If they're out · GSW

Who gains without Horford, Melton and Green

With Horford, Melton and Green all three out (5 games like this since last season), Payton played 21 minutes (usually 15) and took 2 more shots than usual; our estimate: 19 minutes (Lean).

5 games with all of them out since last season: Nov 19, Nov 24, Dec 6, Jan 26, Mar 15. Their minutes when they play: Horford 21, Melton 23, Green 28.
Likely strong evidenceLean some evidenceWorth watching a tip, not a promise
Gary Payton II
G · 79 games since last season
Lean
Minutes15 → 19 +4
Shots6 → 7 +1
Fantasy pts16 → 21 +5
  • 21 minutes and 25 fantasy points a game in the 5 games he played with all of them out
  • came in for 21% of the times one of them left a game
  • +3 minutes in 11 games without Green alone since last season
  • −3 minutes in 17 games without Melton alone since last season
Gui Santos
F · 73 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes21 → 24 +3
Shots7 → 10 +3
Fantasy pts19 → 24 +4
  • 22 minutes and 23 fantasy points a game in the 5 games he played with all of them out
  • came in for 20% of the times one of them left a game
  • +3 minutes in 10 games without Green alone since last season
  • −6 minutes in 15 games without Horford alone since last season
Will Richard
G · 75 games since last season
Lean
Minutes20 → 24 +4
Shots5 → 6 +1
Fantasy pts14 → 16 +2
  • 24 minutes and 16 fantasy points a game in the 5 games he played with all of them out
  • +8 minutes in 10 games without Green alone since last season
  • +3 minutes in 14 games without Horford 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.