Jim Feist

Clippers and Jazz play game five of their semifinal best of seven series here today from Utah. LA tied up the series with a pair of home wins at Staple's Center. Now the venue returns to Utah where the Jazz won the first two games. Problem is that the Clippers will be without one half of their potent duo as Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss tonight's contest with a knee injury. Leonard and Paul George combined for 62 points in their game four win. The Jazz could see the return of start veteran guard Mike Conley, who has been nursing a hamstring injury. He is officially questionable for tonight's contest. For me, if Leonard isn't playing then this will be the Utah Jazz show tonight. Utah was -2 or -2.5 when Leonard was playing and shot up to around -7 without him. That for me is too much of a jump, so I'll just stick with the UNDER here tonight.

Vegas dominated game one of this semifinal clash, 4-1. The score could have been a lot higher if not for Carey Price and some great saves for the Habs. Still, game one the Knight dominated every facet of the game and had three of their goals scored by defensemen. Vegas has arguably the best defense in the NHL and offensive minded defensemen. Their speed was too much, their forchecking too much, they bottled up the Canadiens in their own zone. And of course Marc-Andre Fluery was great between the pipes again. Unless Montreal turns things around, this could be a quick series. Our under in game one was a nail biter as the Habs pulled their goalie with nearly five minutes to play and had numerous scoring chances. Plus the Knights missed two or three empty net goals by mere inches. Still I don't see Montreal scoring much more than they did in game one. As for today, unless something drastic changes for the Habs, they are just overmatched in this series at this point. I'll lay the puck line with Vegas here tonight. Play Vegas -1.5 goals.

Vegas dominated game one of this semifinal clash, 4-1. The score could have been a lot higher if not for Carey Price and some great saves for the Habs. Still, game one the Knight dominated every facet of the game and had three of their goals scored by defensemen. Vegas has arguably the best defense in the NHL and offensive minded defensemen. Their speed was too much, their forchecking too much, they bottled up the Canadiens in their own zone. And of course Marc-Andre Fluery was great between the pipes again. Unless Montreal turns things around, this could be a quick series. Our under in game one was a nail biter as the Habs pulled their goalie with nearly five minutes to play and had numerous scoring chances. Plus the Knights missed two or three empty net goals by mere inches. Still I don't see Montreal scoring much more than they did in game one. As for today, I can't lay the huge price, but we won the total in game one, lets do it again. Play UNDER.

Oakland A's have won five straight games and now sit 2.5-games ahead of 2nd place Houston in the AL West lead. The A's have also won eight of their last 10 games. The LA Angels are in fourth in the division with a 33-34 record and have lost two straight games. The Angels start Griffin Canning today. Canning is 4-4 in his 10 starts with a 5.10 ERA. The A's will counter with Cole Irvin. Irvin is 4-7 in his 13 starts with a 3.70 ERA. Irvin has pitched well of late, allowing two total runs over his last two starts (12 innings). A's with the home advantage and edge in pitching. Play Oakland.

The Baltimore Orioles are in last place in the AL East with a 22-44 record. They are 20-games back of first place Tampa Bay. The O's have lost six straight and seven of their last 10 games. The Indians are in 2nd place in the AL Central, 4.5-games back of the White Sox. The Indians have won two straight games. The O's start Keegan Akin today who is 0-1 in his three starts with a 2.63 ERA. The Indians send Aaron Civale to the hill. Civale is 9-2 in his 13 starts with a 3.17 ERA. Both starters have been very good, but Akin plays for a terrible Baltimore team while Civale has the benefit of playing on a good Indians club. Play Cleveland.