Stephen Nover

I’m anticipating a monster letdown from the Lakers after their gutty, 101-99, home overtime win against the Knicks Tuesday night. The Lakers accomplished that minus LeBron James. James is expected to make his return in this game. You couldn’t blame the Lakers for taking the Rockets lightly, at least subconsciously, especially with the news that James is returning to the lineup.  Houston is 5-43 in its last 48 games establishing itself as the worst team in the West if not the entire NBA.  But the Rockets have covered their last three games and should get back Christian Wood, their best big man. They have some underrated backup-caliber guards, too, who can look good against LA’s depleted backcourt that is minus Dennis Schroder and possibly Alex Caruso.  Houston could catch a major break if the Lakers decided to hold out Anthony Davis, who tweaked his groin during the victory against the Knicks. 

Simple task for Utah. The Jazz clinch the No. 1 overall playoff seed if they beat the Trail Blazers, Thunder and Kings. This is the tough one left on Utah’s regular season schedule so I anticipate the Jazz being up for it. Moreso because Utah is coming off a loss. Golden State halted the Jazz’s five-game win streak with a 119-16 home win two days ago. The Jazz held Stephen Curry to 10-of-24 shooting from the floor in the loss. That doesn’t bode well for Damian Lillard. Utah is 22-10 ATS the past 32 times as a home favorite. The Jazz are 2-0 versus Portland this season winning by an average of 19.5 points. 

Injuries. Small lay price. Home field. Fading Zach Davies. Pick a reason because all of them are valid in going against the Cubs here. 

 Chicago has lost seven of its last nine road contests. The Indians are hot having won 11 of their last 14 games.  The Cubs are extremely banged-up. They are minus Jake Marisnick, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner. Kris Bryant and Javier Baez are each questionable. I consider those two the best players on the Cubs.  I’m not excited about Sam Hentges, who starts this game for Cleveland. The rookie has a 5.00 ERA in nine innings this season. I don’t know what I’m going to get from him.  But I’d rather take a chance with Hentges than back Zach Davies, who has a 6.30 ERA and has been terrible away from Wrigley Field with a 12.54 ERA in three road starts.   (Editor’s note: Stephen Nover has his NHL Underdog Game of the Year going today. Stephen is 34-15-1 on his Max Unit hockey games for 69 percent. This is one hockey play you should not miss!)     
  

The Golden Knights are dealing with injuries. Among those injured is Max Pacioretty, the team’s top goal scorer. He has missed the last five games. Las Vegas was down to just 15 shakers – three below normal – in a 2-1 home loss to the Avalanche this past Monday. 

 This is a bitter and heated rivalry. The Under has cashed eight of the last 11 times between the two teams.  So I can’t count on the Golden Knights to produce a lot of goals. But I can count on them to have a strong defensive game especially since Marc-Andre Fleury will be back in net after not playing against Colorado. The Golden Knights have not permitted more than two goals per game during Fleury’s last eight starts. Fleury won’t have to worry about Sharks team captain and third-leading goal scorer, Logan Couture. He’s out with an injury. 

The Under is 11-2-1 in the Senators’ last 14 home games. Ottawa has given up just six goals during its last four home games.

 The Senators’ strong defense at home should continue here. Toronto has multiple injuries and figures to be resting starters having clinched the North Division. This could lead to a conservative game plan from the Maple Leafs, who also don’t want goalie Frederick Andersen embarrassed if he’s in goal for the first time since March 19.  The Maple Leafs haven’t surrendered more than two goals in regulation during their last seven games. 

I don’t see either team pushing pace, or showing much in this meaningless matchup. The Oilers are the No. 2 seed in the North Division, while the Canadiens backed into the playoffs after getting a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers two days ago. The teams could meet in the playoffs so neither will want to tip their hand. So I see a vanilla type of low-scoring, conservative game. 

 The Canadiens are in action for the 25th time in 44 days. They are likely to rest key regulars in order to get fresh for the postseason. The Oilers don’t want to risk injury by overextending their superstars.  This past Monday’s game was just the second time in the last nine meetings that the Oilers-Canadiens went Over the total. There was just one goal scored in the third period. It was 3-2 more than halfway through the third period. 

This is a huge Ontario rivalry. Given the circumstances, the Senators probably should be the favorite instead of a massive home ‘dog. 

 The Maple Leafs have nothing to play for in this game. They have already clinched the North Division and the No. 1 seed in the division. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe has made it clear his intention and priority is to rest healthy players and get his injured players slowly back into form if they are able to play. Another priority is getting rusty goalie Frederik Andersen up to speed.  Andersen has been the Maple Leafs’ first string goalie. However, he hasn’t played in the NHL since March 19 due to a knee injury. Andersen didn’t look good in a couple of AHL appearances, but Keefe wants to prepare him for the playoffs. He has this game and the Leafs’ final regular season game on Friday against the Jets to do that.  Ottawa has been playing well going 8-3 in its last 11 games. The Senators, though, are off a bad 6-1 road loss to the Flames this past Sunday. This is Ottawa’s final game of the season since it won’t be in the playoffs. The Senators want to close their season looking good. So this is a much more important game for them. This has been a home team series, too, lately with the host winning four of the past five times.