← Forecasts for Apr 7

2025-26 · Regular Season · Final

Charlotte Hornets at Boston Celtics

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 · tip-off 8:00 PM ET

CHA 8–4@BOS 2–4 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: CHA 64 percent, BOS 36 percent. CHA Hornets 64% proj. 112 · final 102 BOS Celtics · home 36% proj. 107 · final 113
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
CHA Charlotte Hornets 112 102 −10
BOS Boston Celtics (home) 107 113 +6

Forecast: Charlotte Hornets to win, 64% win probability, projected margin 5.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputCHABOS
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 16561684
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +98
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +5.2+7.6
Games played this season 7978
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 126.1121.5
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 109.5110.8
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 96.0
Rotation points missingPoints per game of rotation players listed Out or Doubtful. 0.00.0
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 ratingCHA1656BOS1684

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.

CHA1656

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1237 → started this one at 1303
  2. First 69 games: +328.2
  3. Last 10 games: +25.0
  • WORL130–111+8.5
  • WMEM124–101+3.5
  • WSAC134–90+4.4
  • WNYK114–103+8.8
  • LPHI114–118−12.2
  • LBOS99–114−16.5
  • W@BKN117–86+6.6
  • WPHX127–107+7.7
  • WIND129–108+2.6
  • W@MIN122–108+11.6

BOS1684

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1664 → started this one at 1623
  2. First 68 games: +27.1
  3. Last 10 games: +34.3
  • WGSW120–99+5.4
  • W@MEM117–112+2.7
  • LMIN92–102−18.1
  • WOKC119–109+11.2
  • WATL109–102+4.4
  • W@CHA114–99+16.5
  • L@ATL102–112−11.8
  • W@MIA147–129+11.8
  • W@MIL133–101+7.2
  • WTOR115–101+5.0
Season scoring marginCHA+5.2BOS+7.6

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

CHA+5.2

Scores 116.5, allows 111.3 over 79 games: +5.2 a game.

BOS+7.6

Scores 114.6, allows 107.0 over 78 games: +7.6 a game.

Offensive rating, last 10CHA126.1BOS121.5

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).

CHA126.1scored, +11.3 vs league

FactorCHALeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)58.9%54.6%+6.5
Turnovers (TOV%)12.0%12.2%+0.2
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)35.2%26.0%+4.1
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1940.210−0.5
Everything else+0.9

BOS121.5scored, +6.7 vs league

FactorBOSLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)56.2%54.6%+2.4
Turnovers (TOV%)10.6%12.2%+2.2
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)30.4%26.0%+2.0
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2070.210−0.1
Everything else+0.3
Defensive rating, last 10CHA109.5BOS110.8

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).

CHA109.5allowed, −5.3 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)52.7%54.6%+2.9
Turnovers (TOV%)11.0%12.2%−1.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)19.1%26.0%+3.1
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1700.210+1.1
Everything else−0.2

BOS110.8allowed, −4.0 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)52.4%54.6%+3.4
Turnovers (TOV%)10.0%12.2%−3.1
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)19.4%26.0%+3.0
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.1710.210+1.1
Everything else−0.4
Pace, last 10average 96.0

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.

CHA 95.8 and BOS 96.3 → average 96.0 (league 2025-26 to date: 100.2)

Rotation points missingCHA0.0BOS0.0

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.

CHA0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-04-07 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

BOS0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-04-07 17:30 ET. 9 rotation players.

RestCHA2 daysBOS2 days

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

CHA2days

Last played Apr 5 against MIN.

BOS2days

Last played Apr 5 against TOR.

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

CHA

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Apr 5@MIN122–10845-9219-4513-151516124.5111.397.5
Apr 3IND129–10846-9624-4913-15912130.3109.199.0
Apr 2PHX127–10748-9318-4913-151011132.3112.695.5
Mar 31@BKN117–8641-8712-3923-251113123.290.595.0
Mar 29BOS99–11436-8312-4315-191110108.8125.391.0
Mar 28PHI114–11836-9617-5525-32921117.5122.996.5
Mar 26NYK114–10341-7816-4116-201612129.5115.788.5
Mar 24SAC134–9048-9426-5512-161312138.190.998.0
Mar 21MEM124–10145-8518-4316-241713125.3102.099.0
Mar 19ORL130–11142-8022-4624-272210131.3114.498.0

BOS

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Apr 5TOR115–10147-888-2813-161512118.6103.197.5
Apr 3@MIL133–10150-8917-3716-19810141.5109.893.0
Apr 1@MIA147–12956-9621-4414-20711151.5130.398.0
Mar 30@ATL102–11235-8514-3718-261510103.0113.199.0
Mar 29@CHA114–9942-8314-3416-2258125.3108.891.0
Mar 27ATL109–10238-8114-3519-231513119.8112.191.0
Mar 25OKC119–10938-8118-4125-29137122.7113.596.5
Mar 22MIN92–10234-959-3315-18111391.1102.0100.5
Mar 20@MEM117–11240-8911-4226-301218120.6115.597.0
Mar 18GSW120–9944-9214-3918-191615121.2100.099.0

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
36%
pregame chance the forecast gave BOS, the winner
the forecast favored CHA
16 pts
margin miss
forecast −5, actual +11 for BOS
158th
most surprising result of 2025-26
of 1,309 graded games
324th
largest margin miss of 2025-26
outcome surprise 1.02 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 statCHABOS
Final score102113
Field goals38–88 · 43.2%43–87 · 49.4%
Three-pointers16–49 · 32.7%17–42 · 40.5%
Free throws10–13 · 76.9%10–12 · 83.3%
Rebounds4045
Assists2422
Turnovers1212
Steals56
Blocks32

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (BOS)−5+11+16
Total points219215−4
CHA points112102−10
BOS points107113+6

Recent form before this game

Charlotte Hornets

DateOpponentResult
Apr 5 at MIN W 122–108
Apr 3 vs IND W 129–108
Apr 2 vs PHX W 127–107
Mar 31 at BKN W 117–86
Mar 29 vs BOS L 99–114

Boston Celtics

DateOpponentResult
Apr 5 vs TOR W 115–101
Apr 3 at MIL W 133–101
Apr 1 at MIA W 147–129
Mar 30 at ATL L 102–112
Mar 29 at CHA W 114–99

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Mar 29 2025-26 BOS at CHA BOS 114 – 99 CHA
Mar 4 2025-26 CHA at BOS CHA 118 – 89 BOS
Apr 13 2024-25 CHA at BOS CHA 86 – 93 BOS
Apr 11 2024-25 CHA at BOS CHA 94 – 130 BOS
Nov 2 2024-25 BOS at CHA BOS 113 – 103 CHA