Rating: 2 Units

One has to wonder how much different this series would have been had Williamson not gotten injured in the play-in game against the Lakers. Without him, the Pelicans have sputtered mightily on the offensive end of the floor, failing to put up more than 92 points in any of their three games. Their O rating is a measly 96.7 and their effective field goal percentage of 45.7% fails to instill much in the way of confidence. New Orleans doesn’t have the pieces to match up on the defensive end either as Valanciunas logged only 12 minutes in Game 3 while Ingram has struggled to try and contain Holmgren. Oklahoma City has too many weapons and they have a ton of momentum on their side. Look for the Thunder to close things out, leaving the Pelicans to wonder what might have been.

Rating: 2 Units

The Lightning won the rivals' two previous playoff encounters in 2021 and 2022. Though Florida leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 -- with Game 5 set for the Panthers' home ice in Sunrise today.  The battle has been intense between the goalies -- Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky and Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy. They have combined to win three Vezina Trophy awards -- two by Bobrovsky -- and their talents have been on full display in this series. Panthers broadcasters swear Bobrovsky has made some of the best saves in franchise history in this series, and he has stopped 18 high-danger shots overall. But Vasilevskiy, despite being down 3-1, has stopped an amazing 28 high-danger shots as per NaturalStatTrick.com. Vasilevskiy has historically been a great playoff netminder. In fact, he has a .926 save percentage in elimination games. As a team, Tampa Bay is 8-5 in elimination games, and that's the third-highest winning percentage in NHL history.

MLB Free Pick - Pittsburgh at Oakland

California native Bailey Falter (2-1, 3.33 ERA) is slated to get the ball for the Pirates in the series opener. The left-hander hopes to follow in the footsteps of Quinn Priester, Martin Perez and Jared Jones, the trio of Pittsburgh starters that allowed just three earned runs and 13 hits in 17 innings in San Francisco. Falter allowed just one run and three hits while striking out eight in seven innings of a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. The A's are expected to counter with right-hander Joe Boyle (1-4, 7.06), who has faced only two National League teams -- the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals -- in his two seasons in the majors. The 24-year-old started losses on Oakland's just-completed 4-6 trip, one that ended in a cross-country flight back to California while the Pirates were relaxing in their San Francisco hotel.  Boyle has lasted a total of just nine innings and surrendered nine runs combined in his past two starts.

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Rating: 2 Units

The Phillies have won four of their last six games. They are playing very well offensively and scored 30 runs in their last four road games. Expect them to play well offensively in this game because they have hit the ball well against right-handers and Canning has struggled on the mound for the Angels, giving up 12 runs in his last three starts. He gave up seven runs in his last two home starts and with Los Angeles having the second-worst bullpen in the league, they will have a hard time slowing down the Phillies in this game. The Angels have lost nine of their last 10 games and four of their last five home games. They have struggled offensively and scored only eight runs in their last three home games. Their offensive struggles will continue in this game because Sanchez has done a good job on the mound for the Phillies, giving up eight runs in his last three starts. He gave up five runs in two starts against the Angels and won’t have trouble keeping their offense in check.

Rating: 2 Units

Both teams come into this series playing better but the Twins are clearly the hotter of the two teams. White Sox starter Crochet is not hot coming in with the ChiSox losing each of his last five starts and Crochet not looking nearly as formidable as he did in his first couple of starts this season. He hasn't been able to get out of the fifth inning in any of his last three starts, including in Minnesota last week. Twins starter Ryan hasn't been dominant but he has been efficient and owns a 3-0 record against the White Sox in his last three starts against them. The Twins offense seems to have come alive and more help may be on the way as SS Correa appears close to return after spending time on the IL. The Twins offense will carry the day today and make it five straight wins over the White Sox.

Rating: 2 Units

The Yankees come into this series with a bit more momentum than the Orioles and could pounce on the opportunity to attack Rodriguez, who is coming off a poor performance. He was much better in his previous four starts, but his control of the strike zone has been lacking all season (nine walks). The Yankees get on base and have the power to drive in runners in bunches (30 runs in their last two games). If Rodriguez isn't locating his pitches well enough, the Bronx Bombers will make him pay dearly! While Schmidt isn't as hyped as G-Rod, he's been quietly solid for NY this season. He has racked up 20 Ks in his last three starts (15.1 IP) and held three of his last four opponents to two or fewer runs. The Orioles' lineup is formidable, but if he can last five or so innings, the rested Yankees' bullpen (2.74 ERA and 1.13 WHIP) will come through.