← Forecasts for Mar 27

2024-25 · Regular Season · Final

Indiana Pacers at Washington Wizards

Thursday, March 27, 2025 · tip-off time not recorded

IND 0–1@WAS 3–1 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: IND 75 percent, WAS 25 percent. IND Pacers 75% proj. 123 · final 162 WAS Wizards · home 25% proj. 112 · final 109
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
IND Indiana Pacers 123 162 +39
WAS Washington Wizards (home) 112 109 −3

Forecast: Indiana Pacers to win, 75% win probability, projected margin 11.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputINDWAS
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 15771272
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court −235
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +1.3−11.3
Games played this season 7073
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 113.7107.4
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 111.2117.0
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 101.8
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 0.031.8
Rest days 11
Second night of a back-to-back YesYes

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 ratingIND1577WAS1272

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.

IND1577

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1603 → started this one at 1577
  2. First 60 games: −5.2
  3. Last 10 games: +4.8
  • L@CHI103–121−20.8
  • WMIL115–114+3.0
  • W@PHI112–100+7.0
  • L@MIL119–126−6.5
  • W@MIN132–130+8.1
  • WDAL135–131+2.6
  • WBKN105–99+2.0
  • WBKN108–103+1.8
  • WMIN119–103+13.8
  • LLAL119–120−6.2

WAS1272

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1263 → started this one at 1322
  2. First 63 games: −50.8
  3. Last 10 games: +0.2
  • L@TOR104–119−5.8
  • L@DET103–123−2.6
  • W@DET129–125+16.4
  • W@DEN126–123+15.5
  • L@POR97–112−4.3
  • L@UTA112–128−9.7
  • LORL105–120−9.6
  • L@NYK103–122−2.9
  • LTOR104–112−8.1
  • W@PHI119–114+11.3
Season scoring marginIND+1.3WAS−11.3

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

IND+1.3

Scores 116.4, allows 115.1 over 70 games: +1.3 a game.

WAS−11.3

Scores 108.9, allows 120.1 over 73 games: −11.3 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10IND113.7WAS107.4

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: 113.7).

IND113.7scored, +0.1 vs league

FactorINDLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.5%54.4%+1.7
Turnovers (TOV%)11.1%12.1%+1.4
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)21.4%25.2%−1.7
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1970.193+0.1
Everything else−1.4

WAS107.4scored, −6.2 vs league

FactorWASLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)51.8%54.4%−3.8
Turnovers (TOV%)12.4%12.1%−0.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)21.6%25.2%−1.6
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1590.193−1.0
Everything else+0.7
Defensive rating, last 10IND111.2WAS117.0

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: 113.7).

IND111.2allowed, −2.5 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.5%54.4%−1.6
Turnovers (TOV%)13.2%12.1%+1.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)18.9%25.2%+2.8
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1920.193+0.0
Everything else−0.3

WAS117.0allowed, +3.3 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)53.3%54.4%+1.6
Turnovers (TOV%)9.7%12.1%−3.3
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)30.6%25.2%−2.4
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1820.193+0.3
Everything else+0.4
Pace, last 10average 101.8

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.

IND 101.0 and WAS 102.5 → average 101.8 (league 2024-25 to date: 99.6)

Rotation points missingIND0.0WAS31.8

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.

IND0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2025-03-27 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

WAS31.8pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Marcus Smart10.818.95
Kyshawn George10.825.78
Corey Kispert10.222.84

Source: official injury report, 2025-03-27 17:30 ET. 11 rotation players.

RestIND1 daysWAS1 days

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

IND1day, back-to-back

Last played Mar 26 against LAL.

WAS1day, back-to-back

Last played Mar 26 against PHI.

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

IND

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 26LAL119–12044-8715-3616-1997125.3125.095.5
Mar 24MIN119–10346-9413-3514-14119114.4100.0103.5
Mar 22BKN108–10340-8411-3517-21136106.9101.0101.5
Mar 20BKN105–9935-818-3127-31221095.590.899.2
Mar 19DAL135–13145-8216-3529-37116127.4123.6106.0
Mar 17@MIN132–13048-9717-3719-232014116.8113.0103.2
Mar 15@MIL119–12646-9617-4310-131110119.0124.8100.5
Mar 14@PHI112–10044-8910-3514-181012119.1106.494.0
Mar 11MIL115–11444-8713-3914-1895117.3115.298.5
Mar 10@CHI103–12140-10110-4013-199895.4112.0108.0

WAS

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 26@PHI119–11448-9518-445-121011122.7116.397.5
Mar 24TOR104–11235-8711-3723-3417797.2104.7107.0
Mar 22@NYK103–12239-8811-3614-1920798.1116.2105.0
Mar 21ORL105–12037-8717-3914-19148105.0120.0100.0
Mar 19@UTA112–12843-9312-4514-18139110.9128.0100.5
Mar 17@POR97–11238-9212-409-1216997.0113.199.5
Mar 15@DEN126–12346-9519-4515-17179121.2116.0105.0
Mar 13@DET129–12543-9020-4523-27158118.3115.7108.5
Mar 11@DET103–12337-9213-3916-20139100.0119.4103.0
Mar 10@TOR104–11938-10516-5512-15813104.0120.299.5

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
75%
pregame chance the forecast gave IND, the winner
IND was the forecast favorite
42 pts
margin miss
forecast −11, actual −53 for WAS
1093rd
most surprising result of 2024-25
of 1,309 graded games
8th
largest margin miss of 2024-25
outcome surprise 0.29 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 statINDWAS
Final score162109
Field goals59–92 · 64.1%38–85 · 44.7%
Three-pointers27–47 · 57.4%11–30 · 36.7%
Free throws17–19 · 89.5%22–26 · 84.6%
Rebounds5031
Assists4819
Turnovers1215
Steals89
Blocks22

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (WAS)−11−53−42
Total points235271+36
IND points123162+39
WAS points112109−3

Recent form before this game

Indiana Pacers

DateOpponentResult
Mar 26 vs LAL L 119–120
Mar 24 vs MIN W 119–103
Mar 22 vs BKN W 108–103
Mar 20 vs BKN W 105–99
Mar 19 vs DAL W 135–131

Washington Wizards

DateOpponentResult
Mar 26 at PHI W 119–114
Mar 24 vs TOR L 104–112
Mar 22 at NYK L 103–122
Mar 21 vs ORL L 105–120
Mar 19 at UTA L 112–128

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Feb 12 2024-25 IND at WAS IND 134 – 130 WAS
Nov 24 2024-25 WAS at IND WAS 103 – 115 IND
Jan 10 2023-24 WAS at IND WAS 104 – 112 IND
Dec 15 2023-24 IND at WAS IND 123 – 137 WAS
Oct 25 2023-24 WAS at IND WAS 120 – 143 IND