In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

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 Matchups. That prediction went 0-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model’s performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 7-3

Over/Under Predictions: 5-5

Spread Predictions: 6-4

Featured Matchup: 0-1

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

Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers

Model Predicts- Suns ML, UNDER 237, Suns +1

The Phoenix Suns will make the short journey to Los Angeles, California on Thursday night to take on the Lakers.

Phoenix enters tonight’s matchup in a bit of a rut, finding the loss column in two consecutive games to push its season record to 19-18. Los Angeles is in a similar spot, but most recently defeated the Toronto Raptors by one point on Tuesday to regain its footing.

Neither one of these teams is playing great basketball at the moment, but our model sees a slight edge on the Suns tonight. Let’s take a look at why that is.

Phoenix Suns

• Have struggled early on in New Year

  • Have gone 2-3 since January 1st. Only wins over Trail Blazers and Heat

  • Rank 16th in Net Rating (-1.0)

• Weakness has been perimeter defense

  • Opponents shooting 38.0% from three in last 5 games

  • Clippers shot 52% from three against Phoenix in most recent game

• Injuries- Damion Lee (OUT)

Los Angeles Lakers

• Most recent win came against Raptors

  • Won 132-131. Shot 36 free throws to Toronto’s 13

• Offense can be blamed for slow start in 2024

  • Rank 24th in Offensive Rating since January 1st (109.6)

  • Shooting just 33.3% from three

• Injuries- Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Cam Reddish, and Rui Hachimura all questionable. Gabe Vincent is OUT

What’s the Play?

The Lakers seem to have found some momentum again after winning heir last two games, but we agree with our model that the Suns have the upper hand tonight.

Los Angeles has been really bad to begin 2024, ranking 19th in Net Rating with a rating of -5.6. That rating has largely resulted from an inability to produce offense from behind the arc, and although that is an area that the Suns struggle to defend, its is difficult to assume that the Lakers will end the drought from deep.

Phoenix is the healthier team tonight, and the free throw disparity we saw in the Lakers’ most recent game against Toronto is likely to be more even after tons of controversy. That will help level the playing field, giving the Suns the edge in this spot.

The Play: Suns ML (+100)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Boston Celtics- 29-8 overall this season, 8-2 in the last ten games

• New York Knicks- 22-15 overall this season, 5-0 in last five games

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Brooklyn Nets- Over is 19-17-1 this season

• Dallas Mavericks- Over is 21-16-1 this season, 10-9 as the home team

Spread Trends ➕➖

• New York Knicks- 10-15-2 against the spread (ATS) this season, 11-10-1 ATS as the away team

💪 Wembanyama posts first career triple-double. Victor Wembanyama showcased remarkable playmaking skills, recording his first NBA triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in just 21 minutes during the San Antonio Spurs' 130-108 victory over the Detroit Pistons. As the youngest player in NBA history to achieve a triple-double without a turnover, Wembanyama emphasized the significance of making such a statement for both himself and the team. Despite the Spurs' challenging season, the 20-year-old's outstanding performance contributed to their win, while Detroit struggled without point guard Cade Cunningham, losing their sixth consecutive game.

💰 Leonard, Clippers agree to contract extension. The Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard reached a three-year, $152.4 million contract extension on Wednesday. The 32-year-old is now set to earn $52 million next season and approximately $50 million in each of the subsequent two campaigns. Currently, Leonard is poised to play over 60 games in a Clippers uniform for the first time, averaging 23.8 points and 6.1 rebounds for the 23-13 Clippers, who hold the fourth position in the Western Conference.

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 was the first pitcher selected in the 2004 MLB Draft?

Question #2- Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, and Jae Crowder played college basketball at what university?

Question #3- Pete Carroll was the head coach of what NFL team before taking the head coaching job at USC in 2001?

Anyone know what has happened on January 11th throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On January 11th…

1990- Bob Knight becomes the winningest coach in Big 10 basketball history. Knight picked up the record win, his 229th of his career, in a 77-63 win over Northwestern. He would end his coaching career with 902 wins, the sixth most in NCAA history.

2003- NHL legend Jaromir Jagr records seven points in a 12-2 Capitals win over the Florida Panthers. Jagr scored three goals and tallied four assists in the blowout, which just so happened to be the 10th hat trick of his career. The performance also gave him his 1,200th career point, which he would extend to 1,921 before his retirement.

2021- The Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the NCAA National Title. The Crimson Tide won the game in blowout fashion, taking down the Buckeyes by a final score of 52-24 as a 9.5-point favorite. Wide Receiver DeVonta Smith was named offensive MVP, while defensive tackle Christian Barmore was named defensive MVP.

1. Justin Verlander

2. Marquette University

3. New England Patriots