NBA scores, Monday 2 November

How Ludus works

1. You start with 1,000 denarii, the play money of Ludus. Every new day (UTC) adds 100.
2. Tap a team on any game that has not started, pick a stake and lock it in. You can change the stake, switch sides or take the call back until tip-off.
3. If your team wins, you collect your stake times the number on its button: x2.00 doubles it, x1.50 turns 100 into 150.
4. Calls settle when the final score comes in. A tie, or a game that is postponed or called off, gives your stake back.

Your purse, your calls and your record stay in this browser: no account, nothing to buy and nothing to cash out. Run dry with nothing in play and the lanista (the owner of a gladiator school, which is what a ludus was) spots you 500, once a day. Win calls to climb the ranks from Tiro to Gladiator, Veteranus, Primus palus and Rudiarius, the fighter who won his freedom.

Where the numbers come from

The numbers on the buttons are our own line, worked out from each team's record this season. Every team starts as if it had already played 10 games at .500, so a hot start does not make anyone unbeatable. We compare the two records (the log5 method), give the home team a small edge unless the game is at a neutral site (with equal records the home team is about 57% to win), and pay one over the chance: a 50% chance pays x2.00, a 25% chance x4.00. No side is ever shorter than x1.11 or longer than x10.00.

The line knows records and home and away, nothing else: not injuries, rest days, trades or the weather. Spotting what it misses is the game. Scores and schedules come from ESPN and refresh every 30 seconds while a game is live.

NBA notes

An NBA game cannot end level: overtime periods are played until one team wins, so every NBA call is either won or lost.