NBA · Preseason ·
Will the Celtics beat the Hornets?
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Celtics win chance
56%
Typical margin: Celtics by 3
Market 57%
Hornets 44%Celtics 56%
In short
- The market (Polymarket) has the Celtics at 57%, and it carries 85% of our number
- Our ratings favor the Celtics by 6.9 points, home court included
Why this number
PremiumEvery step from a coin flip to our number, in the order our model adds them.
- An even game50%Every game starts as a coin flip.
- Home court+151%Playing at home is worth about 3.9 points to the Celtics.
- See how far every step moved our number.
- Our numberCeltics 56%
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 Hornets by 25 and Celtics by 31.
What if he's out?
PremiumSwitch a player off and we rerun the game without him.
Celtics win chance
56%
Hornets 44%Celtics 56%
- Top scorerHornets
- Top scorerCeltics
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.
Our number over time
Down 3 from 59% to 56%
Oct 5Oct 9
Injury report
Hornets
- Brandon MillerDay-To-Day
- Christian AndersonDay-To-Day
- Kylan BoswellDay-To-Day
- Coby WhiteDay-To-Day
- Kon KnueppelDay-To-Day
- Grant WilliamsDay-To-Day
Celtics
- Sam HauserDay-To-Day
- Ron Harper Jr.Day-To-Day
- Payton PritchardDay-To-Day
- Mitchell RobinsonDay-To-Day
- Neemias QuetaDay-To-Day
- Paul GeorgeDay-To-Day
- Jayson TatumDay-To-Day
- Derrick WhiteDay-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.