San Antonio @ Dallas
Tip-off 5:00 PM PT · Draft Kings lines · 5,000 sims · win chance for SAS
NBA backtest: the books beat this sim on sides and totals; props run slightly above base rates. Details
How the sim saw it
The sim has San Antonio winning 79.5% of 5,000 games, against 82% from the books. The median score is Dallas 110, San Antonio 122. In the most typical game: San Antonio leads by as many as 20 in the first half; San Antonio leads 67-50 at the break. San Antonio's 9-0 run in the 1st quarter is the biggest swing. K. Johnson puts San Antonio ahead for good with 11:04 left in the 1st. Clayton finds Washington 4 times. Harper goes 8 of 12 off San Antonio's bench. San Antonio leads by 13 at its high point in the 4th. Dallas gets within 7. Harper scores last; final 122-109 San Antonio.
Dallas wins 1,025 of the 5,000. Its chances rise when it makes 15+ threes (it wins 38%), wins the turnover battle (30%) or gets 25+ from Marshall (29%). The matchup to watch is San Antonio's ball security against Dallas's hands. San Antonio covers -12.5 in 51% and the game goes over 232.5 in 49%.
Full breakdown
Last time they met (Apr 10), San Antonio won in San Antonio, 139-120.
Tonight Dallas is without Santi Aldama, Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II.
Tonight San Antonio is without Tobias Harris.
Dallas went 26-56 last season (23rd best record in the NBA).
San Antonio went 62-20 last season (2nd best record in the NBA).
San Antonio won the season series 4-0.
P.J. Washington missed 2 of the 4 meetings.
Daniel Gafford missed 2 of the 4 meetings.
Dallas: gone: Klay Thompson (now MIA), Brandon Williams (now GSW), Ryan Nembhard (now DEN); new: Zaccharie Risacher (from ATL), Walter Clayton Jr. (from UTA), Morez Johnson Jr. (no NBA minutes last season), Marcus Sasser (from DET), Sergio de Larrea (no NBA minutes last season), Tobi Lawal (no NBA minutes last season).
San Antonio: new: Maliq Brown (no NBA minutes last season), Ja'Kobi Gillespie (no NBA minutes last season), Tarris Reed Jr. (no NBA minutes last season).
Who's in the sim (top five by projected minutes listed first):
DAL: Washington, Christie, Marshall, Risacher, Gafford
Bench: Clayton, M. Johnson, Sasser, Cissé (+2 under 8 min)
Out: Aldama, Biberović, Flagg, Howard, Irving, Lively, Martin
SAS: Fox, Vassell, Wembanyama, Castle, Champagnie
Bench: Harper, K. Johnson, Barnes, Kornet (+6 under 8 min)
Out: Harris, Quaintance
Who gets hunted: last season shooters hit +2.2 points vs their usual FG% against Walter Clayton Jr. and +1.8 against Naji Marshall.
The stoppers on threes: Victor Wembanyama held shooters 4.9 points under their usual 3P%, Zaccharie Risacher held shooters 4.2 points under their usual 3P%.
In the sim, Dylan Harper sees Clayton on 25% of their shots.
The matchup to watch: San Antonio's ball security vs Dallas's hands.
San Antonio turned it over on 12.4% of possessions last season (4th fewest).
Dallas forced turnovers on 12.1% (27th most), with 7.5 steals (24th) and 5.2 blocks (10th) a game.
Shot diets.
Dallas: 35.5% of shots from three (27th), 31.0% at the rim (11th).
San Antonio: 42.2% of shots from three (15th), 32.9% at the rim (7th).
Dallas's defense: 22nd fewest rim attempts allowed, 6th lowest opponent three-point % (35.0%).
San Antonio's defense: 5th fewest rim attempts allowed, 8th lowest opponent three-point % (35.2%).
San Antonio's offense runs through De'Aaron Fox on the pick-and-roll ball handler: 4.9 a game last season, 34th most in the NBA.
0.95 points per play (top 26%), turnover on 16% of them.
When it goes to the roller: San Antonio's roll men scored 1.26 (1st in the league). Victor Wembanyama alone: 1.25.
Dallas faced 18.4 of those a game (11th most) and ranked 17th defending them. Against the roll man: 20th.
In the sim: 1.75 Fox-to-Wembanyama baskets a game (last season: 1.72).
With 8+ Fox assists, San Antonio wins 84.6%.
Dallas's offense lives on four plays: spot-up shots, transition, the pick-and-roll ball handler, isolation. It ranked 27th, 2nd, 25th, 26th in points per play on them.
San Antonio's defense ranked 11th, 2nd, 5th, 15th against those same four.
Naji Marshall in one split:
The pick-and-roll ball handler: 0.92 points per play (top 33%), 2.2 a game.
Transition: 1.22 points per play (top 31%), 4.1 a game.
San Antonio's defense: 2nd against transition, 5th against the pick-and-roll ball handler.
Where Dallas can hit back:
- San Antonio was 25th defending off-screen shots. Max Christie ran 0.8 a game at 1.00 per play
- San Antonio was 21st defending putbacks. Daniel Gafford ran 1.8 a game at 1.36 per play
One check against real life:
De'Aaron Fox scored 16.7 points in his 3 games against Dallas last season, 18 of them on Apr 10. In our 5,000 sims: 19.7.
Naji Marshall scored 13.7 points in his 3 games against San Antonio last season, 32 of them on Feb 5. In our 5,000 sims: 19.5.
Things you'll notice in the sim:
- San Antonio leads by as many as 20 in the first half; San Antonio leads 67-50 at the break
- San Antonio's 9-0 run in the 1st quarter is the biggest swing
- K. Johnson puts San Antonio ahead for good with 11:04 left in the 1st
- Clayton finds Washington 4 times
- Harper goes 8 of 12 off San Antonio's bench
- San Antonio leads by 13 at its high point in the 4th. Dallas gets within 7. Harper scores last; final 122-109 San Antonio
How Dallas wins (1,025 of the 5,000):
- It makes threes: 14.0 a game in its wins, 11.7 in its losses. At 15 or more, it wins 38%
- It wins the turnover battle: then it wins 30%
- Marshall scores 25 or more: then it wins 29%
Across all 5,000 sims:
San Antonio wins 79.5%. The books (Draft Kings) have San Antonio at 82%, ESPN's model at 77%.
Median score: Dallas 110, San Antonio 122
San Antonio covers -12.5 in 51%
Over 232.5 in 49%
Leans:
Caution: tonight the sim sits 1.0 over the books' prop lines on average, so overs are inflated
- Dylan Harper under 21.5 pts+ast (88%, sim avg 15.3)
- Dylan Harper under 22.5 pts+reb (86%, sim avg 16.5)
- Dylan Harper under 17.5 points (85%, sim avg 12.2)
- De'Aaron Fox over 20.5 pts+ast (80%, sim avg 26.3)
Fine print: one game isn't a prediction. The percentages are the signal.
Our own backtest (2024-26): the books beat this sim on sides and totals. Prop leans beat the base rate by 1-4 points out of sample, not enough to prove profit. Treat it as a lens, not a bet.
Most typical game, play by play (SAS score first)
Top 10 prop ideas
The sim's 10 strongest prop leans, logged Sat Oct 24, 9:17 AM and graded after the game. Players new to their team are left out. Not a proven edge: on 2024-26 games, picking each game's 10 strongest leans lost 4-7% at the books' prices, because the books already lean the same way. ESPN doesn't say which posted price is the over, so the price shown is the worse of the two. Prop ideas so far: 73-70 (51%), -14.4 units at the worse price.
| Player | Idea | Sim | Price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Harper | under 21.5 pts+ast | 88% | -121 | 24 ✗ |
| Dylan Harper | under 22.5 pts+reb | 86% | -118 | 27 ✗ |
| Dylan Harper | under 17.5 points | 85% | -114 | 22 ✗ |
| De'Aaron Fox | over 20.5 pts+ast | 80% | -124 | 28 ✓ |
| De'Aaron Fox | over 18.5 pts+reb | 79% | -121 | 22 ✓ |
| De'Aaron Fox | over 14.5 points | 78% | -113 | 19 ✓ |
| Dylan Harper | under 1.5 threes | 75% | -172 | 3 ✗ |
| P.J. Washington | over 1.5 assists | 74% | -151 | 2 ✓ |
| Devin Vassell | over 1.5 assists | 74% | -190 | 6 ✓ |
| Naji Marshall | over 20.5 pts+ast | 74% | -115 | 15 ✗ |
All player props
Sorted by how far the sim sits from 50%. Players new to their team are tagged: the sim is least sure about their role.
| Player | Market | Line | Sim avg | Sim over | Lean | Sim + you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Harper | pts+ast | 21.5 | 15.3 | 12% | under 88% | |
| Dylan Harper | pts+reb | 22.5 | 16.5 | 14% | under 86% | |
| Dylan Harper | points | 17.5 | 12.2 | 15% | under 85% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | pts+ast | 20.5 | 26.3 | 80% | over 80% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | pts+reb | 18.5 | 24.1 | 79% | over 79% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | points | 14.5 | 19.7 | 78% | over 78% | |
| Dylan Harper | threes | 1.5 | 1.0 | 25% | under 75% | |
| P.J. Washington | assists | 1.5 | 2.6 | 74% | over 74% | |
| Devin Vassell | assists | 1.5 | 2.6 | 74% | over 74% | |
| Naji Marshall | pts+ast | 20.5 | 24.9 | 74% | over 74% | |
| Max Christie | threes | 1.5 | 2.6 | 73% | over 73% | |
| P.J. Washington | pts+reb | 21.5 | 26.0 | 73% | over 73% | |
| Naji Marshall | points | 15.5 | 19.5 | 72% | over 72% | |
| Devin Vassell | rebounds | 3.5 | 4.9 | 72% | over 72% | |
| P.J. Washington | pts+ast | 16.5 | 20.5 | 72% | over 72% | |
| Stephon Castle | assists | 5.5 | 7.1 | 72% | over 72% | |
| P.J. Washington | rebounds | 6.5 | 8.1 | 71% | over 71% | |
| Daniel Gafford | points | 8.5 | 11.4 | 70% | over 70% | |
| Daniel Gafford | pts+reb | 15.5 | 18.6 | 70% | over 70% | |
| Naji Marshall | pts+reb | 21.5 | 25.2 | 69% | over 69% | |
| P.J. Washington | points | 14.5 | 17.9 | 69% | over 69% | |
| Naji Marshall | rebounds | 4.5 | 5.7 | 67% | over 67% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | threes | 1.5 | 2.3 | 67% | over 67% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | assists | 5.5 | 6.6 | 65% | over 65% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | pts+ast | 31.5 | 28.8 | 35% | under 65% | |
| Devin Vassell | pts+reb | 15.5 | 18.2 | 65% | over 65% | |
| Devin Vassell | pts+ast | 13.5 | 16.0 | 65% | over 65% | |
| Max Christie | points | 11.5 | 14.0 | 64% | over 64% | |
| Max Christie | pts+reb | 15.5 | 18.2 | 64% | over 64% | |
| Max Christie | pts+ast | 14.5 | 17.0 | 64% | over 64% | |
| Dylan Harper | assists | 3.5 | 3.1 | 36% | under 64% | |
| Naji Marshall | assists | 4.5 | 5.4 | 63% | over 63% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | rebounds | 3.5 | 4.3 | 63% | over 63% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | pts+reb | 39.5 | 37.4 | 38% | under 62% | |
| P.J. Washington | threes | 1.5 | 2.0 | 61% | over 61% | |
| Devin Vassell | points | 11.5 | 13.4 | 60% | over 60% | |
| Naji Marshall | threes | 1.5 | 1.4 | 40% | under 60% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | points | 27.5 | 26.0 | 41% | under 59% | |
| Max Christie | assists | 2.5 | 3.0 | 59% | over 59% | |
| Max Christie | rebounds | 3.5 | 4.1 | 59% | over 59% | |
| De'Aaron Fox | threes | 1.5 | 1.9 | 58% | over 58% | |
| Dylan Harper | rebounds | 4.5 | 4.3 | 42% | under 58% | |
| Daniel Gafford | rebounds | 6.5 | 7.1 | 57% | over 57% | |
| Stephon Castle | pts+reb | 23.5 | 22.8 | 43% | under 57% | |
| Stephon Castle | threes | 1.5 | 1.5 | 46% | under 54% | |
| Stephon Castle | pts+ast | 23.5 | 24.4 | 54% | over 54% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | assists | 2.5 | 2.8 | 53% | over 53% | |
| Stephon Castle | points | 17.5 | 17.3 | 47% | under 53% | |
| Stephon Castle | rebounds | 5.5 | 5.5 | 47% | under 53% | |
| Victor Wembanyama | rebounds | 11.5 | 11.4 | 47% | under 53% |