← Forecasts for Mar 27

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers

Friday, March 27, 2026 · tip-off 10:00 PM ET

DAL 1–1@POR 1–3 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: DAL 20 percent, POR 80 percent. DAL Mavericks 20% proj. 113 · final 100 POR Trail Blazers · home 80% proj. 125 · final 93
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
DAL Dallas Mavericks 113 100 −13
POR Portland Trail Blazers (home) 125 93 −32

Forecast: Portland Trail Blazers to win, 80% win probability, projected margin 12.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputDALPOR
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 13501501
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +221
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. −5.0−1.2
Games played this season 7474
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 114.0116.4
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 123.9106.1
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 102.1
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 18.05.3
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 ratingDAL1350POR1501

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.

DAL1350

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1432 → started this one at 1449
  2. First 64 games: −80.6
  3. Last 10 games: −17.9
  • L@TOR92–122−8.5
  • L@ATL112–124−4.0
  • W@MEM120–112+12.8
  • LCLE105–138−10.3
  • W@CLE130–120+25.4
  • L@NOP111–129−9.9
  • LATL120–135−8.8
  • LLAC131–138−5.6
  • LGSW131–137−7.1
  • L@DEN135–142−1.9

POR1501

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1504 → started this one at 1503
  2. First 64 games: −37.6
  3. Last 10 games: +36.3
  • WIND131–111+5.9
  • LCHA101–103−3.6
  • WUTA124–114+3.8
  • L@PHI103–109−5.6
  • W@BKN114–95+11.2
  • W@IND127–119+5.4
  • W@MIN108–104+9.9
  • L@DEN112–128−7.0
  • WBKN134–99+7.2
  • WMIL130–99+9.1
Season scoring marginDAL−5.0POR−1.2

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

DAL−5.0

Scores 114.1, allows 119.2 over 74 games: −5.0 a game.

POR−1.2

Scores 115.5, allows 116.7 over 74 games: −1.2 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10DAL114.0POR116.4

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 (2025-26 to date: 114.7).

DAL114.0scored, −0.7 vs league

FactorDALLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)54.4%54.6%−0.3
Turnovers (TOV%)12.4%12.2%−0.3
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.0%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2110.210+0.0
Everything else−0.1

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 1 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

POR116.4scored, +1.8 vs league

FactorPORLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)56.0%54.6%+2.2
Turnovers (TOV%)14.7%12.2%−3.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.0%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2250.210+0.4
Everything else+2.8

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 1 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Defensive rating, last 10DAL123.9POR106.1

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: 114.7).

DAL123.9allowed, +9.2 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)60.7%54.6%−9.2
Turnovers (TOV%)10.7%12.2%−2.1
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.0%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1650.210+1.3
Everything else+0.8

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 1 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

POR106.1allowed, −8.6 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)50.3%54.6%+6.5
Turnovers (TOV%)12.7%12.2%+0.7
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)n/a26.0%–
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1970.210+0.4
Everything else+1.1

Offensive rebounds weren't recorded for 1 of these 10 games, so rebounding isn't split out; its effect is inside "Everything else".

Pace, last 10average 102.1

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.

DAL 102.3 and POR 101.8 → average 102.1 (league 2025-26 to date: 100.2)

Rotation points missingDAL18.0POR5.3

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.

DAL18.0pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Daniel Gafford18.025.96

Source: official injury report, 2026-03-27 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

POR5.3pts/g missing

PlayerPtsMinGames
Vít Krejčí5.215.54

Source: official injury report, 2026-03-27 17:30 ET. 10 rotation players.

RestDAL2 daysPOR2 days

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

DAL2days

Last played Mar 25 against DEN.

POR2days

Last played Mar 25 against MIL.

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

DAL

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 25@DEN135–14248-9712-3527-34410129.8134.0105.0
Mar 23GSW131–13751-8716-3613-20215115.9119.1103.2
Mar 21LAC131–13848-10213-3422-291017124.8130.295.5
Mar 18ATL120–13542-8611-2825-291811114.3128.6105.0
Mar 16@NOP111–12944-10414-399-141113101.8118.3109.0
Mar 15@CLE130–12046-8715-3023-27129127.5116.5102.5
Mar 13CLE105–13838-879-3320-241712104.0135.3101.5
Mar 12@MEM120–11245-9311-3219-241921117.6110.9101.5
Mar 10@ATL112–12441-8613-3217-221412112.0125.399.5
Mar 8@TOR92–12235-885-3017-2019–92.0120.8100.5

POR

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Mar 25MIL130–9942-8019-4127-332015131.398.0100.0
Mar 23BKN134–9944-8018-3828-40228125.291.7107.5
Mar 22@DEN112–12842-9716-5012-161014109.8126.7101.5
Mar 20@MIN108–10439-929-3721-241718108.0104.0100.0
Mar 18@IND127–11945-10116-4621-261322128.3121.498.5
Mar 16@BKN114–9541-8011-2621-291811115.295.099.5
Mar 15@PHI103–10936-9217-5314-211815100.0103.8104.0
Mar 13UTA124–11446-8917-4615-162414115.9107.5106.5
Mar 10CHA101–10335-8316-4215-181810102.0104.099.0
Mar 8IND131–11147-9315-4122-2712–128.4108.8102.0

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
20%
pregame chance the forecast gave DAL, the winner
the forecast favored POR
19 pts
margin miss
forecast +12, actual −7 for POR
22nd
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
229th
largest margin miss of 2025-26
outcome surprise 1.60 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 statDALPOR
Final score10093
Field goals36–81 · 44.4%31–79 · 39.2%
Three-pointers7–24 · 29.2%8–30 · 26.7%
Free throws21–30 · 70.0%23–33 · 69.7%
Rebounds3748
Assists2416
Turnovers1724
Steals128
Blocks57

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (POR)+12−7−19
Total points238193−45
DAL points113100−13
POR points12593−32

Recent form before this game

Dallas Mavericks

DateOpponentResult
Mar 25 at DEN L 135–142
Mar 23 vs GSW L 131–137
Mar 21 vs LAC L 131–138
Mar 18 vs ATL L 120–135
Mar 16 at NOP L 111–129

Portland Trail Blazers

DateOpponentResult
Mar 25 vs MIL W 130–99
Mar 23 vs BKN W 134–99
Mar 22 at DEN L 112–128
Mar 20 at MIN W 108–104
Mar 18 at IND W 127–119

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Dec 29 2025-26 DAL at POR DAL 122 – 125 POR
Nov 16 2025-26 POR at DAL POR 133 – 138 DAL
Jan 9 2024-25 POR at DAL POR 111 – 117 DAL
Dec 28 2024-25 DAL at POR DAL 122 – 126 POR
Dec 23 2024-25 POR at DAL POR 108 – 132 DAL