LA Angels at New York Yankees

Current ML: New York -120

Current RL: New York -1.5 +170

Current O/U Line: 9.5

The LA Angels will enter game two of their three game series with the Yankees as they send the newly acquired C.J. Wilson to the mound to square off against Phillip Hughes and the red hot Yankee offense.

C.J. Wilson’s first outing of the season has been one of the few bright spots for these new look Angels team. Wilson went seven innings in which he allowed just one earned run on three hits in his first start in an Angels uniform. Wilson has not had too much success over the years against this Yankees team. C.J. did have just one outing last season against New York where he looked good going eight innings in allowing two earned runs with 10 strikeouts. Outside of last season’s outing he has never gone more than 7 innings against New York and has allowed less than 3 runs just once.

Phillip Hughes will take the mound tonight for New York in hopes to grab that first win of the season. Hughes did not pitch horrible in his first outing this season allowing two earned runs with five hits in 4 2/3^rd innings. This was the only game this season where the Yankees where held to less than five runs thus far in which they were shutout against Tampa Bay. There is a bit of concern though today with Hughes against a team in the Angels who has hit him well in three meetings against Hughes. Hughes has allowed 13 earned runs in 16 1/3^rd innings pitched in his career against LA.

This could be an interesting matchup with how well the Yankees offense has been hitting this season thus far scoring less than five runs just once in seven games. The Angels send a pitcher to the mound in C.J. Wilson who has the ability to shut this Yankee lineup down  but will the bullpen be able to hold up for the Angels if they have to pull Wilson. I like the Angels in this contest. I think Wilson knows he needs to go out there and shut this Yankees offense down while the offense for the Angels should be able to get to Hughes. Let’s just hope the bullpen for LA doesn’t blow it for us.

Prediction:

Angels 5 Yankees 4

Indiana Pacers at Milwaukee Bucks

Current Line: Milwaukee -3

Current O/U Line: 206

The Indiana Pacers (37-22 SU, 28-31 ATS) enter tonight’s contest riding a three game winning streak while winners of seven of their last eight that included a 19 point win over Cleveland last night in which the not one of the Pacers starting five had to play more than 27 minutes.

Indiana has done an outstanding job opening up the offense as of late. The Pacers are averaging 96.8 points per game the last five games which is skewed a bit due to the 72 point outing against Boston otherwise the Pacers have scored triple digits in the other four contests and in eight of their last nine games.

Danny Grangers (18.6 PPG) continues to be the focal point of this offense scoring 18 or more in ten straight games. George Hill (9.2 PPG) has seen an increase in minute the last three games in which he has scored no less
than 15 points in those three games. Roy Hibbert (12.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG) has been a presence in the middle in which four of the last five games he has nabbed double digit rebounds.

Indiana is getting back to the way they were playing defense to start this season. The Pacers are allowing 92.6 points per game the last five games with opponents shooting 43% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc against them.

The Milwaukee Bucks (29-30 SU, 28-31 ATS) winning five of their last seven games that included a 16 point road win in Detroit last night.

The Milwaukee offense continue to light up the scoreboard averaging 104 points per game the last five games while shooting 46.8% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. The Bucks have scored triple digits in 7 of their last 10 games.

Brandon Jennings (18.7 PPG) continues to be the main piece to this offense scoring less than 18 points just once in the last 10 games. Monta Ellis (20.5 PPG) is starting to gel with his backcourt teammate to make one of them most dangerous back courts in basketball. Ersan IIyasova (12.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG) is one of the Bucks big surprises this season, he has scored 12 or more points in eight of his last nine games.

The weakness for Milwaukee continues to come from the defensive side of the ball where they are allowing 100.2 points per game the last five games in which opponents are shooting 46.5% from the field and 31.3% from beyond the arc against them.

Indiana pounded Milwaukee the first meetings between these two teams back on 3/24 in Milwaukee walking away with a 21 point win as a 4.5 point underdog. Milwaukee does have redemption on their mind from that contest. There are a few issues though for Milwaukee they have been able to dominate non-playoff teams as of late but playoff caliber teams (NY, OKC and Memphis) were able to walk out of Milwaukee with wins.  The Pacers are catching fire at the right time and could easily go into Milwaukee and grab another win. I am not going to play any sides in this game but I do think though this game goes over the total. Both offenses has been on fire while Indiana has gone over in their last four road games in which they have failed to allow less than 96 in those four games.

Prediction:

Indiana 104 Milwaukee 107

Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs

Current Line: San Antonio -9.5

Current O/U Line: 208.5

The Phoenix Suns (31-28 SU, 32-27 ATS) enter tonight’s contest winning three of their last four and four of their last six road games as they attempt to make that push to get that final playoff spot in which they sit just one game out of.

The Phoenix offense has been reason to this team’s recent success. Phoenix is averaging 108.6 points per game the last five games in which they are shooting 49.3% from the field and 38.9% form beyond the arc. Phoenix has scored 107 or more points in five of their last seven games.

Leading this Phoenix offense is Marcin Gortat (15.9 PPG, 9.9 RPG) who needs to get back to the consistency he had a few weeks ago. Gortat has only scored more than 15 twice in thelast five games though and his rebounds have been down a bit. Steve Nash (12.9 PPG, 11.1 APG) has been on fire over the last five games with four double-doubles in which he has scored less than 13 just once in those five games. Shannon Brown (10.6 PPG) has been one of the most consistent players for this Suns team as of late scoring double figures in 11 straight games.

Phoenix needs to find a way to improve that defense especially tonight against an outstanding offensive team in the Spurs. Phoenix is allowing 101.8 points per game the last five games in which opponents are shooting 44.1% from the field and 28.6% form beyond the arc against them.

San Antonio (41-16 SU, 34-20-3 ATS) enter tonight’s contest off an impressive 10 point win over Memphis that snapped a two game losing streak for this Spurs team.

The Spurs continue to light up the scoreboard in which they are averaging 103.4 points per game the last five games while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc. San Antonio has scored 107 or more points in three of their last five games.

The Spurs offense is led by Tony Parker (18.7 PPG) who has been a bit off as of late scoring more than 18 once in his last four games. Tim Duncan (15.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG) continue to play up and down. Duncan scored 28 point with 12 boards on Thursday against Memphis and he could easily drop to just 10 points tonight with 6 boards due to his inconsistency this season. Danny Green (9 PPG) has been a bright spot for this Spurs offense scoring 10 or more in five of the last seven games.

The Spurs defense has been a bit off as of late. San Antonio is allowing 98.6 points per game the last five games with opponents shooting 44.1% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc. The Spurs last five opponents at home have scored 97 or more against them which is horrible considering San Antonio this season has allowed just 93.8 points per game at home.

This game has a lot of meaning to this Suns team. Phoenix knows they cannot slip up if they want to grab that last playoff spot. San Antonio on the other hand has themselves a spot in the playoffs and is now just fighting for that number one seed. Phoenix is going to put it all on the table tonight when they take on the Spurs and will do everything in their power to pull out this road win. I like Phoenix to keep this game close considering they need this game.

Prediction:

Phoenix 102 San Antonio 106