Box scoreBasketball
TOVTurnovers Per Game
Turnovers per game is how often a player coughs up the ball — the negative twin of assists.
Formula
TPG = total turnovers / games playedExample
A high-usage guard with 38 turnovers across 10 games: 38 / 10 = 3.8 TPG.
Why it matters
A turnover is a possession with zero shot attempts — strictly worse than a missed shot. The fastest way to evaluate a playmaker is AST/TO, not raw TPG.
In depth
Turnovers include bad passes, lost dribbles, offensive fouls, and shot-clock violations charged to a player. Ball-dominant scorers naturally turn the ball over more (high USG% drives high TOV); the question is whether their AST/TO and TS% justify the volume.
Where you’ll see it
Available in ArcStat Free tier (every box score). Compare plans.
Related terms
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TOV for every player, automatically.
ArcStat computes it for you — ArcStat Free tier (every box score).