NBA · Preseason ·
Will the Lakers beat the Nuggets?
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Lakers win chance
52%
Typical margin: Lakers by 1
Nuggets 48%Lakers 52%
In short
- Our ratings favor the Lakers by 1.9 points, home court included
- Close to a coin flip on our numbers
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+1060%Playing at home is worth about 3.9 points to the Lakers.
- See how far every step moved our number.
- Our numberLakers 52%
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 Nuggets by 27 and Lakers by 29.
What if he's out?
PremiumSwitch a player off and we rerun the game without him.
Lakers win chance
52%
Nuggets 48%Lakers 52%
- Top scorerNuggets
- Top scorerLakers
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.
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Our number over time
Holding at 52%
Oct 5Oct 9
Injury report
Nuggets
- Spencer JonesDay-To-Day
Lakers
- Dalton KnechtDay-To-Day
- Walker KesslerDay-To-Day
- Collin SextonDay-To-Day
- Arthur KalumaDay-To-Day
- Ziaire WilliamsDay-To-Day
- Cameron CarrDay-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.
- 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.