Will Memphis Cover as a Road Favorite?

In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️ 

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

NCAAB Model Predictions- Click Here

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NHL, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 0-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 7-6

Over/Under Predictions: 6-7

Puck Line Predictions: 10-3

Featured Matchup: 0-1

11 NBA games are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all 11 matchups can be found below.

Memphis Grizzlies @ San Antonio Spurs

Model Predicts- Grizzlies ML, UNDER 239, Grizzlies -3

The Memphis Grizzlies will continue their four-game road trip on Wednesday night, with the next stop coming in San Antonio, Texas to battle a Western Conference foe in the San Antonio Spurs.

Memphis has seen mixed results on its road trip thus far, picking up a win agianst the Minnesota Timberwolves but coming up short against the Houston Rockets. That stretch has brought the Grizzlies’ record to 25-15 for the season, while the Spurs own a 19-19 record and have lost three of their last four contests.

San Antonio hasn’t found the win column often across the last two weeks, and our model expects that trend to continue as it projects Memphis to win by more than four points. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Memphis Grizzlies

• Have split first two games of road trip

  • Beat Timberwolves in Game 1, lost to Rockets in Game 2

  • Own +0 point differential in that stretch

• Offense has been elite since the current road trip began

  • Rank fourth in Offensive Rating across the last two games at 121.3. Up from 116.7 for the season

  • Shooting ball with incredible efficiency- shooting 48.4% overall (7th in NBA) and 41.1% from three (6th in NBA)

• Dealing with injuries to some key role players

  • Marcus Smart, Cam Spencer, and Vince Williams are OUT. Jay Huff is questionable

San Antonio Spurs

• Enter tonight having lost three of last four games

  • Losses to Nuggets, Bulls, and Bucks. One win came against Lakers

  • Own -7 point differential in that span. Two of three losses came by 11+ points

• Offensive efficiency has been among the NBA’s worst during last four games

  • Have shot 43.8% from the floor overall and just 32.8% from three across last four games- rank in bottom-seven of NBA in both categories

  • Has led to 110.8 Offensive Rating in that stretch- down from 111.7 for season

• Relatively healthy, but one key player will be missing

  • Jeremy Sochan currently list as OUT with back injury

What’s the Play?

Injuries have hurt Memphis’ depth over the last few games, but we still agree with our model to back the Grizzlies as a road favorite.

San Antonio has a solid defensive presence, but one area that Spurs have struggled to defend is the perimeter. Per NBA.com, San Antonio’s opponents are shooting 36.0% from three since January 1st, ranking them 17th in the NBA. As previously mentioned, the three-pointer has been the strongest part of Memphis’ offense during its road trip, and the Grizzlies’ relatively-high volume of 37.9 three-point attempts per game gives them a great opportunity to continue to light it up from behind the arc.

Memphis may be without some key rotational pieces, but it still has its star power in the lineup, and the Grizzlies’ fast pace of play (1st in NBA) will give them plenty of chances to find the bottom of the basket here. As a result, we’ll take Memphis on the spread.

The Play: Grizzlies -3 (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• New York Knicks- 26-15 overall this season, 13-8 as the away team

• Denver Nuggets- 24-15 overall this season, 12-7 as the home team, and 8-2 across last ten games

• Minnesota Timberwolves- 21-18 overall this season, 10-8 as the home team

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Toronto Raptors- Over is 21-19 this season, 13-8 as the home team

• New Orleans Pelicans- Over is 22-18-1 this season, 12-8-1 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Toronto Raptors- 22-17-1 against the spread (ATS) this season, 12-5-1 ATS as a home underdog

• Memphis Grizzlies- 26-14 ATS this season, 17-9 ATS as a favorite

🔄 Jimmy Butler reiterates desire to be traded to Pat Riley. Jimmy Butler has reiterated his trade request to Miami Heat president Pat Riley, stating he won't sign a new contract and plans to leverage his $52-million player option as part of the process, according to sources. While Miami's front office has explored trade options with other teams, Riley has shown little urgency to move the six-time All-Star. Butler's team-issued suspension is set to end Thursday, and the Heat expect him to rejoin the team if a trade isn't finalized by then.

💪 Jamal Murray leads Nuggets to blowout win over Mavericks. Jamal Murray scored a season-high 45 points, including an impressive 32 in the first half, to lead the Denver Nuggets to a dominant 118-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Nuggets, who have now won four straight games, benefited from solid contributions by Michael Porter Jr. and Nikola Jokic, while Dallas struggled offensively, with Kyrie Irving managing only 11 points in his return. Denver's win was marked by Murray's efficient shooting and Dallas losing Dereck Lively II early due to an ankle sprain.

Today’s Top Sportsbook/DFS Offers🎰

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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- Who did the Edmonton Oilers select with the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft?

Question #2- Julius Erving and Marcus Camby played college basketball at what university?

Question #3- Who led the NFL in touchdown passes in the regular season?

Anyone know what has happened on January 15th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On January 15th…

1994- Lawrence Taylor announces his retirement from the NFL. Taylor was selected with the No.2 overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, the team he would play for his whole career. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants and won the MVP one time, earning him a spot in the Hall of Fame in 1999.

1997- George Seifert announces his resignation from the NFL. Seifert had eight successful seasons in the NFL as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, posting a 108-35 record and winning two Super Bowls. He would later return to the NFL to coach the Carolina Panthers from 1999-2001.

2023- LeBron James scores 35 points in a 113-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The scoring outburst enabled James to surpass 38,000 career points, joining only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history to reach the milestone. James has now scored 41,279 points in his career, the most in NBA history.

1. Taylor Hall

2. University of Massachusetts

3. Joe Burrow