← Forecasts for Feb 12

2024-25 · Regular Season · Final

Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz

Wednesday, February 12, 2025 · tip-off time not recorded

LAL 2–1@UTA 3–2 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: LAL 73 percent, UTA 27 percent. LAL Lakers 73% proj. 121 · final 119 UTA Jazz · home 27% proj. 111 · final 131
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
LAL Los Angeles Lakers 121 119 −2
UTA Utah Jazz (home) 111 131 +20

Forecast: Los Angeles Lakers to win, 73% win probability, projected margin 10.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputLALUTA
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 15901363
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court −157
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +1.0−7.5
Games played this season 5152
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 122.2111.6
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 108.2121.8
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 100.0
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 17.518.7
Rest days 22
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 ratingLAL1590UTA1363

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.

LAL1590

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1570 → started this one at 1553
  2. First 41 games: −61.4
  3. Last 10 games: +98.7
  • WBOS117–96+23.7
  • W@GSW118–108+11.9
  • W@CHA112–107+4.6
  • L@PHI104–118−13.6
  • W@WAS134–96+9.0
  • W@NYK128–112+23.8
  • W@LAC122–97+24.3
  • WGSW120–112+4.2
  • WIND124–117+6.7
  • WUTA132–113+4.1

UTA1363

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1363 → started this one at 1397
  2. First 42 games: −8.2
  3. Last 10 games: −25.8
  • L@MEM103–125−4.4
  • LMIL110–125−9.0
  • L@GSW103–114−5.4
  • LMIN113–138−9.1
  • WORL113–99+12.2
  • LIND111–112−2.0
  • WGSW131–128+6.3
  • L@PHX127–135−4.0
  • L@LAC110–130−6.3
  • L@LAL113–132−4.1
Season scoring marginLAL+1.0UTA−7.5

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

LAL+1.0

Scores 113.2, allows 112.1 over 51 games: +1.0 a game.

UTA−7.5

Scores 111.9, allows 119.4 over 52 games: −7.5 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10LAL122.2UTA111.6

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 (2024-25 to date: 113.2).

LAL122.2scored, +9.0 vs league

FactorLALLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)60.8%54.2%+9.9
Turnovers (TOV%)12.5%12.2%−0.4
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)24.1%25.0%−0.4
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2240.194+0.9
Everything else−0.9

UTA111.6scored, −1.6 vs league

FactorUTALeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)53.7%54.2%−0.8
Turnovers (TOV%)13.3%12.2%−1.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)25.3%25.0%+0.1
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2050.194+0.3
Everything else+0.4
Defensive rating, last 10LAL108.2UTA121.8

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 (2024-25 to date: 113.2).

LAL108.2allowed, −5.0 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)49.3%54.2%+7.5
Turnovers (TOV%)10.5%12.2%−2.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)23.2%25.0%+0.8
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2060.194−0.4
Everything else−0.4

UTA121.8allowed, +8.6 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)57.6%54.2%−5.0
Turnovers (TOV%)9.6%12.2%−3.7
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)25.4%25.0%−0.2
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2160.194−0.7
Everything else+1.0
Pace, last 10average 100.0

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.

LAL 99.3 and UTA 100.7 → average 100.0 (league 2024-25 to date: 99.7)

Rotation points missingLAL17.5UTA18.7

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.

LAL17.5pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Gabe Vincent11.123.67
Dorian Finney-Smith6.326.89

Source: official injury report, 2025-02-12 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

UTA18.7pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Collin Sexton18.725.86

Source: official injury report, 2025-02-12 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

RestLAL2 daysUTA2 days

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

LAL2days

Last played Feb 10 against UTA.

UTA2days

Last played Feb 10 against LAL.

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

LAL

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Feb 10UTA132–11350-9215-4217-181110124.5105.6106.5
Feb 8IND124–11746-8811-3321-23149122.8115.8101.0
Feb 6GSW120–11239-7813-3529-36137117.6107.7103.0
Feb 4@LAC122–9745-8118-3714-23148127.1101.096.0
Feb 1@NYK128–11247-8119-4015-18153129.3114.398.5
Jan 30@WAS134–9649-9015-3221-22118132.793.2102.0
Jan 28@PHI104–11837-7210-3320-23224104.0118.0100.0
Jan 27@CHA112–10744-866-2818-241611117.9111.595.5
Jan 25@GSW118–10847-8610-2914-171210121.6112.596.5
Jan 23BOS117–9642-8915-3518-20610124.5102.194.0

UTA

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Feb 10@LAL113–13239-8412-4023-271911105.6124.5106.5
Feb 8@LAC110–13039-8317-4315-181912108.9128.7101.0
Feb 7@PHX127–13548-11713-4818-201024117.6125.097.8
Feb 5GSW131–12848-9213-3722-271212124.8120.8105.5
Feb 3IND111–11239-9113-3720-301815107.8108.7103.0
Feb 1ORL113–9939-8414-3521-24168111.997.1101.5
Jan 30MIN113–13839-7714-3421-25153117.7146.895.0
Jan 28@GSW103–11439-768-2617-24154108.4117.596.0
Jan 27MIL110–12541-10018-5410-131013111.1126.399.0
Jan 25@MEM103–12539-9212-4713-161714102.0122.5101.5

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

2024-25 surprise games
27%
pregame chance the forecast gave UTA, the winner
the forecast favored LAL
22 pts
margin miss
forecast −10, actual +12 for UTA
56th
most surprising result of 2024-25
of 1,309 graded games
145th
largest margin miss of 2024-25
outcome surprise 1.30 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 statLALUTA
Final score119131
Field goals41–92 · 44.6%45–86 · 52.3%
Three-pointers20–50 · 40.0%15–41 · 36.6%
Free throws17–30 · 56.7%26–33 · 78.8%
Rebounds4548
Assists3130
Turnovers1412
Steals510
Blocks38

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (UTA)−10+12+22
Total points232250+18
LAL points121119−2
UTA points111131+20

Score by quarter

TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4OTFinal
LAL30263033–119
UTA33314027–131

Recent form before this game

Los Angeles Lakers

DateOpponentResult
Feb 10 vs UTA W 132–113
Feb 8 vs IND W 124–117
Feb 6 vs GSW W 120–112
Feb 4 at LAC W 122–97
Feb 1 at NYK W 128–112

Utah Jazz

DateOpponentResult
Feb 10 at LAL L 113–132
Feb 8 at LAC L 110–130
Feb 7 at PHX L 127–135
Feb 5 vs GSW W 131–128
Feb 3 vs IND L 111–112

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Feb 10 2024-25 UTA at LAL UTA 113 – 132 LAL
Dec 1 2024-25 LAL at UTA LAL 105 – 104 UTA
Nov 19 2024-25 UTA at LAL UTA 118 – 124 LAL
Feb 14 2023-24 LAL at UTA LAL 138 – 122 UTA
Jan 13 2023-24 LAL at UTA LAL 125 – 132 UTA