In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NFL, NBA, and NHL, with our model focusing in on two of those predictions in our Featured Matchups. Those predictions went 1-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model’s performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Spread Predictions: 0-1

Featured Matchup: 0-1

Money Line Predictions: 6-2

Over/Under Predictions: 6-2

Spread Predictions: 4-4

Featured Matchup: 1-0

Money Line Predictions: 7-5

Over/Under Predictions: 7-5

Puck Line Predictions: 9-3

Featured Matchup: 0-0

A slow day of NBA basketball is on the horizon, with just 12 teams scheduled to hit the hardwood tonight. Our model’s predictions for tonight’s games are below.

Dallas Mavericks @ Houston Rockets

Model Predicts- Rockets ML, OVER 224.5, Rockets -8.5

The Dallas Mavericks will the make the journey to Houston, Texas to take on the Rockets on Friday night.

Dallas enters this matchup with a solid 16-11 record, but has recently fallen into a slump after losing two straight games. Houston is in a similar position, owning a 13-12 record for the season and entering tonight’s in-state battle on a three-game losing skid.

Neither one of these teams is trending in the right direction, but our model spots an edge on the Rockets tonight for a variety of reasons. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Dallas Mavericks

• 0-2 in last two games

  • Fell short to Nuggets and Clippers. -18.9 Net Rating in that stretch

• Poor defense has been catalyst for recent losses

  • Own 130.9 Defensive Rating in last 2 games

  • Opponents shooting 56.1% overall and 43.9% from three

• Everyone is injured

  • 6 players already announced as out, including Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively

Houston Rockets

• Struggling to find much of a rhythm

  • 0-3 in last three games. -6.6 Net Rating in that time

• Poor defensive has also caused losing skid, but still solid overall

  • 131.9 Defensive Rating in last 3 games. Still ranks in top-6 in category for season

  • Opponents shooting 44.3% overall and 32.4% from three this year

• Offense has been clicking despite recent losses

  • 125.3 Offensive Rating during losing streak. shooting 49.3% from floor and stellar 41.5% from three

What’s the Play?

It’s tough to back either one of these teams right now, but we agree with our model that Houston can cover the spread in this spot.

Dallas’ defense is already poor even when at full strength, and we have seen it falter even more with many of its stars sidelined. That poses a significant issue tonight against a red-hot scoring team like the Rockets, a team that is fully healthy and loaded with scoring talent.

Houston’s defense is bound to correct itself after recent struggles, and tonight could easily be that night against a depleted Mavericks squad. We feel this has the potential to be a blowout, so we’ll take Houston at -8.5.

The Play: Rockets -8.5 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Miami Heat- 16-12 overall this season, 7-6 as the home team

• Houston Rockets- 13-12 overall this season, 11-2 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Denver Nuggets- Under is 18-11 this season, 10-6 as the away team

• Dallas Mavericks- Over is 18-9 this season, 10-4 as the away team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Houston Rockets- 15-8-2 against the spread (ATS) this season, 4-1-1 ATS as a home favorite

😬 Pistons lose 25th straight game. Kelly Olynyk led Utah to a 119-111 victory against Detroit, marking the Pistons' 25th consecutive loss, just one shy of the NBA's single-season record shared by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. Detroit's struggles led to chants from the crowd urging the team's owner to sell, despite Cade Cunningham's belief that they're not as bad as their record indicates. Utah secured a hard-fought win despite missing key players in a back-to-back game, with Collin Sexton contributing 19 points and the team emphasizing rebounding as a crucial factor in their victory.

🐺 Edwards leads TWolves to win over Lakers. Anthony Edwards scored 27 points, guiding the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 118-111 victory over a LeBron James-less Lakers. Minnesota’s win came following a loss to the 76ers the night before, while the Lakers suffered their fourth consecutive loss. Despite Anthony Davis's strong performance and contributions from other players like Austin Reaves and Taurean Prince, the Lakers faced difficulties against the Wolves' defensive strength, with D'Angelo Russell highlighting the team's struggle to find consistency and deploy their optimal lineup.

Only four NHL games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all four matchups are below.

There is no NHL Featured Matchup today.

Money Line Trends 💰

• Philadelphia Flyers- 18-11-3 overall this season, 10-4-2 as the away team

• New York Rangers- 22-7-1 overall this season, 10-3 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Detroit Red Wings- Over is 19-13 this season with average total of 6.75

• Chicago Blackhawks- Under is 17-12-2 this season with average total of 5.94

Puck Line Trends ➕➖

• Philadelphia Flyers- Puck line is 22-10 this season

• Montreal Canadiens- Puck line is 20-12 this season

🚨 MacKinnon’s four goals lead to win over Senators. Nathan MacKinnon's four-goal performance fueled the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-4 comeback win against the Ottawa Senators, extending his career-best 17-game points streak. With Mikko Rantanen also scoring twice, MacKinnon's historic achievement marked the first four-goal game in Avalanche history. Despite Ottawa's resilience and attempts to challenge specific plays, including a failed offside challenge, the Avalanche capitalized on power plays and sealed the victory, ultimately aided by Alexandar Georgiev's 41 saves.

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- Trevelin Queen and what other current NBA player played college basketball at New Mexico State?

Question #2- Former MLB player Hunter Pence began his career with what team before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies?

Question #3- Who owns the second-highest field goal % in NFL history behind Justin Tucker?

Anyone know what has happened on December 22nd throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On December 22nd…

2003- The New York Knicks sign Isiah Thomas as the franchise’s President of Basketball Operations. Thomas’ stint in the front office would only last until 2006, as the Knicks had the highest payroll in the NBA but the second-worst record. His tenure will be remembered for trading several future draft picks for Eddy Curry, with those draft picks later turning into LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah.

2019- New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas sets the NFL record for most receptions in a season. The record setting catch came in a 38-28 victory over the Tennessee Titans, giving Thomas 144 receptions for the season. The previous record was 143, set by Marvin Harrison 17 years earlier.

2020- Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi scores his 644th goal for FC Barcelona. The goal came in a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid, and broke Pele’s record for the most goals scored with one club. Pele had scored 643 goals for Santos from 1956-1974.

1. Pascal Siakam

2. Houston Astros

3. Harrison Butker