In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of predictions to go around yesterday across the NBA, NHL, and MLB, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions and making it a 3-star Play. That prediction went 1-0 overall, and you can see how each of the models performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Spread Predictions: 1-0

3-star Predictions: 1-0

Money Line Predictions: 0-1

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Puck Line Predictions: 1-0

3-star Predictions: 0-0

Money Line Predictions: 5-7

Over/Under Predictions: 6-6

Run Line Predictions: 8-4

3-star Predictions: 0-0

☘️ Celtics stay alive, avoid elimination in Miami. It took a little bit for Boston to get things going on the offensive end, but everything started to click in the second half and it allowed the Celtics to win Game 4 116-99. Boston outscored Miami 66-43 in the second half, a similar offensive explosion and margin that we saw from the Nuggets in their comeback to defeat the Lakers a few nights ago. Jayson Tatum led the way with 33 points, and the Celtics had five other players join him in double figures. Game 5 will be played in Boston on Thursday.

🚀 Houston wants every free agent on the market. After finishing the season with a 22-60 record and getting the No.4 overall pick in this year’s draft, it wouldn’t appear that the Houston Rockets would have the talent necessary to turn the franchise around in just one season. However, several big names, such as James Harden, have already been tied to the Rockets as targets in free agency. As Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported yesterday, Dillon Brooks, Austin Reeves, Brook Lopez, and Cam Johnson are all on Houston’s radar this offseason too, making the Rockets one of the more intriguing teams before the NBA season has even ended. It is also being reported that Houston is targeting Chris Paul if he becomes available, which makes it seem like every NBA player on the market has a chance to become a Rocket in 2023.

☀️ Phoenix closing in on a head coach. The Phoenix Suns relieved Monty Williams of his coaching duties after a second round loss to the Nuggets a short time ago, but it appears that the franchise is getting closer to finding its new bench boss. Per Shams Charania, the Suns have narrowed down their coaching search to five candidates, which includes Nick Nurse, Doc Rivers, Frank Vogel, Jordi Fernandez (assistant for Sacramento), and Kevin Young (associate for the Suns). Williams was just one of several coaches to be fired despite having a great resume, and it looks like there is a chance that another fired coach replaces him in Phoenix’s quest for a title.

There is only one NHL game scheduled to take place this evening, but it is a big one as the Florida Panthers look to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes and advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Our model thinks the Hurricanes are still good enough to get back in the win column, but things certainly don’t look great for the Hurricanes.

There are no 3-star plays in the NHL today.

Money Line Trends💰

• Carolina Hurricanes- 8-6 overall in postseason, 3-3 as the away team

• Florida Panthers- 11-4 overall in postseason, 3-3 as the home team. Have won nine of last ten games.

Over/Under Trends↕️

• Carolina Hurricanes- Over is 7-7 overall in postseason, 4-2 as the away team with average total of 6.00

• Florida Panthers- Over is 5-10 overall in postseason, 0-8 in last eight games with average total of 4.13

Puck Line Trends➕➖

• Carolina Hurricanes- Puck line is 6-8 overall in postseason, 4-2 as the away team

• Florida Panthers- Puck line is 11-4 overall in postseason, 3-3 as the home team

Carolina Hurricanes @ Florida Panthers

• Carolina Hurricanes

  • Andrei Svechnikov (OUT)

• Florida Panthers

  • Aleksander Barkov (Day-to-Day)

👀 Vegas stuns Dallas on the road, goes up 3-0. The Vegas Golden Knights continue to prove why they were the Western Conference’s No.1 overall seed entering the postseason. Despite being underdogs last night, the Golden Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first eight minutes of regulation, eventually going on to defeat Dallas 4-0. Adin Hill was the star for Vegas, saving all 34 shots that came his way. Vegas is now just one win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 2017-2018 season, their first season in the NHL.

😬 Stars fans not happy with the refs in Game 3. There was obviously going to be some frustration amongst Dallas fans and players last night, and it led to a plethora of issues throughout last night’s game. Stars captain Jaime Benn was ejected for cross-checking Vegas’ Mark Stone in the head, which led to a small scuffle, and then fans threw food and water bottles all over the ice in retaliation to the refs. The second period was forced to end 21 seconds early due to the mess, and if it was up to Dallas I’m sure they would’ve rather just stayed in the locker room.

There are 15 MLB games scheduled to take place today, with plenty of them occurring in the early afternoon. However, due to some gaps in the early season data, our model has predictions for 11 of today’s matchups.

Due to time constraints we do not have a full analysis of today’s 3-star play. However, we agree with our model that Over 9 in the Rangers/Pirates matchup is a 3-star play.

Money Line Trends💰

• Texas Rangers- 30-18 overall this season, 14-10 as the away team

• Baltimore Orioles- 31-17 overall this season, 16-9 as the away team

• Los Angeles Dodgers- 31-19 overall, 14-12 as the away team

Over/Under Trends↕️

• Texas Rangers- Over is 29-17-2 overall this season, 20-8-1 when coming off of a win

• San Diego Padres- Under is 31-15-2 overall this season, highest win percentage in MLB

• Oakland Athletics- Over is 28-20-2 overall this season, 16-8-1 as the away team

Run Line Trends➕➖

• Toronto Blue Jays- Run line is 9-6 overall this season as an underdog

• Baltimore Orioles- Run line is 31-17 overall this season, 19-6 as the away team, 12-2 as a road underdog

• Washington Nationals- Run line is 30-18 overall this season

Various injuries around the league. See full injury report at MLB.com

🐦 Toronto CRUSHES Tampa Bay on the road. Before last night, the Toronto Blue Jays were in the midst of s five-game losing skid in which they failed to ever score above five runs. However, the Blue Jays turned things around last night against an AL East rival, the Tampa Bay Rays, scoring 20 runs and tallying 27 hits. Toronto’s pitching staff dominated as well, led by José Berríos, allowing just one run and six hits. The Jays are still in last place in the loaded AL East, but the recent offensive explosion is a good sign moving forward.

💪 Bobby Miller posts strong MLB debut for the Dodgers. Bobby Miller was called up to the big leagues to make his first start in the MLB against the Atlanta Braves last night. Miller put together an excellent performance, going 5.0 innings while allowing just four hits, one earned run, and striking out five batters. His 5.65 ERA in Triple-A had some people questioning whether or not he was ready for the majors, but last night proved why the Dodgers organization is so high on Miller.

🔥 Nathan Eovaldi stays hot on the mound. Eovaldi’s signing with the Texas Rangers in the offseason was overshadowed by the acquisition of Jacob deGrom, but he has proven to be worth every penny so far in the young season. Eovaldi is now 6-2 this season with a 2.60 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 69.1 innings, and last night’s performance against Pittsburgh was his second complete game in his last five starts. Eovaldi allowed just one run on five hits in the matchups, which was also his tenth start with at least five strikeouts.

🤕 Aaron Rodgers picks up his first injury as a Jet. Well the didn’t take long. Aaron Rodgers has reportedly injured his calf in his first practice in front of media since being traded from Green Bay last month. The 39-year-old never even made it past warmups, picking up the injury in conditioning drills. However, Rodgers stated later on that he does not consider the injury to be an issue, which is great news Jets fans.

⚡️ Austin Ekeler is staying with the Chargers. Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler requested a trade back in March due to contract extension talks falling through, but it appears that the star ball carrier will stay in LA for one more season. According to Adam Schefter, Ekeler and the Chargers have agreed to add $1.75 million in incentives to Ekeler’s current contract, although the exact terms have not been made public yet. He is set to become a free agent after this season.

👋 Broncos release Brandon McManus. Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus was the last man standing from the Super Bowl 50 roster, but it was announced yesterday that the 31-year-old has been let go by the team. McManus played with the Broncos for nine seasons, becoming the second-highest scorer in franchise history with 946 points.

👀 Pat Narduzzi has some words for Deion Sanders. University of Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi was not shy when giving his thoughts on Deion Sanders’ overhaul of the Colorado roster this offseason. Sanders was quoted saying “I’m bringing my luggage with me… And it’s Louis” when first arriving in Colorado, resulting in at least 50 players entering the transfer portal. NCAA rules allow first-year head coaches to remove players from the roster as long as those players remain on scholarship, but Narduzzi believes that what Sanders is doing is a bad look for coaches and the NCAA.

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.

1. Bowling obviously isn’t the most physical sport in the world, but it is one of great entertainment. The goal in any game of bowling is to knock down as many pins as possible in one throw, and when all ten pins fall on the first throw it is known as a “strike”. What is it called when a bowler gets three strikes in a row?

2. Michael Jordan is mostly known for his stellar play on the basketball court, but some forget that Jordan took a break from basketball in his prime to pursue a career on the diamond. What team major league team did Jordan play for, although it was only in the minor leagues?

3. March Madness is an annual basketball tournament that brings together the best 64 teams in the NCAA to compete for a national title. Several big-name schools have the tournament since its creation, but one has several more appearances than the rest. Which school has appeared in the NCAA tournament more than anyone other program?

4. Venus and Serena Williams are considered by many to be one of the most dominant pair of siblings in sports. However, one sibling has had slightly more success than the other in their career. Which Williams sister has more grand slam titles, Venus or Serena?

Anyone know what has happened on May 24th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 24th…

1930- New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth homers in both games of a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics. The two home runs weren’t out of the ordinary for the slugger, but they were his eighth and ninth of home runs of the week. Ruth is widely regarded as the best two-way player in MLB history, ranking third on the all-time home run list (714) while simultaneously being one of two players to hit 100 home runs and strikeout 500 batters in his career. The other? Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.

1935- The first night game in MLB history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio between the Reds and Philadelphia Athletics. Cincinnati won game by a score of 2-1, with Paul Derringer going all nine innings on the mound for the Reds, allowing six hits and striking out three batters.

1979- NBA Hall of Fame forward Tracy McGrady is born in Bartow, Florida. McGrady was such a talented basketball player that he skipped the collegiate level to go straight to the pros, where he would be selected ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 1997 NBA Draft. He would go on to play for six additional teams in his NBA career, while in the process being selected to seven All-Star games, seven All-NBA teams, and winning two scoring titles.

1984- The Detroit Tigers win their 17th consecutive road game, setting an MLB record. As mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, the Tigers would go on to win the ALCS and World Series in 1984, winning 104 games in the regular season. The 104 wins were 15 more than any other team in the MLB that season, making Detroit one of the most dominant ball clubs of all-time.

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1. Turkey

2. Chicago White Sox

3. University of Kentucky

4. Serena Williams