Hoop Informatics

Miami used 44 possessions of zone defense vs. Houston tonight, a season high by a good margin, allowing just 0.64 ppp.

Of the 29 possessions with Bam-Ware on the floor, 15 of them were in zone. Durant was off the floor for 11 of those, with Houston scoring just 0.42 ppp.

Illinois had its 2nd-worst offensive game of the season and yet it was the 5th-best performance by a team facing Michigan this season.

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There’s always two sides of the coin 😅 #Bulls #Spurs #NBA

Trey McKenney dagger

Michigan comes to Champaign, IL and punks Illinois

Aday Mara offensive put back and one.

Aday Mara backdoor lob

Mirkovic and High Knees ref in sync

Keaton Wagler not deterred by the Kornet contest

Morez Johnson Jr with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal so far in his return to Champaign, IL

Aday Mara rim protection

scores.cbbdata.com for live four factors data

Four Factors comparison table between Michigan (M) and Illinois (I). Michigan leads in Possessions (20.3 vs 20.4), Rating (118.1 vs 102.8), ORB% (44.4 vs 28.6), and FTR (43.8 vs 18.8). Illinois leads in eFG% (59.4 vs 56.3) and TOV% (24.5 vs 24.6). Bold values indicate the better performance in each category.

Michigan 24
Illinois 21

Sloppy game with both teams turning it over on a quarter of their possessions.

Michigan winning the rebounding battle and getting to the line.

Keaton Wagler 4-point play

Wagler loves step back threes when bigs switch onto him

The footwork by Kylan Boswell. He has 4 points and 2 assists in the first 5 minutes for Illinois

Kylan Boswell is really pushing the pace for the Illini. This is after a made basket.

Kylan Boswell starts the game defending Yaxel Lendeborg.

Starting Lineups graphic for #3 Michigan Wolverines vs. #10 Illinois Fighting Illini. Michigan starters: G Elliot Cadeau (#3, JR), G Nimari Burnett (#4, GR), F Morez Johnson Jr. (#21, SO), F Yaxel Lendeborg (#23, SR), C Aday Mara (#15, JR). Illinois starters: G Kylan Boswell (#4, SR), G Keaton Wagler (#23, FR), F David Mirkovic (#0, FR), F Jake Davis (#15, JR), C Tomislav Ivisic (#13, JR)

David Mirkovic and Morez Johnson Jr are for sure going to get in a scuffle and get technical fouls tonight.

Here to see possible top-5 Keaton Wagler and Illinois take on a loaded Michigan team. Crowd is already fired up.

Chart: “NBA’s Most Used Lineups & Their Offensive Output” — Top 9 lineups by possessions, 2025-26 Regular Season. League average offensive rating is 115.5. A color scale runs from blue (90, poor) through gray (115.5, average) to red (140, elite). 1. Minnesota (1,276 poss, 120.7 ORtg): Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert. 2. Detroit (922 poss, 122.7 ORtg): Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren. 3. Houston (693 poss, 123.1 ORtg): Amen Thompson, Josh Okogie, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun. 4. Atlanta (656 poss, 119.5 ORtg): Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu. 5. New York (653 poss, 117.0 ORtg): Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns. 6. LA Clippers (623 poss, 117.7 ORtg): James Harden, Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, Ivica Zubac. 7. Brooklyn (623 poss, 117.7 ORtg): Egor Dëmin, Terance Mann, Michael Porter, Noah Clowney, Nicolas Claxton. 8. Phoenix (571 poss, 115.2 ORtg): Collin Gillespie, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, Mark Williams. A dashed line marks the ~550 possession stabilization threshold. 9. Charlotte (542 poss, 139.9 ORtg): LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate. Highlighted as an extreme outlier — 24.4 points above league average — but below the stabilization threshold. Data: Cleaningtheglass.com. Viz: @HoopInformatics.bsky.social.

It takes about 550 possessions together for offensive lineup data to stabilize where it becomes more real than noise.

Here are the top 9 most used NBA lineups this season and their offensive rating.

That Hornets lineup has a ridiculous 139.9 offensive rating in 542 possessions together!

Champaign, Illinois- east of the Mississippi, not in the mountains, yet somehow not within a hundred miles of literally anything.

Table Setters 🍽️

📊 ftnfantasy.com/nba/projecti...

One note on Anthony Edwards and Chris Finch ... they've been here before more than a few times. This is from the book:

Chart shows both players were similar when younger but Ayton dropped off early while Capella had more longevity impacting winning positively

🔵Deandre Ayton vs 🟢Clint Capela

Career historical progression by age via EPM

Source: dunksandthrees.com/compare?pids...

Compare Ayton vs Capella. Ayton peaked young for a very short time then fell off. Capela’s peak may not have been as good as Ayton’s peak, but Ayton’s peak lasted a year or two before dropping off while Capela was a good player for ten years impacting winning.

🔵Deandre Ayton vs 🔴Clint Capela

Career historical progression by age via DPM

Viz Tool: apanalytics.shinyapps.io/DARKO/

That Hornets lineup is shooting 47% from three while taking around half of all their shots from three to really juice their offensive numbers.

Chart: “NBA’s Most Used Lineups & Their Offensive Output” — Top 9 lineups by possessions, 2025-26 Regular Season. League average offensive rating is 115.5. A color scale runs from blue (90, poor) through gray (115.5, average) to red (140, elite). 1. Minnesota (1,276 poss, 120.7 ORtg): Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert. 2. Detroit (922 poss, 122.7 ORtg): Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren. 3. Houston (693 poss, 123.1 ORtg): Amen Thompson, Josh Okogie, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun. 4. Atlanta (656 poss, 119.5 ORtg): Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu. 5. New York (653 poss, 117.0 ORtg): Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns. 6. LA Clippers (623 poss, 117.7 ORtg): James Harden, Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, Ivica Zubac. 7. Brooklyn (623 poss, 117.7 ORtg): Egor Dëmin, Terance Mann, Michael Porter, Noah Clowney, Nicolas Claxton. 8. Phoenix (571 poss, 115.2 ORtg): Collin Gillespie, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, Mark Williams. A dashed line marks the ~550 possession stabilization threshold. 9. Charlotte (542 poss, 139.9 ORtg): LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate. Highlighted as an extreme outlier — 24.4 points above league average — but below the stabilization threshold. Data: Cleaningtheglass.com. Viz: @HoopInformatics.bsky.social.

It takes about 550 possessions together for offensive lineup data to stabilize where it becomes more real than noise.

Here are the top 9 most used NBA lineups this season and their offensive rating.

That Hornets lineup has a ridiculous 139.9 offensive rating in 542 possessions together!

Anthony Edwards might have just hit the dagger.

I just pulled a Dan Dakich saying “this won’t end well” right before Anthony Edwards hits the game winner.