In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter presented by SportSense Premium…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

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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 1-0 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 0-2

Over/Under Predictions: 1-1

Spread Predictions: 2-0

Featured Matchup: 1-0

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

New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers

Model Predicts- Pacers ML, OVER 222.5, Pacers -7

The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers will continue their heated best-of-seven series on Friday, with the series shifting from New York to Indianapolis for Game 3.

New York defended home court early on in the series, posting a perfect 2-0 record inside Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are now a stellar 6-2 in the postseason, while the Pacers own a 4-4 record after eight playoff games.

Despite two early losses, the Pacers have been in position to win both games, and our model believes that the change in venue will be enough to get Indiana in the win column. Let’s take a look at why that is.

New York Knicks

• Continued stellar play on offensive end in Game 2

  • Won game 130-121. Shot 57% overall and 47% from three

• Defense and depth continue to be massive concerns moving forward

  • Own 119.1 Defensive Rating in postseason (13th out of 16 playoff teams). Has spiked to 125.3 in this series

  • Utilizing short rotation in playoffs- Only go 8 deep most nights. Starters have accounted for 81.9% of team’s points in playoffs

• Injuries are piling up- Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mitchell Robinson, Charlie Brown, and Duane Washington are OUT. Jalen Brunson is questionable

Indiana Pacers

• Was a tale of two halves in Game 2

  • 1st half- outscored Knicks 73-63 while shooting 57.1% overall and 52.6% from three

  • 2nd half- outscored 67-48 by Knicks while shooting 45.5% overall and 33.3% from three

• Have been elite at home during postseason

  • Own 3-0 record and +12.8 Net Rating in three home games (3rd out of 16 playoff teams)

  • Tables turn on defense- 114.2 Defensive Rating at home compared to 124.6 on road

• Injuries- Benedict Mathurin is OUT. Tyrese Haliburton is questionable

What’s the Play?

We’ve seen a massive shift in the spread for tonight’s game, as New York was a 4.5-point favorite in Game 2 and is now a 7-point underdog, but we agree with our model that that shift is sensible and will be taking the Pacers on the spread.

Defense and depth are New York’s most glaring weaknesses, and injuries are going to test both of those moving forward. It’s likely we see Jalen Brunson on the court tonight, but the absence of OG Anunoby, who is averaging 16.4 points per game in the playoffs and is a tremendous defender, is going to leave a massive hole in New York’s production on both ends of the floor. It’s unlikely his production is made up for too, as the Knicks have only scored 15 total points off the bench in this series and average 15.9 per game from their reserves in the postseason.

Indiana had a chance to win Games 1 and 2, posting at least a nine-point lead in both games. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be in those matchups, but we believe the Pacers are due to bounce back in a big way tonight.

The Play: Pacers -7 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Indiana Pacers- 51-40 overall this season, 3-0 as the home team in postseason

• Minnesota Timberwolves- 62-26 overall this season, 6-0 overall in postseason

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• New York Knicks- Over is 6-2 in postseason, 2-0 in second round with average total of 244.5

• Indiana Pacers- Over is 6-2 in postseason, 3-0 as the home team with average total of 232.0

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Indiana Pacers- 48-40-3 against the spread (ATS) this season, 24-18-2 ATS as the home team

💪 Cleveland routs Boston to even series. Donovan Mitchell's 29-point performance helped the Cleveland Cavaliers secure a 16-point lead against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, leading to a 118-94 victory. The Cavaliers bounced back from a 25-point loss in the first game to tie the Eastern Conference semifinal series at one apiece, with Mitchell leading the charge with his 33-point performance in the opener. The Cavaliers' strong defense and effective shooting paved the way for their impressive win, demonstrating their ability to succeed on the road after losing all three road games in Round 1 against Orlando.

🙌 Doncic leads Mavericks to first win against Thunder. Despite playing through injuries, Luka Doncic had a stellar performance on Thursday night with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 119-110 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to even the Western Conference semifinals. Doncic, battling a sprained right knee and a bloodied left knee, expressed how challenging the game was for him to stay on the floor, but continued playing due to Game 2 being a “must win” for Dallas. P.J. Washington's strong play, contributing 29 points and 11 rebounds, along with Doncic's resilience, helped the Mavericks secure the win and home-court advantage for Game 3.

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- The University of North Carolina defeated what current Big 10 school in the 2005 March Madness national title game?

Question #2- Who led the MLB in home runs during the 2018 season, hitting 48 in total?

Question #3- Former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown began his NFL career with what AFC North team?

Anyone know what has happened on May 10th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On May 10th…

1993- Bill Walton is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Walton stormed on to the basketball scene in his time at Helix High School in La Mesa, California, where he would play well enough to earn a spot on UCLA’s roster. He would then go on to be the No.1 overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, and would win two NBA titles and one MVP in his career.

2002- The Anaheim Angels defeat the Chicago White Sox 19-0. The scoring outburst set a new Angels home record for runs in a game, made possible by 11 players recording 24 total hits. It was the second time in the 2002 season that Anaheim beat an opponent by 19 or more runs, joining the 1923 Indians, 1939 Yankees, and 1950 Red Sox as the only teams to do so.

2023- Boston Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen records a save in a 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. The save was the 400^th of Jansen’s career, making him only the seventh player in MLB history to reach the milestone. Jansen now has 425 saves in his career, which is tied with Craig Kimbrel for the fifth-most ever.

1. Illinois

2. Kris Davis

3. Baltimore Ravens