In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

There were no model predictions yesterday, March 3, 2024.

Six NBA games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all six matchup can be found below.

Los Angeles Clippers @ Milwaukee Bucks

Model Predicts- Bucks ML, OVER 226.5, Clippers +5.5

The Los Angeles Clippers will continue their three-game road trip on Monday night, with the next stop coming in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the Bucks.

L.A. enters tonight’s matchup in the midst of a two-game win streak, with the Clippers’ most recent win being an 89-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. On the other side of the court is the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that is one of the hotter groups in the NBA at the moment after winning five straight games.

Milwaukee has a significant rest advantage tonight as the Bucks last set foot on the court on Friday, but our model thinks the Clippers can keep this game close. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Los Angeles Clippers

• Enter tonight on two-game win streak

  • Wins over Wizards and Timberwolves

  • +13.3 Net Rating in that stretch

• Defense has helped team get back on track after losing stretch

  • Lost four of six games from February 12-28. Ranked 28th in Defensive Rating (120.8) in that time

  • Defensive Rating has improved to 104.1 in last two games

• Injuries- Russell Westbrook (OUT)

Milwaukee Bucks

• Enter tonight on five-game win streak

  • Wins over Timberwolves, 76ers, Hornets (twice) and Bulls

  • +93 point differential in that span

• Defense has been key to recent wins

  • Own 101.5 Defensive Rating in last five games (1st in NBA)

  • Opponents shooting 40.8% overall and 33.7% from three in that time

• Injuries- Khris Middleton (OUT), Giannis Antetokounmpo, MarJon Beauchamp, and Chris Livingston all questionable

What’s the Play?

This is a short turnaround for Los Angeles, but we agree with our model that the Clippers can keep tonight’s game close.

Milwaukee has dominated defensively over the last week and a half, but the teams that have stood in their way in that time aren’t strong offensively. Minnesota, Charlotte, and Chicago all rank outside the top-18 in Offensive Rating this season, and Philadelphia ranks 21st in that category since Joel Embiid’s injury.

Additionally, Milwaukee is just 3-10 against the spread this season when it has the rest advantage, while Los Angeles is 5-4 against the spread in the second game of a back-to-back. As a result, we’ll take the Clippers here.

The Play: Clippers +5.5 (-115)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Milwaukee Bucks- 40-21 overall this season, 5-0 in last five games

• Oklahoma City Thunder- 42-18 overall this season, 18-12 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Utah Jazz- Over is 33-27-1 this season, 16-12-1 as the home team

• Sacramento Kings- Over is 30-26-3 this season, 18-7-1 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Los Angeles Clippers- 31-28 against the spread (ATS) this season, 5-4 ATS with no rest

💪 Knicks beat Cavaliers despite losing Brunson to knee injury. New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson left Sunday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers early due to a sore left knee and did not return. The team's head coach, Tom Thibodeau, confirmed that Brunson suffered a knee contusion, but X-rays were negative. Despite missing key players, including OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks won 107-98, with Donte DiVincenzo scoring 28 points and Bojan Bogdanovic adding 20.

☘️ Celtics dominate Warriors to grab 11th straight victory. The Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to 11 games with a commanding 140-88 victory over the Golden State Warriors, marking the third-largest win in Celtics history. Boston made NBA history by being the first team to win three games in a single season by at least 50 points, having previously defeated the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets by 51 and 50 points, respectively. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 29 points in just 22 minutes, while Jayson Tatum added 27 points on his 26th birthday, contributing to Boston's formidable home record of 29-3 and an overall record of 48-12.

Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- Which team drafted Kawhi Leonard in the 2011 NBA Draft before trading him to the San Antonio Spurs on draft night?

Question #2- Who led the National League in home runs last season?

Question #3- Who did the New England Patriots defeat in Super Bowl XXXIX (04-05 season), winning by a score of 24-21?

Anyone know what has happened on March 4th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On March 4th…

2004- The Indianapolis Colts sign Peyton Manning to a new contract. Manning would sign for seven years and receive $98 million, with the deal also including a $34.5 million signing bonus. At the time, the contract was the largest in NFL history.

2004- The Saint Joseph’s Hawks beat St. Bonaventure 82-50 in their final game of the regular season. The win gave the Hawks their 27th win of the season, making them a perfect 27-0 heading into the postseason. Saint Joe’s went on to receive a #1 seed for the March Madness tournament, going on to lose by two points in the Elite 8 to Oklahoma State.

2012- The NFL begins an investigation into the existence of a bounty program within the New Orleans Saints organization. It was found that the program existed from 2009-11, and gave Saints players monetary bonuses for injuring opposing players. Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season at the conclusion of the investigation.

1. Indiana Pacers

2. Matt Olson

3. Philadelphia Eagles