§ TOV // GLOSSARY
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§ box-score

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 played

Example

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.

Available in ArcStat Free tier (every box score).