NBA Stats Glossary
Plus/Minus
Also: +/- · On-Court Plus-Minus
The point differential while a player is on the court.
Definition
The rawest lineup-impact stat: how many points a team outscored its opponents by while a player was on the floor. It's team-dependent (a great player on a bad team has a worse plus-minus) and noisy in small samples.
Example
A +20 in a game means the team was 20 points better with the player on the floor. Season plus-minus above +5 per game is very strong.
Why it matters for research
Noisy in single games but informative over larger samples. On/off splits (plus-minus when a player is on vs off the floor) are a stronger version.
Related terms
Apply Plus/Minus in research
Ask any NBA question using this metric. The assistant pulls the actual numbers and explains what they mean for tonight's lines.