If they're out · DEN

Who gains without Holmes and Gordon

With Holmes and Gordon both out (32 games like this since last season (he played 13 of them)), Braun played 35 minutes (usually 32) and took 1 more shot than usual; our estimate: 34 minutes (Worth watching).

32 games with both out since last season: Feb 27, Mar 2, Mar 5, Mar 12, Mar 18, Mar 25 and earlier. Their minutes when they play: II 7, Gordon 28.

Holmes has missed 5 of the team's last 10, so most of his minutes are already in everyone's recent numbers.

Likely strong evidenceLean some evidenceWorth watching a tip, not a promise
Christian Braun
G · 49 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes32 → 34 +2
Shots10 → 11 +1
Fantasy pts24 → 26 +2
  • 35 minutes and 27 fantasy points a game in the 13 games he played with both out
  • +3 minutes in 32 games without Holmes alone since last season
  • +3 minutes in 17 games without Gordon alone since last season
Cameron Johnson
F · 56 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes30 → 33 +3
Shots10 → 10 +1
Fantasy pts23 → 25 +2
  • 34 minutes and 25 fantasy points a game in the 24 games he played with both out
  • +7 minutes in 43 games without Holmes alone since last season
  • +5 minutes in 28 games without Gordon alone since last season
Julian Strawther
G · 57 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes15 → 17 +2
Shots6 → 7 +1
Fantasy pts12 → 14 +2
  • 17 minutes and 14 fantasy points a game in the 21 games he played with both out
  • +10 minutes in 26 games without Gordon alone since last season
  • −2 minutes in 31 games without Holmes alone since last season
Everyone else · usual → tonight
How this works, and how often it's rightShow

We start from each teammate's recent minutes, shots and fantasy points since last season, then hand out the minutes the missing players have been playing: mostly to whoever came in when each of them left a game, and to whoever played more when each one sat on his own, with a small nudge toward the same position. Minutes a player already lost while someone was out are not counted twice. Shots move with how often each teammate finished plays when none of the missing players were on the floor. When the exact group has sat together 4 or more times, those games count too.

We checked it on 1,183 games in 2025-26 where a team had two or more rotation players out, using only games played before each one. Our minutes were off by 5.2 a player on average in games from February on, against 6.06 using season averages and 9.41 adding up each missing player's own "who gains" numbers. Fantasy points: off by 8.12, against 8.59 and 12.48. Our biggest predicted minutes gainer was one of the night's two biggest gainers 52% of the time (adding up single-player numbers: 37%).

Likely means 6 or more minutes over his usual: 79% of those players really did play at least 2 more. Lean (3.5 to 6 more): 65%. Worth watching (2 to 3.5 more): 52%. Blowouts, foul trouble and coaches' whims make any one night noisy.