NBA key numbers
5.9% of NBA games since 2015 ended with a 5-point margin and 5.9% with 8, counted from 13,974 games.
Most common margins
A key number is a final margin that comes up far more often than the ones beside it, because of how scoring works. The margin is the winner’s score minus the loser’s. Basketball has no key numbers the way football does: scoring comes in ones, twos, and threes, so margins spread out and no single number stands apart.
| Margin | Games | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 829 | 5.9% |
| 8 | 822 | 5.9% |
| 7 | 817 | 5.9% |
| 6 | 815 | 5.8% |
| 3 | 788 | 5.6% |
| 4 | 762 | 5.5% |
| 9 | 758 | 5.4% |
| 2 | 695 | 5.0% |
| 10 | 634 | 4.5% |
| 11 | 591 | 4.2% |
Margin 5
- Games
- 829
- Share of games
- 5.9%
Margin 8
- Games
- 822
- Share of games
- 5.9%
Margin 7
- Games
- 817
- Share of games
- 5.9%
Margin 6
- Games
- 815
- Share of games
- 5.8%
Margin 3
- Games
- 788
- Share of games
- 5.6%
Margin 4
- Games
- 762
- Share of games
- 5.5%
Margin 9
- Games
- 758
- Share of games
- 5.4%
Margin 2
- Games
- 695
- Share of games
- 5.0%
Margin 10
- Games
- 634
- Share of games
- 4.5%
Margin 11
- Games
- 591
- Share of games
- 4.2%
Most common totals
The total is both teams’ scores added together. Totals spread over more values than margins do, so a single number stands out less.
| Total | Games | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| 217 | 291 | 2.1% |
| 221 | 274 | 2.0% |
| 223 | 272 | 1.9% |
| 227 | 268 | 1.9% |
| 220 | 265 | 1.9% |
| 215 | 260 | 1.9% |
| 212 | 258 | 1.8% |
| 216 | 258 | 1.8% |
| 224 | 256 | 1.8% |
| 219 | 252 | 1.8% |
Total 217
- Games
- 291
- Share of games
- 2.1%
Total 221
- Games
- 274
- Share of games
- 2.0%
Total 223
- Games
- 272
- Share of games
- 1.9%
Total 227
- Games
- 268
- Share of games
- 1.9%
Total 220
- Games
- 265
- Share of games
- 1.9%
Total 215
- Games
- 260
- Share of games
- 1.9%
Total 212
- Games
- 258
- Share of games
- 1.8%
Total 216
- Games
- 258
- Share of games
- 1.8%
Total 224
- Games
- 256
- Share of games
- 1.8%
Total 219
- Games
- 252
- Share of games
- 1.8%
How this was counted
- 13,974 NBA games, seasons 2015 to 2025: regular season and playoffs, seasons named by the year they start; the 2019-20 games played after the March 2020 shutdown are not in the file.
- Source: ESPN final scores. Counted on .
- These are plain counts of final scores. Nothing is modeled, and nothing here predicts a game.
To cite this page: Parity Odds, “NBA key numbers,” parityodds.com/research/nba-key-numbers, counted 2026-10-08.
These counts are why half a point matters more near some numbers than others. How Parity Odds prices a bet.