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Per-36 calculator, with usage rate, Game Score and assist-to-turnover ratio

Raw totals reward minutes. A reserve who scores 14 in 24 minutes and a starter who scores 18 in 38 are not doing the same thing, and per-36 rates put them on one footing. Usage rate adds the other half of the picture: how much of the team’s offence ran through the player while they were on the floor.

Enter one game, per-game averages or season totals. Game Score and the assist-to-turnover ratio come from the same line; add the team’s totals to see usage.

By Reign Creative LLCPublished More in the Basketball hub

Calculate per-36 rates and usage

Use one game, per-game averages or season totals — the same span for every field.

Decimal minutes such as 34.5, or 34:30 as a box score prints them.

Optional: usage rate

Usage compares the player’s plays with the team’s over the same games. Clear these four fields to skip it.

Five players’ minutes: 240 for one regulation game.

Points per 36 minutes21.0

Rebounds per 36
7.5
Assists per 36
4.5
Steals per 36
1.5
Blocks per 36
0.0
Turnovers per 36
3.0
Field-goal attempts per 36
16.5
Usage rate (USG%)
26.7%
Game Score
10.1
Assist-to-turnover ratio
1.50

The line covers 24.0 minutes, so the per-36 figures assume the same rate over minutes that were not played. Game Score is built for a single game; per-game averages give the average Game Score.

The formulas

Per 36 minutes

stat per 36 = stat ÷ minutes played × 36

Usage percentage

USG% = 100 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA + TOV) × (team minutes ÷ 5) ÷ (MP × (team FGA + 0.44 × team FTA + team TOV))

Game Score

GmSc = PTS + 0.4 × FG − 0.7 × FGA − 0.4 × (FTA − FT) + 0.7 × ORB + 0.3 × DRB + STL + 0.7 × AST + 0.7 × BLK − 0.4 × PF − TOV

Assist-to-turnover ratio

AST/TO = assists ÷ turnovers

The first three are Basketball-Reference’s published formulas; the assist-to-turnover ratio is defined in the NBA’s stat glossary. Usage counts a player’s “plays” as shots, free-throw attempts at 0.44 each (the weight true shooting uses) and turnovers, then compares them with the team’s plays while the player was on the floor — which is why the team’s minutes are divided by five. Game Score is John Hollinger’s, built to give “a rough measure of a player’s productivity for a single game”.

Worked example

An illustrative line — not a real player — of 14 points in 24 minutes off the bench: 5-for-11 shooting with one three, 3-for-4 at the line, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls.

24 minutes scaled to 36
StatisticIn the gamePer 36
Points1421.0
Rebounds57.5
Assists34.5
Steals11.5
Turnovers23.0
Field-goal attempts1116.5

The team took 88 shots and 22 free throws and committed 13 turnovers in 240 team minutes. The player used 14.76 plays (11 + 0.44 × 4 + 2) against the team’s 110.68, but was on the floor for only 24 of the 48 minutes, so usage is 26.7% — more than the 20% an even split among the five players on the floor would give.

The single-number summaries
MeasureResult
Usage rate26.7%
Game Score10.1
Assist-to-turnover ratio1.50

A Game Score of 10.1 sits at the “average performance” mark on Basketball-Reference’s scale. The per-36 line — 21.0 points and 7.5 rebounds — is the same 24 minutes stretched to 36; whether the player could keep that rate for the extra 12 minutes is the part no box score can show.

How the code is checked

The calculator’s functions are tested against figures Basketball-Reference prints. Three season lines from the same 2004-05 team page its four-factors article uses reproduce the usage rates it shows — 19.0, 21.3 and 28.3 — and the per-36 numbers beside them, and four single-game lines from a game log reproduce its Game Scores of 24.2, 22.7, 23.9 and 6.0.

What these numbers leave out

  • Role and opposition. Per-36 rates assume the same production over more minutes, in a bigger role, against whoever the extra minutes would be played against.
  • Sample size. Over a few minutes, one hot or cold stretch dominates the rate.
  • Efficiency. Usage measures how much a player shoots and turns the ball over, not how well. Read it beside true shooting percentage.
  • Weights. Usage’s 0.44 and Game Score’s coefficients are estimates published by their authors, not measurements.
  • Most defence. Only steals, blocks, defensive rebounds and fouls appear in a box score.

The true shooting calculator covers the efficiency side, and the basketball advanced stats explainer puts usage and the per-possession view in context.

Basketball Career Sim follows one player you create from youth basketball to the pros, and its Live Sim hands you the key possessions — take the shot or move it on, lock down your matchup or call for help.

Reign Creative LLC makes Basketball Career Sim, so we have a commercial interest in it. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any league, team, players’ association or athlete.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate per-36 stats?
Divide the statistic by minutes played and multiply by 36 — the definition Basketball-Reference uses. A player with 14 points in 24 minutes is scoring 21.0 points per 36.
What is usage rate in basketball?
An estimate of the share of a team’s plays a player used while on the floor. Field-goal attempts, free-throw attempts (weighted at 0.44 each) and turnovers are compared with the team’s over the same stretch of minutes, using Basketball-Reference’s formula.
What is a good Game Score?
Basketball-Reference describes the scale as similar to points scored: 40 is an outstanding performance and 10 an average one. Game Score was designed to rate a single game, not a season.
Why can per-36 numbers mislead?
They assume a player would keep the same rate over more minutes, in the same role and against the same opponents, and none of that is guaranteed. Over a handful of minutes, one good or bad stretch also moves the figures a long way.
How is assist-to-turnover ratio calculated?
Assists divided by turnovers: three assists and two turnovers is 1.50. With no turnovers there is nothing to divide by, so the calculator shows a dash instead of a number.

Sources

  1. Glossary — Per 36 Minutes, Usg% and GmSc (opens in a new tab)Basketball-Reference.com (Sports Reference) — accessed
  2. Stat Glossary — AST/TO (opens in a new tab)NBA.com — accessed

League, governing-body and team names appear here only to identify the formulas and rules being used. Reign Creative LLC's sports games and calculators are not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any league, team, players' association or athlete, and all names and marks belong to their owners.

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