Kyle Hunter

*3 Star Play Under* The LA Lakers are expected to be without LeBron James here. They are without Dennis Schroder as well. We all know what James means to this team. Offensively, Schroder is a force as well. His defense is subpar and his backups are better defensively than him. Kyle Kuzma is doubtful for this game as well. 

Anthony Davis is a great first option scoring wise, but he isn't 100 percent healthy, and he really doesn't have anyone helping with the load here. The Lakers are short on scoring options right now.

Phoenix has been shooting extremely well of late, but the Lakers rank first in the NBA in defensive efficiency for the year. The Lakers should give a good effort on defense here since every game means a ton to them when it comes to the playoff standings.

Late season regular season games between two playoff bound teams have been great to the under in the long run. 

Take the under here. 

*4 Star Play Under* The Los Angeles Clippers host the New York Knicks in a very early game in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. These early Sunday afternoon games have been great for under bettors through the years. That trend is even stronger when the game is being played on the West Coast. 

The Clippers have played at the slowest pace in the NBA in the last five games. The Knicks have the slowest pace for the year as a whole. The first game they played against each other was played to just 93 possessions, but both teams shot the lights out. 

A game played at 93 possessions could see 1.16 and 1.15 points per possession and still stay under this total. That is above average shooting in the NBA overall. 

Rondo has slowed the pace down some for the Clippers, and he has really helped their defense. 

These two teams are both above average on the defensive boards. 

Take the under in this Sunday afternoon contest. 

*3 Star Play on Texas ML* Dane Dunning is one of the more underrated starters in baseball. He hasn't gotten much run support this year, but his statistics are very impressive if you take a deep look. Dunning has a 3.81 ERA and a 3.50 xERA. His FIP is an impressive 2.23. He has excellent control and has multiple plus pitches. 

Justus Sheffield's control is a problem. He is capable of being very good, but his lack of control makes him less consistent than Dunning. Seattle's bullpen is also a little worse than the Texas bullpen.

The home plate umpire here is Phil Cuzzi, and home teams have done better in his games behind the plate than any other umpire in baseball in the last five years. 

I'll lay the short price.

Take Texas.