In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter presented by SportSense Premium…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

MLB Model Predictions- Click Here

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

Money Line Predictions: 9-1

Over/Under Predictions: 4-6

Run Line Predictions: 7-3

Featured Matchup: 0-1

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

Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Model Predicts- Thunder ML, OVER 218, Thunder -3.5

The Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder will square off on Tuesday night, marking the start of the Western Conference Semi Finals for both teams.

Dallas enters the second round well rested, last playing on May 3rd after sending the Los Angeles Clippers home in six games. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City has not stepped on the court since April 29th, a result of taking down the New Orleans Pelicans in four games to begin the postseason.

Both teams didn’t face much pressure in Round 1 and enter Round 2 with plenty of rest, but our model projects the Thunder to defend home court tonight and simultaneously cover the spread. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Dallas Mavericks

• Beat Clippers in six games in Round 1

  • 2 wins on road, 2 wins at home

  • +40 point differential and +6.4 Net Rating in series (4th best of playoff teams)

• Shooting efficiency and scoring depth could pose problems moving forward

  • Shot poorly vs L.A.- 46.5% overall and 33.5% from three. Ranked in bottom half of playoff teams in both categories

  • Doncic (29.8 ppg) and Irving (26.5) ppg) scoring 52.6% of teams points. Only one other player (PJ Washington) averaging more than 10.0 ppg in playoffs

• Injuries- Maxi Kleber, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Greg Brown are OUT, Luka Doncic is questionable

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Had no problems beating Pelicans in Round 1

  • Won four games to zero. +63 point differential and +16.2 Net Rating in series (2nd best among playoff teams)

• Suffocating defense is biggest strength in playoffs

  • 93.5 Defensive Rating in Round 1- best among playoff teams by 6.5 points. Ranked 4th in Def. Rating in regular season (111.0)

  • Held Pelicans to 89.5 points per game, 39.6% shooting overall, and 26.7% from three

• Injuries- Olivier Sarr is OUT

What’s the Play?

Both Dallas and Oklahoma City have had impressive starts to the postseason, but we agree with our model that the Thunder are in a great position to win and cover the spread tonight.

Oklahoma City took care of Dallas rather easily during the regular season, posting a 3-1 record along with a +6.2 Net Rating. Oklahoma City was even better against Dallas while at home, recording a perfect 2-0 record and stellar +26.2 Net Rating, showing that their production on both ends improves dramatically while in a familiar environment.

Additionally, the Thunder have far more depth than the Mavericks, with five players averaging at least 11.0 points per game after Round 1. Oklahoma City can attack from just about everywhere on the floor, and it will be difficult for Doncic and Irving to keep pace on their own. Expect another solid performance from the Thunder tonight.

The Play: Thunder -3.5 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Oklahoma City Thunder- 61-25 overall this season, 35-8 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Oklahoma City Thunder- Over is 45-38-3 this season, 21-20-2 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Oklahoma City Thunder- 49-36-1 against the spread (ATS) this season, 24-13 ATS as a home favorite, and 3-1 ATS in postseason

🐺 Timberwolves dominate Nuggets to take 2-0 series lead. Led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves dominated the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 victory, showcasing a stellar defensive performance that surprised many. Despite missing key defender Rudy Gobert, the Wolves held the Nuggets to a meager 29-of-83 shooting, including 9-0f-30 from behind the arc. Towns and Edwards both scored 27 points, propelling the Wolves to a 6-0 playoff record, with four of those wins coming on the road.

🏆 Spurs’ Wembanyama wins Rookie of the Year. Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs was unanimously named the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2023-24 season, capping off a remarkable debut season. He outshone Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets for the award, earning 98 first-place votes. Wembanyama's impressive stats included 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and an NBA-leading 3.6 blocks per game, making him only the second rookie since Manute Bol in 1995-96 to lead the league in blocks.

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- American swimmer Michael Phelps won 28 Olympic medals in his career. How many of those medals were gold medals?

Question #2- What NBA player has won the most scoring titles in league history, collecting 10 in his career?

Question #3- Former MLB pitcher Tim Lincecum spent a majority of his career with the San Francisco Giants, but played for what other West Coast team in his final MLB season?

Anyone know what has happened on May 7th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 7th…

1978- Former NBA player Shawn Marion is born in Waukegan, Illinois. Marion came onto the basketball scene during his time at Clarksville High School in Tennessee, and would eventually play college basketball at Vincennes University before transferring to UNLV. He would then be selected with the No.9 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, and would play for four other teams in his career.

1994- The Denver Nuggets defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Playoffs. Seattle jumped out to an early 2-0 series lead, but Denver recorded three straight wins and a +30 point differential over the final three games to win the series. It was the first time in NBA history that a No.8 seed defeated a No.1 seed in a postseason series.

2021- Cincinnati Reds pitcher Wade Miley throws a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. It took Miley 114 pitches to record 27 outs, striking out eight and walking just one batter along the way. Miley’s no-hitter was the fourth of the 2021 MLB season, and the second thrown against the Indians in the month of May.

1. 23

2. Michael Jordan

3. Los Angeles Angels