Basketball
Plus-minus in basketball: useful, noisy and easy to misread
A bench player finishes +14 and a starter finishes -9. Plus-minus is one of the simplest numbers in a box score and one of the easiest to over-interpret.
By Live Desk ·
NBA 2026-27
30 teams in two conferences (15 each) play an 82-game regular season that opens on 20 October 2026; the top six in each conference qualify for the playoffs directly and places 7-10 enter the Play-In Tournament.
Standings
Ranking rules. Ties in conference standings are broken by: 1) head-to-head record; 2) division winner (if only one of the tied teams won its division); 3) win percentage against teams in the same division (if in the same division); 4) win percentage against own-conference teams; 5) win percentage against playoff-eligible teams in own conference; 6) win percentage against playoff-eligible teams in the other conference; 7) point differential in all games (NBA tiebreaker procedures; for ties of three or more teams the division-winner criterion comes first).
Eastern Conference
| # | Team | W | L | Pct | Pts for | Pts against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Brooklyn Nets | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Charlotte Hornets | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Chicago Bulls | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Detroit Pistons | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Indiana Pacers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Miami Heat | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Milwaukee Bucks | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | New York Knicks | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Philadelphia 76ers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Toronto Raptors | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Washington Wizards | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
Western Conference
| # | Team | W | L | Pct | Pts for | Pts against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas Mavericks | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Golden State Warriors | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Houston Rockets | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | LA Clippers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Lakers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Memphis Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | New Orleans Pelicans | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Phoenix Suns | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Portland Trail Blazers | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Sacramento Kings | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | San Antonio Spurs | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Utah Jazz | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
Compiled by the Live Desk from ESPN NBA scoreboard (schedule, venues, tip-off times), NBC: NBA opening night schedule, The Basketball Fans: NBA schedule 2026-27, Land of Basketball: 2026-27 October scores. Updated 20 October 2026.
Results and fixtures
Tue 20 Oct
Wed 21 Oct
01:30 UTCSan Antonio Spurs–Oklahoma City Thunder23:00 UTCOrlando Magic–Atlanta Hawks23:00 UTCWashington Wizards–Milwaukee Bucks23:30 UTCMiami Heat–Minnesota Timberwolves23:30 UTCBrooklyn Nets–Charlotte Hornets23:30 UTCToronto Raptors–Chicago Bulls