← Forecasts for Jan 23

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder

Friday, January 23, 2026 · tip-off 8:00 PM ET

IND 1–1@OKC 2–2 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: IND 14 percent, OKC 86 percent. IND Pacers 14% proj. 107 · final 117 OKC Thunder · home 86% proj. 123 · final 114
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 107 117 +10
OKC Oklahoma City Thunder (home) 123 114 −9

Forecast: Oklahoma City Thunder to win, 86% win probability, projected margin 16.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputINDOKC
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 13661742
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +446
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. −8.4+13.9
Games played this season 4544
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 108.1116.7
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 113.8109.2
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 100.7
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 0.047.0
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 ratingIND1366OKC1742

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.

IND1366

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1673 → started this one at 1630
  2. First 35 games: −280.7
  3. Last 10 games: +16.5
  • L@ORL127–135−2.9
  • LCLE116–120−3.6
  • W@CHA114–112+8.4
  • WMIA123–99+25.8
  • WBOS98–96+8.3
  • LTOR101–115−11.6
  • WNOP127–119+5.8
  • L@DET78–121−6.4
  • L@PHI104–113−4.6
  • L@BOS104–119−2.7

OKC1742

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1760 → started this one at 1695
  2. First 34 games: +69.6
  3. Last 10 games: −22.7
  • L@PHX105–108−8.7
  • LCHA97–124−56.2
  • WUTA129–125+1.0
  • W@MEM117–116+2.1
  • WMIA124–112+3.2
  • WSAS119–98+7.7
  • W@HOU111–91+13.8
  • L@MIA120–122−8.0
  • W@CLE136–104+16.4
  • W@MIL122–102+6.0
Season scoring marginIND−8.4OKC+13.9

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

IND−8.4

Scores 109.9, allows 118.3 over 45 games: −8.4 a game.

OKC+13.9

Scores 121.7, allows 107.8 over 44 games: +13.9 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10IND108.1OKC116.7

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: 114.8).

IND108.1scored, −6.7 vs league

FactorINDLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)53.1%54.5%−2.1
Turnovers (TOV%)12.8%12.2%−0.9
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1660.213−1.4
Everything else−2.3

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

OKC116.7scored, +1.9 vs league

FactorOKCLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)55.9%54.5%+2.0
Turnovers (TOV%)9.2%12.2%+4.3
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2190.213+0.2
Everything else−4.6

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

Defensive rating, last 10IND113.8OKC109.2

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: 114.8).

IND113.8allowed, −0.9 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)54.9%54.5%−0.6
Turnovers (TOV%)11.7%12.2%−0.7
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2140.213−0.0
Everything else+2.3

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

OKC109.2allowed, −5.6 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)52.0%54.5%+3.8
Turnovers (TOV%)14.0%12.2%+2.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.2%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1920.213+0.6
Everything else−1.3

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

Pace, last 10average 100.7

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 101.3 and OKC 100.0 → average 100.7 (league 2025-26 to date: 100.5)

Rotation points missingIND0.0OKC47.0

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.

IND0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-01-23 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

OKC47.0pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Jalen Williams16.830.58
Ajay Mitchell14.528.110
Aaron Wiggins10.024.89
Alex Caruso5.718.27

Source: official injury report, 2026-01-23 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

RestIND2 daysOKC2 days

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

IND2days

Last played Jan 21 against BOS.

OKC2days

Last played Jan 21 against MIL.

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

IND

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Jan 21@BOS104–11937-9412-4518-2313–103.0117.8101.0
Jan 19@PHI104–11340-8413-3411-1422–104.0114.199.5
Jan 17@DET78–12128-798-3514-2724–70.3110.0110.5
Jan 16NOP127–11952-10115-438-127–132.3122.796.5
Jan 14TOR101–11533-8612-4223-3110–104.1118.697.0
Jan 12BOS98–9639-8416-374-611–105.4104.392.5
Jan 10MIA123–9944-9817-4018-2216–109.887.6112.5
Jan 8@CHA114–11241-8212-2720-2119–116.3114.398.0
Jan 6CLE116–12043-9316-3514-1911–110.5115.4104.5
Jan 4@ORL127–13548-8715-3416-2111–125.7133.7101.0

OKC

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Jan 21@MIL122–10249-9014-3610-158–125.8105.297.0
Jan 19@CLE136–10450-9023-4713-2011–127.197.2107.0
Jan 17@MIA120–12242-7713-2923-2814–118.8120.8101.0
Jan 15@HOU111–9141-8916-4113-1511–113.391.099.0
Jan 13SAS119–9842-8111-3024-2711–125.3103.295.0
Jan 11MIA124–11247-9310-3420-2813–117.0107.7105.0
Jan 9@MEM117–11643-919-3722-286–119.4118.498.0
Jan 7UTA129–12544-1017-3834-4211–109.3106.8106.4
Jan 5CHA97–12434-9311-3918-277–100.0127.897.0
Jan 4@PHX105–10839-8210-3217-199–110.5113.795.0

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
14%
pregame chance the forecast gave IND, the winner
the forecast favored OKC
19 pts
margin miss
forecast +16, actual −3 for OKC
6th
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
229th
largest margin miss of 2025-26
outcome surprise 1.97 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 statINDOKC
Final score117114
Field goals45–96 · 46.9%40–82 · 48.8%
Three-pointers16–38 · 42.1%7–26 · 26.9%
Free throws11–20 · 55.0%27–30 · 90.0%
Rebounds5141
Assists3418
Turnovers109
Steals54
Blocks18

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (OKC)+16−3−19
Total points230231+1
IND points107117+10
OKC points123114−9

Recent form before this game

Indiana Pacers

DateOpponentResult
Jan 21 at BOS L 104–119
Jan 19 at PHI L 104–113
Jan 17 at DET L 78–121
Jan 16 vs NOP W 127–119
Jan 14 vs TOR L 101–115

Oklahoma City Thunder

DateOpponentResult
Jan 21 at MIL W 122–102
Jan 19 at CLE W 136–104
Jan 17 at MIA L 120–122
Jan 15 at HOU W 111–91
Jan 13 vs SAS W 119–98

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Oct 23 2025-26 OKC at IND OKC 141 – 135 IND
Jun 22 2024-25 IND at OKC IND 91 – 103 OKC
Jun 19 2024-25 OKC at IND OKC 91 – 108 IND
Jun 16 2024-25 IND at OKC IND 109 – 120 OKC
Jun 13 2024-25 OKC at IND OKC 111 – 104 IND