadth of scenarios in which the player is effective, in that a player effective in many different scenarios will play more minutes per game and therefore contribute more to the team's overall performance, it still fails to distinguish between an ineffective player, an effective 'pinch'/'clutch' offensive player, and a player assuming a primarily defensive role in a position whose title does not necessarily make the nature of their role obvious. PPG has also been used as an alternative method for ranking association football teams, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a way to better compare performance when there is a differential in matches played. Major League Soccer used it to decide the standings for the 2020 season, as some teams had played as little as 15 of their planned 23 regular season matches.
Did You Know?
- Points per game is calculated by dividing total points by number of games.
- The statistic is commonly used in both basketball and ice hockey.
- PPG may understate contributions of players used only in specific 'pinch' or 'clutch' scenarios.
- Major League Soccer used PPG to decide standings for the 2020 season due to uneven matches played.
More in Ice Hockey Terminology, Part 2 1-24
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