A pivotal game five of this best of seven Western Conference clash has the teams tied at 2-2 as the Clippers host the Mavericks here on Wednesday. The Mavericks took game one, then lost games two and three before winning game four. The team that wins tonight basically has to win just one of the final two games. The Clippers won game four at Dallas, 116-111. Kawhi Leonard missed the game again for the Clips but Paul George and James Harden stepped up with 33 points each in game four. The Clippers almost blew a 31-point lead in that game but held off a big Dallas comeback for the win. That game four was also the first game in the series that went over. In fact, Dallas has gone under in six of their last seven games. Dallas is well below their regular season average of 117.1 ppg as they are scoring just 101.3 ppg. They are also allowing 102 ppg compared to their 115 allowed in the regular season. The Clippers have averaged 102 ppg in the postseason compared to their 115 ppg in the regular season. They are allowing 101.3 ppg in the playoffs compared to their 111.8 ppg in the regular season. I'm sticking with the UNDER tonight, especially if Leonard can't go again for the Clippers. Play the UNDER.

 The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays play the final game of their three game set here on Wednesday. The teams have split the first two games with the Jays winning on Monday and the Royals winning yesterday, 4-1. The win improved the Royals to 18-13 on the season and a +45 run differential. They still trail first place Cleveland by 2-games. Seth Lugo will toe the rubber for the Royals today. Lugo has been great this season with a 4-1 record in six starts and a 1.66 ERA and 1.105 WHIP. He's coming off an excellent start at Detroit where he allowed just three hits and no runs over seven innings for the win. The Blue Jays dropped below the .500 mark with their loss to 15-16. They also have a -26 run differential. They are in 4th in the AL East, five back of the Orioles. The Jays are now 2-6 their last eight games. Chris Bassitt will toe the rubber for the Jays today. Bassitt is 2-4 in his six starts with a 5.64 ERA and 1.846 WHIP. He's coming off a bad start vs the Dodgers where he allowed nine hits and seven runs over just 2 2/3 innings of work. That included a monster home run by Shohei Ohtani, his hardest hit of the season thus far. I like the way Lugo has pitched and I'll take him and the Royals here in this rubber game. Play Kansas City.

The San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox conclude their three-game series today from Fenway Park. The Red Sox look to sweep the series after holding the Giants to just two total runs over the first two games. The Sox have now won four straight games and have improved to 18-13 and third place in the AL West, just 1.5-games back of the Orioles. They also have a AL East best +41 run differential. Josh Winckowski will make his third start here today. He's 0-0 but has pitched very well with a 1.42 ERA and 0.948 WHIP. He likely won't go many innings as he's only gone 3 and 3 1/3 in each of his two starts. Still, he's allowed just six hits and one run during that time. This game likely turns over to the Red Sox bullpen early today. How have they been? Very good with a 3.43 ERA and over their last seven games a 1.95 ERA. The San Francisco Giants dropped to 14-17 and third in the NL West, 5-games back of the Dodgers. They also have a -25 run differential. The Giants will start Kyle Harrison here today. Harrison is 2-1 in his six starts with a 4.09 ERA and 1.242 WHIP. Harrison has been very consistent this year, allowing three runs or fewer in five of his starts. I'm sticking with the Red Sox though as they look for the sweep. Play Boston.