The Spurs are coming off back-to-back blowout losses in Games 1 & 2, but they are still the defending NBA champions and should bounce back with a strong and focused effort on their home court tonight. San Antonio has been much stronger at home this season with a 37-7 SU record, compared to a weaker 23-22 SU on the road. The home team is also 6-1 SU in all New Orleans and San Antonio playoff games this season. Quality home teams that have lost exactly two games in a row are solid plays in the NBA postseason and the Spurs fit a solid 47-24 ATS home favorite bounce-back situation which is the same angle that produced an easy 25-point winner with the Orlando Magic last night. San Antonio has actually led outright at halftime in both games so far in this playoff series, so they are definitely capable of playing with New Orleans, and the Spurs finished the regular season with exactly the same record (56-26 SU) as the Hornets. Play SPURS (-).

The first two games in this playoff series have both landed right around the posted Over/Under line, but this has still been a low-scoring series this season and the Under stands 4-2 in all six head-to-head meetings. The six games have averaged 182 points, but the pace has been slow as my re-scoring pace model has averaged just 180 points with all six meetings totaling 182½ or less. San Antonio struggled in Games 1 & 2 and allowed New Orleans to score 100+ points in both games. This is an extremely rare occurrence as San Antonio is known for their defense and has only allowed back-to-back 100+ point games one time in their past 75 games. This occurred two months ago in early March when San Antonio allowed Denver and New Orleans to score 103 and 100 in back-to-back games. As expected, the Spurs bounced back with a strong defensive performance in their next game and held Detroit to just 84 points and 40.7% FG and the game easily went Under the total with 164 points. Look for a similar effort tonight as the Spurs return home after two straight losses. San Antonio has been stronger at home this season, especially on defense as they allow just 89 ppg and 44% FG. Play UNDER the total.

Kevin Slowey makes his first start coming off the DL with a bicep problem, but he’s been highly regarded in the Twins organization for a couple of seasons now. He is very similar to the pitcher who he is replacing in the rotation, Scott Baker, in that Slowey tops out around 90 mph, but still misses his fair share of bats. He had an excellent September last season with a 2.66 ERA in four starts, and of course it helps that he’s now facing the struggling White Sox lineup as Chicago has scored more than 3 runs only once in their last 8 games and ranks dead last in the majors with a .232 batting average. Chicago sends the improving John Danks to the mound, and he’s only allowed more than 3 earned runs in one start all season. He brings a 1.04 WHIP into today’s contest against a Twins’ lineup hitting only .246 against lefties on the season. This all adds up to an underrated pitcher’s duel today. Play UNDER the total.

St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse is pitching in a contract year and with him off his worst outing of the young season, look for him to bounce back strong this afternoon. Lohse was shelled at home by the Cubs and allowed 8 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings of work. He can’t afford too many more outings like that if he wants a big contract next season, so he’ll be back on his game in this revenge spot against Colorado. Lohse opened the Cardinals’ season at home against the Rockies, and he pitched a nice game allowing no runs on 3 hits in five innings of work. But he got no run support and the bullpen ended up blowing the game late and Lohse got a no decision for his effort. He’ll get runs to work with today as the Cardinals will face lefty Jorge De La Rosa who was smashed in his only start this year and who has been smashed by St Louis in the past. Even with their come-from-behind win last night, Colorado is still just 4-13 SU in their last 17 games. Play CARDINALS (+) (action).

Texas has big plans for lefty Kason Gabbard who they acquired in a trade with Boston., but coincidentally, Gabbard injured his back while pitching against the Red Sox on April 21st. Gabbard rehabbed in Double-A Frisco on Saturday, but he has a tough assignment in his return tonight in Seattle. The Mariners have crushed left-handed pitching this year as they’re hitting .315 against them. They’ve scored 45 runs in eight games against left-handed starters, and the Over is 5-1-2 in those games with an average of 11.6 runs scored per game. Seven of those eight games have also had at least 9 runs scored. Texas also catches Felix Hernandez at the right time as he’s struggled of late after opening the season at 2-0. He’s lost his last 2 games while allowing 10 runs on 18 hits in just 12.2 innings of work. The Rangers are hitting righties (.270) much better than lefties (.241) this year, so they should be able to score as well tonight. Play OVER the total.

Boston received a wakeup call in Round 1 when they lost three games versus an inferior Atlanta squad. Despite their struggles on the road, the Celtics were still a perfect 4-0 SU/ATS at home with each win coming by 23, 19, 25, and 34 point margins. Boston then had to turnaround and play Game 1 versus Cleveland on just one day’s rest. The Celtics were sluggish on offense, but still managed an ugly 76-72 win on Tuesday. While the Celtics offense was shaky, they were fantastic on defense and held Cleveland to just 72 points on 30.7% shooting from the field. They also limited LeBron James to just 12 points and an amazing 2-for-18 from the field. Despite the close final score, Boston still led by 12 points earlier in the game and this blown lead and close finish should ensure a focused effort tonight. Boston is a much better team and finished an incredible 21 games ahead of Cleveland in the regular season. Boston holds a substantial edge on both offense and defense and should win this series with ease. The close result in Game 1 has now created line value as the oddsmakers and public have lowered the Game 2 line a full 1½ points. Boston is a fantastic 40-6 SU at home (29-16 ATS) where they outshoot opponents 48% to 41% FG and have won by an average +13.4 points per game, including winning their five home playoff games by +21.0 ppg this season. Play CELTICS (-).