I was looking up some team stats and was wondering what the difference between the two. I always thought the two were the same stat, just differently named. I can't figure it out. So what the difference then? ESPN's stat page lists OffEff, which has the Rockets scoring 108.0 points per 100 possessions (6th). Basketball-Reference on the other hand uses Ortg, which has the Rockets scoring 111.3 points per 100 possessions (4th). Same thing with the defensive numbers (Drtg - 109.0 [19th] and DefEff 106.2 [18th]). What am I missing?
Just browsing at the two, the pace is different. And the comment at the bottom of ESPN says possessions per game while BBR says possessions per 48. So I would assume that ESPN uses a bugged formula that directly looks at their pace. I would say BBR is better since ESPN won't show the exact formula.
They are both approximations for how many points a team scores per 100 possessions, and the terms can be used interchangeably. Team possessions are approximated from the team statistics (field goal attempts, free throw attempts, turnovers, offensive rebounds). They're just using slightly different formulas. It doesn't really matter what the exact number is, so long as its accurate enough for comparing how teams perform relative to eachother. In that respect, both do the job.
