← Forecasts for Oct 23

2026-27 · Regular Season · Final

Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic

Friday, October 23, 2026 · tip-off 7:00 PM ET

MIN 1–0@ORL 0–1 records going into the game NBA.com recap ↗

Win probability as a share of the court: MIN 41 percent, ORL 59 percent. MIN Timberwolves 41% proj. 112 · final 115 ORL Magic · home 59% proj. 115 · 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
MIN Minnesota Timberwolves 112 115 +3
ORL Orlando Magic (home) 115 93 −22

Forecast: Orlando Magic to win, 59% win probability, projected margin 3.

Inside the Forecast

How the inputs are built
What the model received
InputMINORL
Elo ratingMargin-of-victory Elo; 1500 is average. 15741527
Elo gap, home minus road, incl. home court +22
Season scoring marginPoints per game, blended with last season early in the year. +3.3+0.1
Games played this season 11
Offensive rating, last 10Points scored per 100 possessions. 108.7104.9
Defensive rating, last 10Points allowed per 100 possessions; lower is better. 113.5107.6
Combined pace, last 10Possessions per game, both teams. 100.1
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 ratingMIN1574ORL1527

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.

MIN1574

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1570 → started this one at 1553
  2. This season's 1 game: +21.7
  • W@MIA131–106+21.7

ORL1527

1500
  1. Ended last season at 1550 → started this one at 1538
  2. This season's 1 game: −11.1
  • LATL125–132−11.1
Season scoring marginMIN+3.3ORL+0.1

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

MIN+3.3

Scores 131.0, allows 106.0 over 1 game: +25.0 a game.

5% this season (+25.0) + 95% last season (+2.2) = +3.3

ORL+0.1

Scores 125.0, allows 132.0 over 1 game: −7.0 a game.

5% this season (−7.0) + 95% last season (+0.5) = +0.1

Offensive rating, last 10MIN108.7ORL104.9

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: 114.6).

MIN108.7scored, −5.9 vs league

FactorMINLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)49.3%54.5%−7.9
Turnovers (TOV%)11.7%12.2%+0.7
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)28.9%26.1%+1.3
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2040.210−0.2
Everything else+0.2

ORL104.9scored, −9.7 vs league

FactorORLLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)48.6%54.5%−9.0
Turnovers (TOV%)12.8%12.2%−0.9
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)25.1%26.1%−0.5
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2490.210+1.1
Everything else−0.5
Defensive rating, last 10MIN113.5ORL107.6

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: 114.6).

MIN113.5allowed, −1.1 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)54.8%54.5%−0.4
Turnovers (TOV%)12.4%12.2%+0.4
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)23.2%26.1%+1.3
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2530.210−1.2
Everything else+1.1

ORL107.6allowed, −7.0 vs league

FactorOpponentsLeaguehurtshelpsPts
Shooting (eFG%)50.8%54.5%+5.7
Turnovers (TOV%)14.7%12.2%+3.6
Offensive rebounding (OREB%)26.7%26.1%−0.3
Free throws (FTM per FGA)0.2630.210−1.5
Everything else−0.4
Pace, last 10average 100.1

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.

MIN 101.0 and ORL 99.2 → average 100.1 (league 2025-26: 100.0)

Rotation points missingMIN0.0ORL0.0

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.

MIN0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-10-23 17:30 ET. 0 rotation players.

ORL0.0pts/g missing

Every rotation player was available.

Source: official injury report, 2026-10-23 17:30 ET. 0 rotation players.

RestMIN2 daysORL2 days

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

MIN2days

Last played Oct 21 against MIA.

ORL2days

Last played Oct 21 against ATL.

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

MIN

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Oct 21@MIA131–10646-9821-5018-291417124.8100.0105.5
May 15SAS109–13940-10612-3417-2159103.8133.7104.5
May 12@SAS97–12632-839-3324-30131094.2122.3103.0
May 10SAS114–10942-9410-2720-221715115.2107.9100.0
May 8SAS108–11538-9914-4018-211215106.9113.9101.0
May 6@SAS95–13335-889-3016-31221286.4122.0109.5
May 4@SAS104–10241-9010-2612-211012108.3106.396.0
Apr 30DEN110–9843-947-2917-24719118.3105.493.0
Apr 27@DEN113–12541-8112-2819-23259109.7122.5102.5
Apr 25DEN112–9639-899-2525-261216119.1101.194.5

ORL

DateOppScoreFG3PFTTOVOREBOffDefPace
Oct 21ATL125–13241-8513-4030-39209114.7118.9110.0
May 3@DET94–11631-7510-3022-30139102.2126.192.0
May 1DET79–9327-789-3616-2110889.8105.788.0
Apr 29@DET109–11638-8017-3816-30168111.2120.897.0
Apr 27DET94–8830-929-3525-34101694.989.898.5
Apr 25DET113–10536-8915-3326-331414117.7109.496.0
Apr 22@DET83–9826-808-3223-32171383.899.099.0
Apr 19@DET112–10144-9010-3414-191211113.1103.198.5
Apr 12@BOS108–11336-9112-4324-301914102.9107.6105.0
Apr 10@CHI127–10349-9413-3716-241412118.795.4107.5

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

2026-27 surprise games
41%
pregame chance the forecast gave MIN, the winner
the forecast favored ORL
25 pts
margin miss
forecast +3, actual −22 for ORL
28th
most surprising result of 2026-27
of 146 graded games so far
16th
largest margin miss of 2026-27
outcome surprise 0.88 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 statMINORL
Final score11593
Field goals42–98 · 42.9%37–84 · 44.0%
Three-pointers14–37 · 37.8%8–39 · 20.5%
Free throws17–30 · 56.7%11–19 · 57.9%
Rebounds6143
Assists3323
Turnovers1216
Steals87
Blocks44

More about this game

Where the forecast differed from the result

MeasureForecastActualActual − forecast
Home margin (ORL)+3−22−25
Total points227208−19
MIN points112115+3
ORL points11593−22

Recent form before this game

Minnesota Timberwolves

DateOpponentResult
Oct 21 at MIA W 131–106
May 15 vs SAS L 109–139
May 12 at SAS L 97–126
May 10 vs SAS W 114–109
May 8 vs SAS L 108–115

Orlando Magic

DateOpponentResult
Oct 21 vs ATL L 125–132
May 3 at DET L 94–116
May 1 vs DET L 79–93
Apr 29 at DET L 109–116
Apr 27 vs DET W 94–88

Previous meetings

DateMatchupScore
Apr 8 2025-26 MIN at ORL MIN 120 – 132 ORL
Mar 7 2025-26 ORL at MIN ORL 119 – 92 MIN
Mar 14 2024-25 ORL at MIN ORL 111 – 118 MIN
Jan 9 2024-25 MIN at ORL MIN 104 – 89 ORL
Feb 2 2023-24 ORL at MIN ORL 108 – 106 MIN