Lebron James continues to defy father time and is still playing at an extremely high level. They will need a Herculean effort from Lebron if the Lakers are to have any chance of extending the series to Game 6. Lebron has posted monster stat lines in elimination/close out games historically and with his back against the wall, I expect a big outing from the best player of his generation.

We successfully faded Nick Lodolo in his last start and am surprised to see this outs prop once again come in at 17.5. Lodolo has failed to go 6 IP in 19 of 29 career starts, or 8/10 dating back to last season. Lodolo will face a patient Padres lineup that leads the league in walk rate against opposing southpaws. Look for Lodolo to run up another high pitch count before finishing the 5th.

Bryce Miller is having a strong sophomore campaign after a solid rookie season where he posted a respectable 4.32 ERA paired with an excellent 1.14 WHIP. While Miller looks the part of a quality starter, he has the extremely unenviable task of facing the Atlanta Braves tonight. Atlanta possesses the second highest OPS (.817) against opposing right handed pitchers, in addition to the 11th lowest K rate. This number is a lot closer to Millers ceiling considering he has only recorded 8+ Ks 2x in 30 career starts.

Griffin Canning is averaging a career low 7.50 K/9 and the dip in strikeouts certainly appears warranted thus far. Canning's 10.1% SwStr% is nearly 3% lower than his career average of 12.8%, in addition to possessing a 79% Contact%, by far the worst mark of his career. He will face a stingy Phillies lineup that has not only been producing a lot of runs recently, but possesses the 10th lowest K rate on season.

Jrue Holiday has had a really rough series against the Miami Heat. The 2x All-Star is averaging 6 PPG, 3.7 APG, & 4.0 RPG on dismal shooting splits of 28/36%. Jrue is yet to attempt a single free throw as well. While Jrue is still an excellent defender and is able to make a positive impact that doesn't appear on the box score, this production is simply not good enough, in addition to being well below his regular season averages of 12/5/5 on 48/43% splits. Jrue is better than what he's shown and I expect an inspired performance from the veteran guard. Not to mention this combo line is low enough where he can struggle and still get home.

Devin Booker is in the midst of possibly his worst playoff series of his career against the Timberwolves. Booker is averaging 20/6/3 on 43/26% shooting splits. Not good for a legit MVP candidate and one of the NBA's premiere two guards. He's likely going to log 42-45 minutes tonight barring foul trouble and I expect him to be very aggressive. The Timberwolves have a great defense, but Booker is too good to be held down four consecutive games here. This number is too low.

This is a lot of juice but I am willing to lay it as KD has made a total of 3 three pointers so far in this series and has only attempted 9 total. KD and the Suns appear demoralized. Jaden McDaniels is playing tremendous defense on KD as well. Durant only made 3+ threes in 37% of his regular season games, meanwhile Durant has been held UNDER this line in seven consecutive games against the Wolves including four regular season matchups.