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NBA · CHA

Royce O'Neale

F · 6′6″ · Current team: Charlotte Hornets

Regular season · Mar 24, 2026 · DEN 125 @ PHX 123 · Final

Royce O'Neale 17 points vs Nuggets (Mar 24, 2026): season-best Game Score

ANSWER

17 PTS · 5-of-8 FG · 5-of-8 3P · 2-of-2 FT · 28:06 MIN

Usual before this game: 9.9 PTS · 8.2 FGA · 29.1 MIN, from 69 regular-season games

Best Game Score of 70 games this season: 19.3 against a usual 8.3 (+11.0)

SURPRISE SCORE
96Unusual
above usual

No more than 4 in 100 games by players at this level finish this far above their usual.

For a player who plays every game, a game this far above the usual comes about 2 to 4 times a season.

How the score works

Why did Royce O'Neale score 17 points?

Royce O'Neale scored 17 points against the Nuggets on Mar 24, 2026 in 28:06: 5-of-8 from the field, 5-of-8 from three (62.5%), 2-of-2 on free throws. Before this game, O'Neale averaged 9.9 points on 8.2 shots in 29.1 minutes across 69 regular-season games. By Game Score it was the best of 70 games this season. Points by shot type, against the usual: threes 15 (8.2), free throws 2 (0.3), two-pointers 0 (1.4). Playing time was 28:06, against a usual 29.1 minutes; per 36 minutes, the Game Score was 24.7, against a usual 10.2. At home against the Nuggets, the Suns lost 125-123. The box score records what changed, not why: it holds no injury, matchup or coaching information.

Generated from the box score and this season's game log. How the score works

01

What changed

O'Neale in this game against the usual line

This game against the usual line
StatThis gameUsual (69 games)Change
Minutes28:0629.1-1.0
Points179.9+7.1
Shots (FGA) · FG%5-of-88.2 · 41.7%-0.2
3PA · 3P%8 · 62.5%6.8 · 40.3%+1.2 · +22.2
FTA · FT%2-of-20.4 · 70.0%+1.6
Rebounds54.8+0.2
Assists32.8+0.2
Turnovers01.4-1.4
UsageUsual: minutes-weighted average of per-game usage, 69 games14.014.5-0.5
Game Score per 36 minutes24.710.2+14.5
02

Points by shot type

Twos, threes and free throws: the changes add up to the points change

Points by shot type against the usual line
Shot typeThis gameUsual (69 games)Change
Threes15 (5-of-8)8.2 (2.7-of-6.8)+6.8
Twos0 (0-of-0)1.4 (0.7-of-1.4)-1.4
Free throws2 (2-of-2)0.3 (0.3-of-0.4)+1.7
Total179.9+7.1
03

Game Score

One measure of the whole box score line

19.3 against a usual 8.3 (+11.0)

Its five parts
The change in Game Score, by part
PartChange
Scoring, net of shot attempts+7.9
Rebounds+0.6
Assists+0.1
Steals and blocks+1.7
Turnovers and fouls+0.7
Total+11.0
04

Season so far

Regular season, in date order

Game Score in each of this season's 70 games, oldest first, this game last: 10.5, 6.7, 3.6, 17.3, 13.6, 11.5, 12.4, 5.5, 12.9, 13.8, 12.1, 12.5, 4.2, 0, 5.6, 11.5, 4.8, 7.7, 9.6, 8.3, 12, 11.3, -1.2, 15.4, -2, 8.7, 9.1, 0.4, 12.7, 2.1, 11.7, 14.5, 1.5, 9.1, 0, 14.5, 13.6, 11.4, 18.3, 5.8, 9.5, 11, 7.2, 6.2, 3.3, 5.6, 5.4, 5, 11.1, 6.1, 6.3, 7.7, 13.8, 10.4, 6.1, 7.5, 6.7, -1.7, 6.6, 11.2, 6.7, -1.8, 9, 6.8, 19.2, 12.2, 6, 7, 6.4, 19.3

Best Game Score of 70 games this season.

Previous best: 19.2, set on Mar 10, 2026.

05

Context

From the rows this page already reads

  • The Suns lost 125-123 at home against the Nuggets.
  • Previous appearance: Mar 17, 2026, 7 days earlier.
  • Between the previous appearance and this game, the Suns played 3 regular-season games, on Mar 19, 2026, Mar 21, 2026 and Mar 22, 2026; O'Neale was not in any of the 3 box scores; the data does not say why.
  • Earlier regular-season meetings with the Nuggets this season: 7 points (Oct 25, 2025), 15 points (Nov 29, 2025).
06

What this page cannot tell you

The same on every performance page

Limits

Box scores record what happened, not why: no injuries or health, defensive assignments, matchups, coaching decisions or play-by-play.

METHOD

Game Score against the player's own usual line. How rare a gap is comes from NBA regular-season games of 2023-24 and 2024-25, checked on 2025-26.