Pace
Possessions a team uses per game, normalised to regulation length.
Formula
possessions ≈ 0.5 × ((FGA + 0.44 × FTA − OREB + TOV) + same for the opponent), scaled to the league's regulation minutesWhat it means
Pace is why raw per-game numbers cannot be compared across leagues. A EuroLeague team plays 40 minutes and uses roughly 72 possessions; an NBA team plays 48 and uses about 99. The same player will average more points in the NBA without playing any better.
Both teams in a game share a possession count, so pace is a property of the game rather than of one side.
The 0.44 is per league, not universal: see true shooting for why the G League uses 0.75.
What to watch out for
Overtime is handled by scaling to regulation length, so a double-overtime game does not read as a fast one.