THE LEADERBOARD

An experimental 0–100 highlights rating: late-game tension (35%), competitiveness (25%), standout performances (25%), and comeback (15%).

Late-game tension measures time within six points during the final five minutes (70%), up to two lead changes in the final minute (20%), and overtime (10%). Competitiveness measures time within six points across the game (70%) and up to twelve lead changes (30%). Ties do not count as lead changes.

Standout performances combine the two highest actual game contributions, weighted 70% and 30%. Actual contribution = Overall Per48 × minutes ÷ 48. This is compared with up to 2,000 earlier games in the same competition; the 80th–100th percentile maps to 0–100. At least twenty reference games are required.

Comeback measures the eventual winner’s largest deficit, or a deficit recovered by the losing team when the final margin is six points or less; a twenty-point recovery scores 100. Incomplete play-by-play receives no rating. A final-score shortfall of up to three points can receive an approximate rating when the winner is unchanged and the conservative Watch Score range spans at most fifteen points. The range considers possible timing and separate missing points; the displayed estimate is its midpoint. Larger or uncertain discrepancies remain unrated. This formula is a first version, not a validated prediction of enjoyment.