← Forecasts for Dec 3

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

San Antonio Spurs at Orlando Magic

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 · tip-off 7:00 PM ET

SAS 1–0@ORL 1–0 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: SAS 22 percent, ORL 78 percent. SAS Spurs 22% proj. 112 · final 114 ORL Magic · home 78% proj. 123 · final 112
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
SAS San Antonio Spurs 112 114 +2
ORL Orlando Magic (home) 123 112 −11

Forecast: Orlando Magic to win, 78% win probability, projected margin 11.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputSASORL
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 15341575
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +111
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +5.3+5.2
Games played this season 2021
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 118.9120.8
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 116.8110.6
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 100.6
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 41.80.0
Rest days 12
Second night of a back-to-back YesNo

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 ratingSAS1534ORL1575

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.

SAS1534

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1417 → started this one at 1438
  2. First 10 games: +68.6
  3. Last 10 games: +27.6
  • LGSW120–125−7.2
  • LGSW108–109−3.9
  • WSAC123–110+6.8
  • WMEM111–101+6.3
  • WATL135–126+8.3
  • L@PHX102–111−7.0
  • W@POR115–102+15.5
  • W@DEN139–136+10.1
  • L@MIN112–125−6.6
  • WMEM126–119+5.3

ORL1575

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1506 → started this one at 1505
  2. First 11 games: −14.5
  3. Last 10 games: +84.6
  • W@NYK124–107+25.6
  • WBKN105–98+2.1
  • L@HOU113–117−3.0
  • WGSW121–113+9.2
  • WLAC129–101+14.5
  • WNYK133–121+10.6
  • L@BOS129–138−6.8
  • W@PHI144–103+21.2
  • W@DET112–109+7.9
  • WCHI125–120+3.3
Season scoring marginSAS+5.3ORL+5.2

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

SAS+5.3

Scores 119.2, allows 113.8 over 20 games: +5.3 a game.

ORL+5.2

Scores 119.5, allows 114.3 over 21 games: +5.2 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10SAS118.9ORL120.8

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 (2025-26 to date: 115.0).

SAS118.9scored, +3.9 vs league

FactorSASLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.7%54.6%+1.6
Turnovers (TOV%)11.1%12.5%+1.9
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2230.224−0.0
Everything else+0.4

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 3 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

ORL120.8scored, +5.8 vs league

FactorORLLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.1%54.6%+0.7
Turnovers (TOV%)11.0%12.5%+2.0
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2670.224+1.3
Everything else+1.9

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 2 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Defensive rating, last 10SAS116.8ORL110.6

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 (2025-26 to date: 115.0).

SAS116.8allowed, +1.8 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.6%54.6%−1.5
Turnovers (TOV%)12.1%12.5%−0.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1810.224+1.2
Everything else−1.0

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 3 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

ORL110.6allowed, −4.4 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)54.3%54.6%+0.4
Turnovers (TOV%)13.9%12.5%+2.0
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2220.224+0.0
Everything else+1.9

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 2 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Pace, last 10average 100.6

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.

SAS 99.9 and ORL 101.2 → average 100.6 (league 2025-26 to date: 101.0)

Rotation points missingSAS41.8ORL0.0

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.

SAS41.8pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Victor Wembanyama28.537.32
Stephon Castle13.327.73

Source: official injury report, 2025-12-03 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

ORL0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2025-12-03 17:30 ET. 8 rotation players.

RestSAS1 daysORL2 days

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

SAS1day, back-to-back

Last played Dec 2 against MEM.

ORL2days

Last played Dec 1 against CHI.

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

SAS

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Dec 2MEM126–11942-9218-3924-316–127.3119.099.5
Nov 30@MIN112–12544-848-3316-1910–117.9133.094.5
Nov 28@DEN139–13646-9417-4230-328–136.3136.0101.0
Nov 26@POR115–10241-10111-3322-25920112.7101.0101.5
Nov 23@PHX102–11132-7710-3428-341914106.3113.397.0
Nov 20ATL135–12648-9117-4022-301010131.1123.5102.5
Nov 18MEM111–10142-8716-4211-1394114.4104.197.0
Nov 16SAC123–11047-8714-3815-18149119.4108.9102.0
Nov 14GSW108–10939-8514-3816-192011110.2112.497.5
Nov 12GSW120–12546-9414-3914-162013113.2116.8106.5

ORL

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Dec 1CHI125–12045-889-3326-3317–116.8112.1107.0
Nov 28@DET112–10940-975-3027-3213–106.7104.8104.5
Nov 25@PHI144–10354-10113-3423-281115137.196.3106.0
Nov 23@BOS129–13847-10016-3819-24718133.0142.397.0
Nov 22NYK133–12147-8513-3326-301311133.0119.8100.5
Nov 20LAC129–10145-9418-3421-241012122.996.2105.0
Nov 18GSW121–11343-858-3227-291410116.3110.8103.0
Nov 16@HOU113–11738-9112-3725-3489106.6111.495.5
Nov 14BKN105–9836-7815-3918-21197114.1106.592.0
Nov 12@NYK124–10742-8612-3328-331512121.6105.9101.5

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

2025-26 surprise games
22%
pregame chance the forecast gave SAS, the winner
the forecast favored ORL
13 pts
margin miss
forecast +11, actual −2 for ORL
33rd
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
447th
largest margin miss of 2025-26
outcome surprise 1.50 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 statSASORL
Final score114112
Field goals42–91 · 46.2%45–99 · 45.5%
Three-pointers13–38 · 34.2%9–27 · 33.3%
Free throws17–24 · 70.8%13–19 · 68.4%
Rebounds5248
Assists2027
Turnovers1910
Steals511
Blocks53

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (ORL)+11−2−13
Total points235226−9
SAS points112114+2
ORL points123112−11

Recent form before this game

San Antonio Spurs

DateOpponentResult
Dec 2 vs MEM W 126–119
Nov 30 at MIN L 112–125
Nov 28 at DEN W 139–136
Nov 26 at POR W 115–102
Nov 23 at PHX L 102–111

Orlando Magic

DateOpponentResult
Dec 1 vs CHI W 125–120
Nov 28 at DET W 112–109
Nov 25 at PHI W 144–103
Nov 23 at BOS L 129–138
Nov 22 vs NYK W 133–121

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Apr 1 2024-25 ORL at SAS ORL 116 – 105 SAS
Feb 8 2024-25 SAS at ORL SAS 111 – 112 ORL
Feb 8 2023-24 SAS at ORL SAS 111 – 127 ORL
Jan 31 2023-24 ORL at SAS ORL 108 – 98 SAS
Mar 14 2022-23 ORL at SAS ORL 114 – 132 SAS