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 two of those predictions and making them 3-star Plays. Those predictions went 0-2 overall, and you can see how each of the models performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Spread Predictions: 0-1

3-star Predictions: 0-1

Money Line Predictions: 1-1

Over/Under Predictions: 0-2

Puck Line Predictions: 1-1

3-star Predictions: 0-0

Money Line Predictions: 6-4

Over/Under Predictions: 6-4

Run Line Predictions: 7-3

3-star Predictions: 0-1

For the second day in a row there is only one NBA Playoff game scheduled, with tonight’s matchup taking place in San Francisco with the Los Angeles Lakers going head-to-head with the Golden State Warriors. Los Angeles got the better of the defending champs in Game 1 and lead the series 1-0.

Los Angeles Lakers @ Golden State Warriors

Model Predicts- Warriors ML, OVER 227.5, Warriors -5.5

The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors will square off in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night.

Los Angeles jumped out an early 1-0 series lead after a 117-112 win on Tuesday night. Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers with 30 points, but four other Lakers contributed with double-digit scoring.

Golden State couldn’t get much going in Game 1, and that has been the case for most of the season against the Lakers as the Warriors were just 1-3 in the season series and now 1-4 overall. Will we see the defending champs flip the script before hitting the road, or will the series go back to Los Angeles with the Lakers up 2-0?

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers didn’t utilize their bench very often in Game 1, only going nine deep in 48 minutes of play. Six players did most of the heavy lifting and played 25+ minutes, while Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, and Wenyen Gabriel each played 12 minutes or less.

Not tapping into the reserves didn’t seem to matter for Los Angeles. The six players that were on the court for at least 25 minutes combined to score 108 of the Lakers’ 117 points on 47% shooting, showing that LA’s starters can play big minutes and remain efficient.

The key for Los Angeles’ remaining success is going to be staying efficient from inside the arc, particularly in the paint. The Lakers outscored Golden State 54-28 in the paint in Game 1, which proved to be its only massive advantage in the matchup.

However, there is one area of concern for this Lakers team, which is its inability to shoot the three pointer consistently.

Per NBA.com the Lakers shot 34.6% from behind the arc in 82 regular season games, the sixth lowest percentage in the NBA. That percentage has dropped to 30.2% in seven postseason games, and in Game 1 on Tuesday the Lakers shot 24% from three. That percentage is going to have to rise to compete with Golden State.

Golden State Warriors

Golden State shot just 41% from the floor in Game 1, a percentage that isn’t going to win many basketball games. However, the volume of shots was truly something to behold and can be a massive advantage moving forward.

According to TeamRankings the Warriors averaged 90.5 shot attempts per game during the regular season. In Game 1 that number spiked to 106, 14 more shot attempts than the Lakers.

53 of those attempts came from behind the arc, which for most teams would result in disaster. However, the sharp shooting Warriors shot 40% from deep, once again showing that this squad is head and shoulders above the rest of the league when it comes to three-point shooting.

The high shot volume can be accredited to Golden State’s advantage on the offensive glass. Although the Warriors’ offensive rebound margin was just +1, it led to 14 second chance points which helped keep any deficit manageable.

What’s the Play?

Golden State has a massive advantage from behind the arc and a slim advantage on the offensive glass. That combination is the biggest edge a team can have in today’s NBA, and as a result we agree with our model that Golden State can bounce back and cover the spread here.

The biggest concern for Golden State in this series is its lack of offense in the paint, a team that ranked 28th in paint points per game in the regular season. However, despite being outscored by 26 points in the paint in Game 1 the Warriors only lost by five points. The loss was largely due to the fact that the Lakers attempted 29 free throws in the matchup while Golden State attempted six.

We expect the gap in three-point efficiency to continue to favor the Warriors but the margin in free throw attempts to get much smaller in Game 2. Combine that with Golden State’s 108.4 Defensive Rating at home this season and we have a recipe for a bounce back performance.

3-star play: Warriors -5.5 (-110)

Money Line Trends

• Los Angeles Lakers- 5-2 overall in postseason, 2-2 as road team

• Golden State Warriors- 4-4 overall in postseason, 2-2 as home team

Over/Under Trends

• Los Angeles Lakers- Over is 3-4 in postseason, 2-2 as away team with average total of 220.0

• Golden State Warriors- Over is 4-4 in postseason, 2-2 as home team with average total of 227.0

Spread Trends

• Los Angeles Lakers- 5-2 against the spread (ATS) in postseason, 2-2 ATS as away team

• Golden State Warriors- 3-5 ATS in postseason, 1-3 ATS as home team

Los Angeles Lakers @ Golden State Warriors

• Los Angeles Lakers

  • Mo Bamba (Game Time Decision)

• Golden State Warriors

  • Andre Iguodala (OUT), Patrick Baldwin (Game Time Decision), Ryan Rollins (OUT)

☘️ Celtics CRUSH 76ers in Game 2. The Boston Celtics demolished the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, winning by a final score of 121-87. Boston went into the half up just eight points, but a 16-point third quarter from the 76ers allowed the Celtics to blow the game open. Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon led the way with 25 and 23 points, respectively, and three other Celtics players reached double figures. Game 3 will take place on Friday in Philadelphia.

🏆 Monte McNair named Executive of the Year. Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair was named the 2022-23 Basketball Executive of the Year. Sacramento finished the regular season with a 48-34 record, good enough to make the Kings the No.3 seed in this year’s postseason. Sacramento would lose to Golden State in Round 1, but the playoff appearance was the first for the Kings since 2006 and ended the longest active playoff drought in North American sports.

⛳️ Curry, Thompson partners for The Match. Golden State’s Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been selected to be a team in The Match, which will take place in Las Vegas on June 29th. Curry and Thompson will go head-to-head with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs in what should be a competitive golf match with some of today’s best athletes.

Today we have two NHL games at our disposal. The Maple Leafs will look to get back on track on their home ice tonight and tie the series 1-1 before heading to Florida for a two-game set, and the Stars will look to even the series at 1-1 as well.

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

Money Line Trends

• Florida Panthers- 5-3 overall in postseason, 4-1 as the away team

• Toronto Maple Leafs- 4-3 overall in postseason, 1-3 as home team

• Seattle Kraken- 5-3 overall in postseason, 4-1 as away team

• Dallas Stars- 4-3 overall in postseason, 2-2 as home team

Over/Under Trends

• Florida Panthers- Over is 5-3 in postseason, 3-2 as away team with average total of 6.40

• Toronto Maple Leafs- Over is 4-3 in postseason with average total of 7.14, but 0-3 in last three games with average total of 5.00

• Seattle Kraken- Over is 2-6 in postseason, 1-4 as away team with average total of 5.2

• Dallas Stars- Over is 3-4 in postseason, 2-2 as home team with average total of 7.00

Puck Line Trends

• Florida Panthers- Puck line is 5-3 in postseason, 4-1 as road team

• Toronto Maple Leafs- Puck line is 2-5 in postseason, 1-3 as home team

• Seattle Kraken- Puck line is 6-2 in postseason, 5-0 as away team

• Dallas Stars- Puck line is 3-4 in postseason, 2-2 as home team

Florida Panthers @ Toronto Maple Leafs

• Florida Panthers

  • Ryan Lomberg (OUT)

• Toronto Maple Leafs

  • Matt Murray (OUT)

Seattle Kraken @ Dallas Stars

• Seattle Kraken

  • Jared McCann (OUT), Andre Burakovsky (OUT)

• Dallas Stars

  • No Players

🌧 Carolina dominates Game 1. The Carolina Hurricanes took care of business at home in Game 1, defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-1. By the start of the second period Carolina had a 3-0 lead, leading to the Devils to pull starting goalie Akira Schmid in favor of Vitek Vanecek. Carolina’s defense held New Jersey to just 18 shots on goal in what, for the most part, was a defensive matchup. Game 2 will take place on Friday.

🔟 Golden Knights win a ten-goal game. Opposite of the Carolina/New Jersey matchup, Game 1 of the Oilers and Golden Knights series did not see much defense. Ten goals were scored in total, with five coming in the first period. Jack Eichel’s empty net goal sealed the deal with 34 seconds left in the third period, giving Vegas a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Saturday.

There are 10 MLB games scheduled to take place today, with nine of those matchups starting before 4:15 pm Eastern Time. However, due to some gaps in early season data, our model has predictions for six of today’s matchups.

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

Money Line Trends

• Tampa Bay Rays- 25-6 overall this season, 16-2 as the home team

• Baltimore Orioles- 20-10 overall this season, 11-6 as the away team

• Milwaukee Brewers- 18-12 overall this season, 9-6 as the away team

Over/Under Trends

• Milwaukee Brewers- Under is 17-12-1 overall this season, 9-6 as the away team, and 9-1-1 when coming off a loss

• Colorado Rockies- Under is 18-13 overall this season, 2-0 in last two games

• St. Louis Cardinals- Under is 17-13-1 overall this season, 12-8 when coming off a loss

• Chicago White Sox- Over is 16-12-3 overall this season, 10-4-1 as the home team

Run Line Trends

• Chicago Cubs- Run line is 17-13 overall this season, 9-5 as the away team

• Baltimore Orioles- Run Line is 17-13 overall this season 11-6 as the away team, and 6-4 as an away favorite

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

⚾️ Shohei Ohtani makes history- Angels star Shohei Ohtani becomes the second player in MLB history to record 500 career strikeouts on the mound and 100 home runs as a hitter, joining Babe Ruth on the short list. Ohtani has dominated as a pitcher and hitter since making his debut in 2018, posting a 2.92 ERA and .263 batting average in his career.

🤕 Robbie Ray has Tommy John surgery. Seattle Mariners pitcher Robbie Ray had Tommy John surgery performed yesterday. He was originally suppoed to only have surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, but tests later on revealed that Ray also suffered a torn UCL. Seattle already announced that Ray would be out for the season, but the UCL surgery could extend that timeline into next season.

👎 Max Scherzer gets lit up in his return. New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was lit up his return against the Detroit Tigers, allowing six runs and eight hits in just 3.1 innings. Last night was the first time Scherzer was on the mound since being suspended ten games for having a “foreign substance” on his pitching hand in his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 19th.

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. Muhammad Ali is considered by most to the best boxer to ever step into the ring, even giving himself the nickname “The Greatest”. Ali owns a career record of 56-5, with one of those losses coming against a boxer in a three-fight series that is considered to be the most intense series ever. Who was the boxer that Ali fought in that series?

2. March Madness is a college basketball tournament that is beloved by people from all walks of life, an event that brings 64 schools together to fight for the National title. The tournament has had tons of upsets over the years, but none greater than the two times a No.16 seed beat a No.1 seed. Who were the two No.16 seeds to advance past Round 1 of the men’s tournament?

3. Guess the baseball player- I was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the last pick of the 1988 MLB draft, a pick that was made by Tommy Lasorda as a favor to my father. I would go on to be a 12-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and an MLB Hall of Fame inductee. Who am I?

Anyone know what has happened on May 4th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 4th…

2002- MLB legend Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a member of the San Francisco Giants in a 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Bonds became the first player in MLB history to hit 400 home runs for a franchise and 100 for another, in Bonds’ case the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would go on to hit 762 home runs in his career.

2015- Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is named the MVP of the 2014-2015 season. Curry would go on to lead Golden State to the NBA Finals that season, resulting in the franchise’s first title since 1975. Curry is now a four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP, and two-time NBA scoring leader in what has been a legendary career.

2018- Albert Pujols gets his 3,000th career hit in a 5-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. 33 total players are on the 3,000 hit list, but Pujols is one of seven players to also hit 500 home runs in their career. The 11-time All-Star and three-time MVP retired a member of the St. Louis Cardinals after last season, collecting 83 hits and 68 RBIs in 109 games.

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1. Joe Frazier

2. University of Maryland Baltimore County and Fairleigh Dickinson University

3. Mike Piazza