In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NBA, 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’s performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 2-2

Over/Under Predictions: 3-1

Spread Predictions: 3-1

Featured Matchup: 0-1

10 NBA games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all 10 matchups can be found below.

Golden State Warriors @ Memphis Grizzlies

Model Predicts- Warriors ML, OVER 224.5, Warriors -8

The Golden State Warriors will begin a five-game road trip on Friday night, with the first stop coming in Memphis, Tennessee to take on the Grizzlies.

Golden State enters tonight’s battle with a sub-par 20-24 record, but recently got back in the win column with a 119-107 win over the 76ers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Memphis sits in 13th place in the Western Conference with a 18-30 record following a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night.

The spread for tonight’s game sits at eight points, but our model projects the Warriors to win this matchup by nearly 12 points. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Golden State Warriors

• Poor month of January

  • Posted 5-7 record in 12 games

  • -2.4 Net Rating for month ranked 21st in NBA

• Offense was still elite despite not winning many games

  • 121.9 Offensive Rating in January- 2nd best in NBA

  • Shot 50.3% from floor and 40.0% as a team

• Injuries- Chris Paul, Gary Payton II, Dario Saric, and Moses Moody are OUT. Draymond Green is questionable

Memphis Grizzlies

• Suffered loss to Cavaliers last night

  • Lost 108-101. Shot 41% overall and 32% from three

  • Have now lost three straight games

• Offense is worst in NBA

  • Rank 30th in Offensive Rating (107.7) this season. Has fallen to 104.5 in last three games

  • Have been held to 105 points or less in six of last ten games

• Injuries- Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Derrick Rose, Jake LaRavia, Luke Kennard, Ziaire Williams will all either be out or in danger of missing tonight’s game

What’s the Play?

The injury bug has hit both Golden State and Memphis hard in recent weeks, but we agree with our model that the Warriors still have a sizable advantage in this one.

As previously mentioned, this will be the second leg of a back-to-back for Memphis, a situation in which the Grizzles have struggled this season. Per TeamRankings, the Grizzlies are just 1-7 straight up and 4-4 against the spread when playing with no rest this season, while Golden State is 6-2 against the spread when it has the rest advantage.

The Warriors may not have won many games last month, but their offense was amongst the best in the league and is miles ahead of the Grizzlies. That, combined with the rest advantage, tip the scales heavily in Golden State’s favor here.

The Play: Warriors -8 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Indiana Pacers- 27-22 overall this season, 7-3 as a home underdog

• Houston Rockets- 22-25 overall this season, 17-9 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Los Angeles Clippers- Under is 26-19-1 this season, 14-9 as the away team

• Golden State Warriors- Over is 27-17 this season, 10-8 as the away team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Golden State Warriors- 6-2 against the spread (ATS) when owning the rest advantage

🤕 Joel Embiid out indefinitely with meniscus injury. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with a lateral meniscus injury, leading to an uncertain recovery timeline. The 29-year-old, already grappling with knee soreness, left Tuesday's game against the Golden State Warriors early after Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on his left leg. This injury adds to Embiid's history of meniscus issues, including a previous tear in his rookie season and a revealed tear in his right knee during the 2021 postseason.

🔄 Memphis trades Adams to Houston for Victor Oladipo. The Memphis Grizzlies have exchanged Steven Adams with the Houston Rockets in return for Victor Oladipo, despite neither player stepping for on the court this season, along with two second-round picks in 2024 and one in 2025. Adams, who has been sidelined this season due to right knee surgery, is expected to fully recover for the 2024-25 season. The 30-year-old center was originally acquired by the Grizzlies in a 2021 three-team trade involving Jonas Valanciunas and the draft rights to Trey Murphy, and he averaged 8.6 points and 11.5 rebounds in 42 games last season.

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- Eli Manning was originally drafted by what NFL team before being traded to the New York Giants?

Question #2- Who leads the NBA in three-point shooting % at 49.8%?

Question #3- What MLB stadium contains the most seats?

Anyone know what has happened on February 2nd throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On February 2nd…

1987- Kansas City Royals pitcher Dennis Leonard retires from the MLB. Leonard pitched for the Royals from 1974-1986, posting at least 20 wins in three seasons. He would end his career with 144 wins and a 3.70 ERA, and is now a member of the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame.

2012- Sam Gagner records eight points for the Edmonton Oilers in a win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton won the game 8-4, with Gagner scoring four goals and adding four assists. He became the first NHL player since 1989 to record eight points in a single game.

2020- The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. Kansas City scored 31 points to San Francisco’s 20, erasing a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter by outscoring the 49ers 21-0 in the final 15 minutes. It was the first Super Bowl win for the Chiefs in 50 years.

1. San Diego Chargers

2. Grayson Allen

3. Oakland Coliseum