Skip to content
NBA · Preseason ·

Will the Knicks beat the Raptors?

at

Knicks win chance

51%

Typical margin: Knicks by 0.5

Market 53%

Knicks 51%Raptors 49%

In short

  • The market (Polymarket) has the Knicks at 53%, and it carries 85% of our number
  • Our ratings favor the Raptors by 0.8 points, home court included
  • Close to a coin flip on our numbers

Why this number

Premium

Every step from a coin flip to our number, in the order our model adds them.

  1. An even game50%Every game starts as a coin flip.
  2. Home court−149%Playing at home is worth about 3.9 points to the Raptors.
  3. See how far every step moved our number.
  4. Our numberKnicks 51%

Each step is that piece's share of the model, so the steps add up to the number we published.

The range

In 9 of 10 simulations, the result lands between Knicks by 28 and Raptors by 28.

← Knicks winRaptors win →

What if he's out?

Premium

Switch a player off and we rerun the game without him.

Knicks win chance

51%

Everyone plays
Knicks 51%Raptors 49%
  • Top scorerKnicks
  • Top scorerRaptors

In our model a star out costs his team 4.5 points, up to 9 for a whole roster, halved in preseason when starters sit.

A preview of Premium, which we're building now.

Injury report

Knicks

  • Kevin McCullar Jr.Day-To-Day
  • Tony BradleyDay-To-Day
  • Ochai AgbajiDay-To-Day
  • Drew EubanksDay-To-Day

Raptors

  • Trayce Jackson-DavisDay-To-Day
  • Jamison BattleDay-To-Day
  • Allen GravesDay-To-Day
  • Kawhi LeonardDay-To-Day
  • Nate BittleDay-To-Day
Our method
  • We simulate the final margin 40,000 times from our team ratings (Elo, fitted walk-forward) and the ESPN injury report.
  • The win chance is the share of those simulations each team wins.
  • When the market has a price (Polymarket), it gets 85% of the say and our ratings the rest: over ten seasons the market was the most accurate single input, and that mix was as accurate as anything we tested.
  • Preseason game: starters play about half the minutes, so we halve the expected margin and widen the range. It's graded like any other game and marked preseason.
  • Model v1.2.0, updated Oct 9.
How our picks have done ›