← Forecasts for Mar 14

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Clippers

Saturday, March 14, 2026 · tip-off 10:30 PM ET

SAC 4–1@LAC 0–1 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: SAC 14 percent, LAC 86 percent. SAC Kings 14% proj. 109 · final 118 LAC Clippers · home 86% proj. 125 · 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
SAC Sacramento Kings 109 118 +9
LAC Los Angeles Clippers (home) 125 109 −16

Forecast: Los Angeles Clippers to win, 86% win probability, projected margin 16.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputSACLAC
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 13161587
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +341
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. −10.2+1.0
Games played this season 6766
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 112.3121.7
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 118.5113.2
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 100.8
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 31.28.2
Rest days 31
Second night of a back-to-back NoYes

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 ratingSAC1316LAC1587

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.

SAC1316

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1499 → started this one at 1499
  2. First 57 games: −207.3
  3. Last 10 games: +24.5
  • L@SAS122–139−1.6
  • W@MEM123–114+17.6
  • L@HOU97–128−3.9
  • W@DAL130–121+17.1
  • L@LAL104–128−5.2
  • LPHX103–114−6.6
  • LNOP123–133−9.8
  • WCHI126–110+15.0
  • WIND114–109+5.1
  • LCHA109–117−3.2

LAC1587

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1636 → started this one at 1602
  2. First 56 games: −50.5
  3. Last 10 games: +35.7
  • LORL109–111−7.3
  • LMIN88–94−9.4
  • WNOP137–117+6.8
  • W@GSW114–101+13.9
  • WIND130–107+4.2
  • L@SAS112–116−2.6
  • W@MEM123–120+4.1
  • WNYK126–118+9.9
  • WMIN153–128+13.0
  • WCHI119–108+3.1
Season scoring marginSAC−10.2LAC+1.0

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

SAC−10.2

Scores 110.6, allows 120.9 over 67 games: −10.2 a game.

LAC+1.0

Scores 113.5, allows 112.5 over 66 games: +1.0 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10SAC112.3LAC121.7

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: 114.5).

SAC112.3scored, −2.2 vs league

FactorSACLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)51.7%54.4%−4.1
Turnovers (TOV%)9.7%12.2%+3.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.1%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1890.210−0.6
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".

LAC121.7scored, +7.1 vs league

FactorLACLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)56.7%54.4%+3.4
Turnovers (TOV%)9.9%12.2%+3.2
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.1%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2770.210+1.9
Everything else−1.4

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 4 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Defensive rating, last 10SAC118.5LAC113.2

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: 114.5).

SAC118.5allowed, +4.0 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)57.1%54.4%−4.0
Turnovers (TOV%)12.5%12.2%+0.5
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.1%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2090.210+0.0
Everything else−0.5

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

LAC113.2allowed, −1.3 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)54.1%54.4%+0.6
Turnovers (TOV%)12.8%12.2%+0.9
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.1%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2040.210+0.2
Everything else−0.4

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 4 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Pace, last 10average 100.8

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.

SAC 102.4 and LAC 99.1 → average 100.8 (league 2025-26 to date: 100.2)

Rotation points missingSAC31.2LAC8.2

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.

SAC31.2pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Malik Monk13.221.29
Keegan Murray9.726.13
Devin Carter8.315.16

Source: official injury report, 2026-03-14 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

LAC8.2pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Yanic Konan Niederhäuser8.218.25

Source: official injury report, 2026-03-14 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

RestSAC3 daysLAC1 days

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

SAC3days

Last played Mar 11 against CHA.

LAC1day, back-to-back

Last played Mar 13 against CHI.

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

SAC

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 11CHA109–11745-838-2511-14137116.0121.995.0
Mar 10IND114–10941-907-2025-30118106.5103.8106.0
Mar 8CHI126–11047-10511-2921-233–122.3105.8103.5
Mar 5NOP123–13350-998-3115-237–116.0126.7105.5
Mar 3PHX103–11441-907-2714-181413104.0115.299.0
Mar 1@LAL104–12842-906-2614-152014103.0126.7101.0
Feb 26@DAL130–12151-1018-2620-25416125.0116.3104.0
Feb 25@HOU97–12837-937-3216-201213100.0132.097.0
Feb 23@MEM123–11447-9410-2919-251513119.4110.7103.0
Feb 21@SAS122–13945-969-3223-2512–110.9126.4110.0

LAC

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 13CHI119–10846-969-3218-24610116.7105.9102.0
Mar 11MIN153–12852-8219-3730-36107148.5125.5102.5
Mar 9NYK126–11843-9318-3922-268–124.8116.8101.0
Mar 7@MEM123–12041-824-1737-4515–128.1122.497.0
Mar 6@SAS112–11642-8612-3316-209–113.1118.498.5
Mar 4IND130–10749-8912-3220-25115125.0103.9103.5
Mar 2@GSW114–10142-859-3121-231414118.8106.395.5
Mar 1NOP137–11748-8917-3624-29810134.3117.0101.0
Feb 26MIN88–9430-745-2223-2918692.697.995.5
Feb 22ORL109–11140-835-2324-289–114.7118.194.5

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
14%
pregame chance the forecast gave SAC, the winner
the forecast favored LAC
25 pts
margin miss
forecast +16, actual −9 for LAC
6th
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
109th
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 statSACLAC
Final score118109
Field goals48–82 · 58.5%39–84 · 46.4%
Three-pointers12–27 · 44.4%9–27 · 33.3%
Free throws10–16 · 62.5%22–29 · 75.9%
Rebounds4835
Assists2919
Turnovers1913
Steals913
Blocks48

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (LAC)+16−9−25
Total points234227−7
SAC points109118+9
LAC points125109−16

Recent form before this game

Sacramento Kings

DateOpponentResult
Mar 11 vs CHA L 109–117
Mar 10 vs IND W 114–109
Mar 8 vs CHI W 126–110
Mar 5 vs NOP L 123–133
Mar 3 vs PHX L 103–114

Los Angeles Clippers

DateOpponentResult
Mar 13 vs CHI W 119–108
Mar 11 vs MIN W 153–128
Mar 9 vs NYK W 126–118
Mar 7 at MEM W 123–120
Mar 6 at SAS L 112–116

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Feb 6 2025-26 LAC at SAC LAC 114 – 111 SAC
Dec 30 2025-26 SAC at LAC SAC 90 – 131 LAC
Apr 11 2024-25 LAC at SAC LAC 101 – 100 SAC
Mar 9 2024-25 SAC at LAC SAC 110 – 111 LAC
Nov 22 2024-25 SAC at LAC SAC 88 – 104 LAC