In recent years, the Miami Heat have been a quality team but not considered a member of the NBA’s heavyweight contender class. Jimmy Butler has a knack of turning his individual weaknesses into team strengths, but the Heat have had a few too many team weaknesses to join the class of title favorites, despite a […]
In 2007, the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, kicking off a decade and a half during which the team ranked last in the league in win percentage. Seven years later, the team shipped off another All-Star-turned-champion in Kevin Love. And within two years of obtaining Jimmy Butler, who helped the team end […]
Over the last several years, plays like these have become commonplace in the NBA: James Harden, one of the league’s most accomplished and well-known swindlers, sensed just the faintest contact from defender Paul George. Harden instantly brought his off-arm up to accentuate the contact, flailing around until a whistle blew. ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen’s […]
How this works: These forecasts are based on 100,000 simulations of the rest of the season. Elo ratings — which power the pure Elo forecast — are a measure of team strength based on head-to-head results, margin of victory and quality of opponent. Our CARMELO forecast doesn’t account for wins and losses; it is based […]