← Forecasts for Mar 10

2022-23 · Regular Season · Final

Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs

Friday, March 10, 2023 · tip-off time not recorded

DEN 0–1@SAS 2–3 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: DEN 76 percent, SAS 24 percent. DEN Nuggets 76% proj. 120 · final 120 SAS Spurs · home 24% proj. 109 · final 128
Each team's share of the floor is its pregame win probability. The line starts at midcourt and moves to the split.

Forecast and result

TeamProjectedFinalDifference
DEN Denver Nuggets 120 120 ±0
SAS San Antonio Spurs (home) 109 128 +19

Forecast: Denver Nuggets to win, 76% win probability, projected margin 11.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputDENSAS
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 16011269
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court −262
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +4.2−10.3
Games played this season 6665
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 116.5106.3
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 112.6117.3
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 99.8
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 0.00.0
Rest days 25
Second night of a back-to-back NoNo

This forecast can't be broken down exactly: the model version that made this forecast is not available. Explanations are shown only when the model that made a forecast can be rebuilt and reproduces it. How explanations are checked

Built from the box scores

How the breakdowns work

Where each input came from. Open a row to see the games and box-score stats behind it. A breakdown is shown only when rebuilding it from the stored stats gives exactly the number the model received.

Elo ratingDEN1601SAS1269

Updated after every game from the final score only: wins, losses and margin. Each season starts by keeping 75% of last season's distance from the 1500 average.

DEN1601

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1522 → started this one at 1517
  2. First 56 games: +78.7
  3. Last 10 games: +5.2
  • W@CHA119–105+6.8
  • W@MIA112–108+7.0
  • WDAL118–109+4.9
  • W@CLE115–109+9.8
  • L@MEM94–112−14.2
  • WLAC134–124+5.5
  • W@HOU133–112+4.8
  • WMEM113–97+9.7
  • WTOR118–113+3.3
  • LCHI96–117−32.4

SAS1269

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1486 → started this one at 1489
  2. First 55 games: −195.9
  3. Last 10 games: −25.0
  • L@DET131–138−5.3
  • L@ATL106–125−3.8
  • L@CLE109–117−1.2
  • L@CHA110–120−5.1
  • L@DAL116–142−4.7
  • L@UTA102–118−4.0
  • W@UTA102–94+19.5
  • WIND110–99+13.8
  • LHOU110–122−16.5
  • L@HOU110–142−17.7
Season scoring marginDEN+4.2SAS−10.3

Points scored minus points allowed per game this season, mixed with last season's margin until 20 games are played.

DEN+4.2

Scores 116.8, allows 112.7 over 66 games: +4.2 a game.

SAS−10.3

Scores 112.1, allows 122.3 over 65 games: −10.3 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10DEN116.5SAS106.3

Points scored per 100 possessions. Split into the four factors: right of center helps the team, left hurts, in points per 100 possessions compared with the league average (2022-23 to date: 113.8).

DEN116.5scored, +2.6 vs league

FactorDENLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)56.8%54.6%+3.3
Turnovers (TOV%)11.7%12.1%+0.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)26.3%23.7%+1.1
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1750.213−1.1
Everything else−1.3

SAS106.3scored, −7.6 vs league

FactorSASLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)50.2%54.6%−6.6
Turnovers (TOV%)12.5%12.1%−0.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)25.9%23.7%+1.0
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1730.213−1.2
Everything else−0.2
Defensive rating, last 10DEN112.6SAS117.3

Points allowed per 100 possessions, built from what opponents did in those games. Bars point right when the defense held opponents below average. Split into the four factors: right of center helps the team, left hurts, in points per 100 possessions compared with the league average (2022-23 to date: 113.8).

DEN112.6allowed, −1.3 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)52.8%54.6%+2.7
Turnovers (TOV%)10.4%12.1%−2.4
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)20.7%23.7%+1.3
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1890.213+0.7
Everything else−1.0

SAS117.3allowed, +3.5 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.6%54.6%−1.6
Turnovers (TOV%)11.5%12.1%−0.9
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)26.0%23.7%−1.0
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2420.213−0.8
Everything else+0.8
Pace, last 10average 99.8

Possessions per 48 minutes. The model uses the average of the two teams. Faster games mean more points for both sides, so pace mostly moves the projected total, not the margin.

DEN 97.6 and SAS 101.9 → average 99.8 (league 2022-23 to date: 99.8)

Rotation points missingDEN0.0SAS0.0

Points per game of rotation players (two or more of the last 10 games this season, 15+ minutes) listed Out or Doubtful on the official injury report.

DEN0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2023-03-10 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

SAS0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2023-03-10 17:30 ET. 14 rotation players.

RestDEN2 daysSAS5 days

Days since the team's previous game, capped at 5. One day means the second night of a back-to-back.

DEN2days

Last played Mar 8 against CHI.

SAS5days

Last played Mar 5 against HOU.

The last 10 games behind these numbers, box-score totals

DEN

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 8CHI96–11737-8815-407-15111198.0121.997.0
Mar 6TOR118–11343-8613-3319-231312119.2115.398.5
Mar 3MEM113–9740-878-3125-31813116.5101.096.5
Feb 28@HOU133–11253-9216-3711-161111133.0112.0100.0
Feb 26LAC134–12449-9613-3923-311411121.8113.899.2
Feb 25@MEM94–11236-8911-3711-14151195.9112.099.0
Feb 23@CLE115–10939-8417-3620-231618122.3118.593.0
Feb 15DAL118–10948-8411-3111-15136120.4111.298.0
Feb 13@MIA112–10844-7611-2813-15136124.4120.090.0
Feb 11@CHA119–10550-995-2314-171414113.3100.0105.0

SAS

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 5@HOU110–14243-9311-3413-211513106.8136.5103.5
Mar 4HOU110–12238-8615-3719-201413112.2125.897.5
Mar 2IND110–9945-9810-3210-131513108.996.1102.0
Feb 28@UTA102–9439-918-2616-25129100.092.2102.0
Feb 25@UTA102–11838-979-3417-219999.0115.7102.5
Feb 23@DAL116–14245-8610-2516-231610113.7140.6101.5
Feb 15@CHA110–12041-10713-3815-201520100.9112.1108.0
Feb 13@CLE109–11743-858-2115-201611114.7123.295.0
Feb 11@ATL106–12540-9411-3715-171914100.0117.9106.0
Feb 10@DET131–13845-10714-4227-341713106.5113.1101.4

Off and Def are points scored and allowed per 100 possessions in each game; their averages are the 10-game ratings above. OREB is missing (–) where the source data didn't record it.

The result against the forecast

2022-23 surprise games
24%
pregame chance the forecast gave SAS, the winner
the forecast favored DEN
19 pts
margin miss
forecast −11, actual +8 for SAS
22nd
most surprising result of 2022-23
of 1,314 graded games
181st
largest margin miss of 2022-23
outcome surprise 1.43 nats

Surprise is measured against this model's forecast, not against what other observers expected. Outcome surprise is −ln(winner's pregame probability): 0.69 for a coin flip, 2.3 for a 10% winner.

Team box score

What happened in the game. These numbers are not used by the forecast, and they are not offered as the reason it missed.

Team statDENSAS
Final score120128
Field goals44–90 · 48.9%51–94 · 54.3%
Three-pointers13–35 · 37.1%13–33 · 39.4%
Free throws19–20 · 95.0%13–17 · 76.5%
Rebounds3350
Assists3231
Turnovers1418
Steals1410
Blocks40

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (SAS)−11+8+19
Total points229248+19
DEN points120120±0
SAS points109128+19

Recent form before this game

Denver Nuggets

DateOpponentResult
Mar 8 vs CHI L 96–117
Mar 6 vs TOR W 118–113
Mar 3 vs MEM W 113–97
Feb 28 at HOU W 133–112
Feb 26 vs LAC W 134–124

San Antonio Spurs

DateOpponentResult
Mar 5 at HOU L 110–142
Mar 4 vs HOU L 110–122
Mar 2 vs IND W 110–99
Feb 28 at UTA W 102–94
Feb 25 at UTA L 102–118

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Nov 7 2022-23 DEN at SAS DEN 115 – 109 SAS
Nov 5 2022-23 SAS at DEN SAS 101 – 126 DEN
Apr 5 2021-22 SAS at DEN SAS 116 – 97 DEN
Dec 11 2021-22 DEN at SAS DEN 127 – 112 SAS
Dec 9 2021-22 DEN at SAS DEN 111 – 123 SAS