How we score games

Each game gets a score from 0 to 100. It measures how compelling the matchup is, not which team will win. Matchup factors adjust a fixed baseline. Schedule data remains in the preview as context. It does not affect the game score. The final score has one of four tiers.

What feeds the score

• Competitive. How close the two teams' records are.
• Team quality. The combined strength of both records.
• Both near top. A bonus when both clubs sit near the top of the standings.
• Stakes. Standings tension between the two teams — a seeding duel or a play-in/playoff-bubble race, shaped by the league's own playoff format.
• Star power. League scoring leaders who are set to play. Two of them on the floor at once is worth more than either alone.
• Recent form. The hotter side's last-10 record, with an extra kicker for a live win streak and a bonus when both teams are rolling.
• Playoff rematch. A rematch of a playoff series from last season, weighted by how deep that series went.
• National TV. A nationally televised window.
• Injuries. Subtracts points when a team is missing a player whose scoring sits well above a replacement-level baseline — the only factor that can only pull the score down.

Factors apply only when they are relevant to that matchup. Injuries are the only factor that can reduce the score.

The tier ladder

When a score is underlined

An underlined score means the Hoops Menu desk — an editor, not the model — looked at the matchup and adjusted the number by hand. The board never prints two numbers; the game page for that matchup shows both the model's original score and the desk's note explaining the change.