In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of predictions to go around yesterday across the NBA 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: 0-1

Over/Under Predictions: 1-0

Spread Predictions: 0-1

3-star Predictions: 1-0

Money Line Predictions: 0-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-0

Puck Line Predictions: 0-0

3-star Predictions: 0-0

Money Line Predictions: 2-9 (on the wrong end of every walk off)

Over/Under Predictions: 5-5-1

Run Line Predictions: 7-4

3-star Predictions: 0-0

The Western Conference Finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets is set to continue in the Mile High City on Thursday night. Denver got the best of LA in Game 1, winning by a score of 132-126 in a game that saw zero defense.

Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets

Model Predicts- Nuggets ML, UNDER 227, Nuggets -5.5

The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets will continue their best-of-seven series on Thursday night in the Mile High City.

Denver won Game 1 of the series, looking to extend its lead to 2-0. The Nuggets were up by nearly 20 points at halftime in Game 1, but a second half collapse on the defensive end allowed the Lakers to cut the deficit to six.

Zero defense was played in Game 1, a surprise considering how well these two teams have defended in the postseason. Will Los Angeles and Denver clean things up on that end of the floor now that both have a game under their belt, or will we see another shootout?

Los Angeles Lakers

Defense has been the Lakers’ biggest strength in the postseason, but LA was simply nonexistent on that end of the floor in Game 1.

Denver went into halftime with 72 points, ending the game with 132 points overall. The Lakers couldn’t seem to find an answer for much of Denver’s offense, surrendering 50 points in the paint and allowing the Nuggets to shoot 47% from behind the arc.

Defense has been a struggle on the road for Los Angeles, where it is now 2-5 in the postseason. Per NBA.com LA owns a 117.6 road Defensive Rating in those seven matchups, nearly 20 points worse than its home Defensive Rating (98.2) in the postseason.

However, if there is one thing that the Lakers can hang their hat on its that the offense showed up in Game 1. LA essentially matched Denver from an efficiency standpoint, shooting 55% from the floor overall and 46% from behind the arc. Los Angeles even had the edge at the charity stripe, shooting 88% of 26 attempts, four more attempts than Denver.

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic was the star of Game 1, proving to any doubters that he is still arguably the best player in the NBA despite not winning the MVP award for the third season in a row.

Jokic was unstoppable on the offensive end in Game 1, tallying 34 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists in 42 minutes. He shot 70.6% from the floor overall and a perfect 100% from behind the arc, also blocking three shots in what was one of the more dominant performances we have seen in the postseason.

The offense didn’t stop there for Denver. Jamal Murray contributed with 31 points of his own, and four more players scored at least 12 points. This is probably the deepest offense left in the playoffs, and it was on full display in Game 1.

However, the defensive struggles in Game 1 are a small concern. LA is only shooting 33.8% from three in the postseason, but as previously mentioned shot 46% in Game 1. Anthony Davis also bullied Jokic on the inside, going for 40 points. Denver ranks 22nd in the NBA in points allowed in the paint (51.8), per TeamRankings, which might be the biggest issue they face against a Lakers team that does very well inside.

What’s the Play?

Game 1 was an offensive clinic, but we agree with our model that the scoring is likely to slow down in Game 2.

Coming out of the gates hot on the offensive end has been common for the Lakers in the postseason, but in Game 2 the offense has cooled off. In Round 1 LA scored 128 points in Game 1, but followed that up with just 93 in Game 2. The same thing happened last round against Golden State, with LA scoring 117 points in Game 1 and 100 points in Game 2.

The same has been true for Denver, at least in Round 2. The Nuggets scored 125 points in Game 1 against Phoenix, but just 97 in Game 2.

Teams always adjust after Game 1 and we oftentimes see dramatically different performances. At the end of the day the Lakers own the third-best Defensive Rating in the postseason (108.6), and in seven home playoff games Denver’s Defensive Rating is 108.5. We expect the defenses to take control in Game 2, allowing for a low scoring contest.

3-star play: Under 227 (-110)

Money Line Trends💰

• Los Angeles Lakers- 8-5 overall in postseason, 2-5 as the away team

• Denver Nuggets- 9-3 overall in postseason, 7-0 as the home team

Over/Under Trends↕️

• Los Angeles Lakers- Under is 6-7 overall in the postseason, 2-5 as the away team with average total of 227.43

• Denver Nuggets- Under is 5-7 overall in postseason, 4-3 as the home team with average total of 219.86

Spread Trends➕➖

• Los Angeles Lakers- 9-4 against the spread (ATS) in postseason, 3-4 ATS as the away team

• Denver Nuggets- 7-5 ATS in postseason, 5-2 ATS as the home team

Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets

• Los Angeles Lakers

  • LeBron James (Game Time Decision), Anthony Davis (Game Time Decision), Mo Bamba (OUT)

• Denver Nuggets

  • Collin Gillespie (OUT)

🔥 The Miami Heat keep on rolling. The Miami Heat are the No.8 seed in the Eastern Conference, but if the postseason has taught us anything its that the number next to the team does not matter. The Heat stole Game 1 in Boston last night, winning 123-116 in Miami’s ninth win of the playoffs. The Heat were down nine points at the half, but a 46-point third quarter blew the doors open and Miami never looked back. Game 2 will be played in Boston on Friday.

🎤 Bucks interview Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. Will Kelvin Sampson make the leap from college ball to the NBA? It certainly appears to be a possibility. Per Adrian Wojnarowski, the Milwaukee Bucks interviewed the current Houston Cougars head coach following the dismissal of Mike Budenholzer. Over the last six years Sampson owns a 176-34 record at Houston, resulting in five NCAA tournament appearances. Sampson was once a member of the Bucks coaching staff from 2008-2011, so a reunion could be on the horizon.

📈 James Harden intends to hit the market. James Harden appears to be on a quest to find the shiniest new toy in the back half of his career, resulting in him declining his $35.6 million player option in order to hit the free agent market. Harden declined a $47.4 million option last season to take a pay cut, which in theory should have helped the 76ers. However, as we all know Philadelphia lost in the second round once again, fired its head coach, and now will likely be losing a 10-time All-Star and the NBA’s assist leader last season.

The NHL is finally back on the schedule, with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.

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

Money Line Trends💰

• Florida Panthers- 8-4 overall in postseason, 6-1 as the away team

• Carolina Hurricanes- 8-3 overall in postseason, 5-1 as the home team

Over/Under Trends↕️

• Florida Panthers- Over is 5-7 overall in postseason, but went 0-5 in Round 2 against Toronto. Over is 3-4 as the away team with average total of 6.14

• Carolina Hurricanes- Over is 7-4 overall in postseason, 3-3 as the home team with average total of 5.50

Puck Line Trends➕➖

• Florida Panthers- Puck line is 9-3 overall in postseason, 6-1 as the away team

• Carolina Hurricanes- Puck line is 5-6 overall in postseason, 2-4 as the home team

Florida Panthers @ Carolina Hurricanes

• Florida Panthers

  • No Players

• Carolina Hurricanes

  • Teuvo Teravainen (Day-to-Day), Andrei Svechnikov (OUT)

😒 Coyotes don’t get awarded a new stadium. Yesterday was a sad day for Arizona Coyotes fans. A vote took place that would decide whether or not an entertainment district would be built in Tempe, Arizona, which included a new stadium for the Coyotes. However, residents voted against the entertainment district, meaning that Arizona will be without an official home for quite some time. For now it appears that the Coyotes will play at Arizona State’s arena, which only seats 4,600 people, the team’s third arena since relocating to Arizona.

😈 Lindy Ruff staying put in New Jersey. Devils head coach Lindy Ruff’s contract expires next month, but it appears that both him and the Devils will come to an agreement on new terms in the near future. Ruff’s record with New Jersey is just 98-98-24, but he ranks fifth on the NHL’s all-time wins list and led the Devils to the postseason for the first time since 2018 this season. New Jersey beat the Rangers in Round 1, but lost to the Hurricanes in five games in Round 2.

There are only six MLB games scheduled to take place, much fewer than we have seen over the last few days. That is great news in our opinion, because the MLB model has been on the wrong end of every walk off this week and the small schedule gives some time for the data to readjust.

However, due to some gaps in the early season data, our model has predictions for four of today’s matchups.

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

Money Line Trends💰

• Baltimore Orioles- 28-15 overall this season, 15-7 as the home team

• Toronto Blue Jays- 25-18 overall this season, 13-5 as the home team

Over/Under Trends↕️

• Toronto Blue Jays- Under is 21-20-2 overall this season, 11-6-1 as the home team

• Chicago White Sox- Over is 23-18-3 overall this season, 13-7-1 as the home team, and 2-0 in series with Cleveland

Run Line Trends➕➖

• Cleveland Guardians- Run line is 10-6 this season as an underdog, 5-4 as a road underdog

• Los Angeles Angels- Run line is 14-11 overall as the away team, 12-5 as an underdog

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

⚾️ The day of the Walk-Off. As you can see at the top of the newsletter, our model had a poor performance when it came to picking MLB money line winners. For most of nine innings it was on the right track, but late game heroics tanked the model’s overall performance. Two of yesterday’s model predictions lost in the bottom of the ninth or in extra innings because of walk off home runs, and and two additional predictions lost when a team blew a lead in the bottom of the seventh or eighth inning. But hey, you can’t win them all, and at least we were given some great games yesterday.

🤕 Machado fractures hand after being hit by pitch. Manny Machado was the victim of a baseball that came a little too inside and hit him in the hand in Monday’s matchup against the Kansas City Royals. The hit-by-pitch resulted in a small fracture in Machado’s hand, but it is unclear whether or not he will miss time with the injury. Machado, and the Padres team as a whole, have gotten off to a slow start this season, with the third baseman hitting just .231 with five home runs and 19 RBI’s in 40 appearances.

❌ Domingo Germán suspended 10 games. New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán has been suspended 10 games for violating the MLB’s foreigh substance policy. Germán was ejected in Tuesday’s matchup against the Blue Jays in the fourth inning after the umpire felt his “extremely stick” hands. Germán insists that it was just rosin on his hands, but video evidence might indicate otherwise. We’ll let you be the judge.

🎮 EA Sports is bringing back its NCAA Football video game. There are always plenty of surprises in the ever changing world of college sports, especially since college athletes can now cash in on their name, image, and likeness. As a result, EA Sports is bringing its NCAA Football video game back from the dead, releasing the newest version in 2024. The last time the video game was created was in 2014, and every eligible NCAA player will have the opportunity to receive compensation for appearing in the game.

🟧 ⬜️ An NFL Academy player signs with Tennessee. To those who are unaware, the NFL Academy is a program that provides teenagers from around the world the opportunity to learn the game of football and go to school in order to get the chance to play in the United States. That is exactly what Emmanuel Okoye did the last several years, ultimately leading to signing with the Tennessee Volunteers yesterday. Okoye is from Lagos, Nigeria but has gone to school and trained at the NFL Academy in Loughborough, England.

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. Nowadays the television is a large part of our lives, but obviously that was not always the case. It wasn’t until 1939 that the first sporting event, a baseball game, was televised in the United States. What teams went head-to-head in that game? (Hint- it is two college teams)

2. Baseball is one of the toughest sports to play, which is why owning a batting average above .300 is considered the bench mark for a terrific hitter. However, one player made hitting the baseball look exceptionally easy, setting the MLB record for hits with 4,256 and batting .303 for his career. Who was that player?

3. Distance running is the ultimate test of a human’s physical and mental endurance, with the marathon being the hardest distance for many people to accomplish. Eliud Kipchoge, who many consider the greatest distance runner ever, has tackled the marathon several times, even running the 26.2 miles in under two hours. What was Kipchoge’s average mile time when he ran the sub two-hour marathon?

Anyone know what has happened on May 18th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 18th…

1983- Former NFL and Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young is born in Houston, Texas. Young would go on to have a stellar college career at Texas, finishing as the Heisman runner-up in 2005 behind Reggie Bush before being selected third overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. Young would only play six seasons in the NFL but was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and was even on the Madden cover in 2008.

1988- Oakland Athletics pitcher Dave Stewart sets the MLB record for balks in a season with 12. The craziest part is that Stewart would set the record only 39 games into the season, eventually ending the year with 16 balks. The spike in balks was due to a change in the definition of a “complete stop” for a pitcher, causing MLB umpires to call 924 balks in the 1988 season and the Oakland A’s to set a record with 76 by season’s end.

2004- Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson becomes the 16th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game in a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. At the age of 40 years old, Johnson was the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game. Johnson threw 117 pitches in the matchup, 87 of which were strikes, and struck out 13 of the 27 batters he faced.

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1. Columbia and Princeton

2. Pete Rose

3. 4:34.50