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

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

MLB Model Predictions- Click Here

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the MLB, 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: 11-4

Over/Under Predictions: 9-5-1

Run Line Predictions: 10-5

Featured Matchup: 1-0

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

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic

Model Predicts- Magic ML, OVER 198.5, Magic -2

The Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers will each make the journey to the Sunshine State on Thursday, gearing up for Game 3 of this best-of-seven series.

Cleveland took care of business at home to begin the series, winning Games 1 and 2 by significant margins. That is great news for Cavaliers fans, as Cleveland now finds itself in a much better position than last postseason, where the Cavaliers lost in five games to the New York Knicks.

We’re seeing a massive shift in the spread in this matchup now that home court advantage has flipped to the Magic, but our model is in agreement with that adjustment and projects Orlando to cover the spread tonight. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Enter Game 2 with a 2-0 series lead

  • Won Game 1 97-83, won Game 2 96-86

  • Defense was key- Posted 88.5 Defensive Rating in first two games, best of any team in postseason by more than nine points

• Were much different team on road than at home in regular season

  • Home- 26-15 record, +4.3 Net Rating, 114.5 points per game

  • Road- 22-19 record, +0.8 Net Rating, 110.8 points per game

• Injuries- Dean Wade, Craig Porter, and Ty Jerome are OUT

Orlando Magic

• Could not get anything going offensively to begin series

  • Shot 34.3% from floor overall and 23.6% from three in first two games

  • Averaged 84.5 points per game- only postseason team to average less than 90.0

• Good news- were dominant on home court in regular season

  • Home record was 29-12. Ranked 5th in Net Rating (+7.8)

  • Saw massive spike in offensive production- 115.5 Offensive Rating at home, compared to 110.4 on road

• Injuries- No players on injury report

What’s the Play?

Orlando played as bad as any team possibly could in Games 1 and 2, but we agree with our model that this is a prime spot to back the Magic.

The Magic were one of the worst road teams in the NBA this season, posting an 18-23 record and -3.5 Net Rating. So, it should come as no surprise to see the Magic struggle early on in this series, especially when you factor in the youth an inexperience on the roster.

However, the Magic now return to a familiar place, one where Orlando posted a Net Rating that was 11.3 points higher compared to its rating on the road. That is largely due to the aforementioned spike in offensive production, and we think we are in store to see a similar rebound on that end of the floor in this matchup. As a result, we’ll back the Magic to win here and make this a 2-1 series.

The Play: Magic ML (-120)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Orlando Magic- 47-35 during regular season, 29-12 as the home team

• Philadelphia 76ers- 47-35 during the regular season, 26-16 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Los Angeles Lakers- Over is 47-38-1 this season, 21-19-1 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Orlando Magic- 51-33 against the spread (ATS) this season, 28-13 ATS as the home team

🏆 Tyrese Maxey wins Most Improved Player Award. Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey earned the NBA's Most Improved Player award for the 2023-24 season, beating out Coby White of the Chicago Bulls and Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets. Maxey's remarkable season included averaging 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and a steal in 70 games, ranking second in the league for minutes played per game. His breakout performance, which featured three 50-plus point games, came in his fourth season, coinciding with his first All-Star selection.

🔥 Heat use three-pointer to take down Celtics in Game 2. The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics with a record-breaking 23 three-pointers, led by Tyler Herro's 24 points and 14 assists, to even the playoff series at one game apiece, erasing the Celtics' home-court advantage. Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin also scored 21 points each for the Heat, who shot 53.5% from beyond the arc, setting a franchise playoff record. Despite Jaylen Brown's 33 points for Boston, Miami's sharpshooting and resilient play secured the victory, tying the series as it moves to Miami for Games 3 and 4.

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 Dallas Mavericks selected what point guard with the No.2 overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft?

Question #2- Nick Castellanos has played on four MLB teams in his career: the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and what other team?

Question #3- What NFL running back has the highest base salary, coming in at $11.8 million?

Anyone know what has happened on April 25th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On April 25th...

1976- NBA legend Tim Duncan is born in Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands. Duncan didn’t discover basketball until his teenage years, but eventually became good enough to earn a spot on Wake Forest and play in the ACC. Duncan would play four years at Wake, and was taken by the San Antonio Spurs with the No.1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, the team he would play for his entire career.

1985- Wayne Gretzky records seven points in a playoff game. Gretzky’s performance came against the Winnipeg Jets, one in which he scored three goals, two of which were short-handed, and added four assists. The win also marked he final game of a sweep for Oilers, their second sweep of the postseason.

2019- Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray is selected with the No.1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Arizona Cardinals selected Murray despite using a first round pick on Josh Rosen the year prior, a result of winning the Heisman Trophy in his final collegiate season. Murray still remains on the Cardinals roster, and went on to win Rookie of the Year in 2019 and be named to two Pro Bowls.

1. Dallas Mavericks

2. Chicago Cubs

3. Christian McCaffrey