In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NHL with our model focusing in on one of those predictions in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 1-0 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 5-7

Over/Under Predictions: 5-7

Puck Line Predictions: 9-3

Featured Matchup: 1-0

12 NBA games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all 12 matchups can be found below.

Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls

Model Predicts- Pacers ML, OVER 234.5, Pacers -2.5

The Indiana Pacers will wrap up a five-game road trip on Wednesday, with the final stop coming in the Windy City to take on the Bulls.

Indiana enters tonight’s matchup with a 41-32 record, a product of winning three of four games on its current road trip. Meanwhile, Chicago sits at jist 34-38 for the season and enters tonight on a three-game losing streak.

Indiana and Chicago are trending in different directions as we enter the home stretch of the regular season, and our model believes the Pacers will continue their winning ways tonight. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Indiana Pacers

• Enter tonight fresh off win against Clippers

  • Won 133-116. Shot 58% from the floor and 61% from three

• Hot offense has been key to success on road trip

  • 3-1 on road trip. Wins over Pistons, Warriors, and Clippers.

  • Own 127.6 Offensive Rating in last four games

  • Averaging 130.8 points per game while shooting 54.5% overall and 47.3% from three

• Injuries- Benedict Mathurin is OUT. Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell, and Isaiah Wong are questionable

Chicago Bulls

• Enter tonight on three-game losing streak

  • Losses to Rockets, Celtics, and Wizards

  • Own -8.3 Net Rating in that time

• Defense has disappeared in recent games

  • 123.0 Defensive Rating in last three games- 26th in NBA and up from season rating of 115.6

  • Opponents averaging 119.3 points per game while shooting 47.1% overall

• Injuries- Zach Lavine, Patrick Williams, and Julian Phillips are OUT. Alex Caruso is questionable

What’s the Play?

It might be tough for the Pacers to find energy at the end of a five-game road trip, ut we agree with our model that Indiana is in a good spot to win and cover the spread despite any fatigue the team may have.

The Pacers have been lighting it up on the offensive end during their road trip, and it has resulted in a +43 point differential and +11.6 Net Rating across the last four games. Even with some injuries, Indiana’s offense is still running like a well-oiled machine, and the blazing hot shooting from behind the arc makes the Pacers a massive threat to run a struggling Bulls team out of the gym here.

The Pacers’ defense is always a little unpredictable, but even if they struggle on that end, the Pacers should have no problems surpassing Chicago’s offensive production here. We’ll back the Pacers to close out the road trip on a high note.

The Play: Pacers -2.5 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Los Angeles Clippers- 44-27 overall this season, 22-14 as the away team

• Indiana Pacers- 41-32 overall this season, 20-17 as the away team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Chicago Bulls- Over is 40-31-1 this season, highest win percentage in NBA

• Oklahoma City Thunder- Over is 37-31-3 this season, 17-16-2 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Indiana Pacers- 39-32-3 against the spread (ATS) this season, 20-15-1 ATS as the away team

• Oklahoma City Thunder- 41-29-1 ATS this season, 19-11 ATS as a home favorite

🔎 NBA launches investigation into Jontay Porter due to prop bets. The NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for potential misconduct related to prop bets in games against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings. Porter's performance in these games, where he played limited minutes due to injury and illness, coincidentally resulted in high winnings for bettors on prop bets involving him. NBA rules prohibit players and staff from betting on league events, with penalties ranging from fines to contract termination. Porter, who is on a non-guaranteed contract with the Raptors, is currently listed as out for personal reasons and has not commented on the investigation.

💪 Thunder lose 20-point lead, still beat Pelicans. The Oklahoma City Thunder maintained their composure despite losing a 20-point second-half lead, ultimately securing a 119-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Jalen Williams played a crucial role, scoring four of his 26 points in the final half-minute, as the Thunder mounted a 12-0 run in the last 2:31 to seal the win. Thunder guard Josh Giddey emphasized their team's resilience, stating, "We don’t flinch," while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 24 points, including a tying 3-pointer with 1:29 remaining, despite playing through a sore quadriceps.

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- Former NFL quarterback Blake Bortles and NBA center Tacko Fall were star athletes at what university prior to their pro careers?

Question #2- The Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles selected quarterbacks with the first and second overall picks in the 2016 NFL Draft. Who were the players selected with those picks?

Question #3- Who led the MLB in home runs during the 2018 season, hitting 48 total?

Anyone know what has happened on March 27th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On March 27th…

1988- Mark McCumber wins the PGA Tour’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. McCumber shot an incredible 15-under par for the tournament, defeating runner-up Mike Reid by four strokes and setting a new Players Championship scoring record. McCumber’s record would stand until 1997, when Steve Elkington shot 16-under par to win.

1991- The NCAA bans the University of Minnesota football team from postseason play for the 1991-92 season. The ban resulted from several infractions, which included head coach Lou Holtz giving cash to players. The Golden Gophers went on to finish the season with a 2-9 record and in last in the Big 10 Conference.

1998- The Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks play a regular season game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. An impressive 62,046 people attended the contest, which at the time was an NBA record for attendance. Chicago would go on to win the game 89-74, led by Michael Jordan’s 34 points.

1. University of Central Florida

2. Jared Goff, Carson Wentz

3. Khris Davis