The Philadelphia 76ers face elimination in their best of seven series with the NY Knicks. The Sixers are down 1-3 as they return to New York here on Tuesday. The Knicks took game four in Philly, 97-92. They held the Sixers to just 35.4% from the field and 27.3% from the 3-point arc. The Knicks Jalen Brunson had a playoff career high 47 points. As for the Sixers, when Joel Embiid is out of the line they falter badly. That caused him to have to play the entire second half of that game four loss. I'll be looking at the under in tonight's contest. The Sixers have seen their scoring drop dramatically in the playoffs to just 105.4 ppg from a regular season of 114.1 ppg. However, the defense has been much better also, going from 111.2 ppg in the regular season to 106 ppg in the playoffs. The Knicks have also seen the scoring go way down from 112.5 ppg in the regular season to just 106.5 ppg in the playoffs. But like Philly, the defense is better going from 108.1 ppg to 105.5 ppg. Embiid is hurting and he's playing. Good news for the Knicks is that center Robinson should be back tonight and he will give Embiid even more problems. I'll take this game UNDER.

Probably the best series of these first round is this one between the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. Cavaliers opened the series with a pair of wins at home. The Magic answered with two straight at home including last game 112-89. They have seen three of the four in the series go UNDER the total. Now the venue reverts back to Cleveland for game five. Franz Wagner finished with 34 points for the Magic and outscored the Cavaliers all by himself in the third quarter. The Cavs scored 60 points in the first half but could manage just 10 points in the third quarter as the Magic outscored them by 27-points. The Magic have been great at home, winning six straight, but horrible on the road by losing six straight. Orlando has averaged just 100 points in the playoffs compared to its 110 ppg in the regular season. Their defense has been excellent, allowing just 91.3 ppg in the playoffs. The Cavs 91.3 ppg in the postseason is well below their 111.6 ppg in the regular season. The Magic defense has done a great job but still faces going down 2-3 in this series unless they can change their road woes. For me, I'm taking this game under as both teams playing much better defense then offense. Take the UNDER.

The Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners play game two of their three-game set here on Tuesday. The Mariners took game one on Monday, 2-1. The Braves are now 11-3 over their last 14 games. They are 19-8 and in 1st place in the NL East by 1.5-games over the Phillies. The Braves also have a division best +46 run differential. The Braves start Reynaldo Lopez here today who is 2-0 in his four starts with a great 0.72 ERA and 0.880 WHIP. He's only allowed two total runs all season to go with 14 hits over his 25 innings of work. In addition, he has 24 KO's and eight walks. The Mariners have taken over 1st place in the AL West with their 16-13 record and thanks in part to a 7-3 run. They have a +11 run differential. The AL West is a weak division as only the Rangers and M's are above the .500 mark. Seattle will start Luis Castillo who is 2-4 in his six games with a 4.15 ERA and 1.298 WHIP. Castillo has won two straight games, allowing two runs and six hits over his last 13 innings. I'm still sticking with the Braves today with an almost perfect Lopez on the hill. Play Atlanta.

 The Twins and White Sox play game two of their three game set today from Chicago. The Twins have been red hot, not only taking yesterday's game 3-2, but now running their win streak to eight games. They have improved to 15-13 in the AL Central, but still trail the Guardians by four games. They have also improved to a +9 run differential. Simeon Wood Richardson will make his third start tonight. He's 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.000 WHIP. He's allowed three total runs over his 11 innings of work with 11 KO's and just two walks. The White Sox are tied for the fewest wins in baseball with just a 6-23 record. They also have a horrible -78 run differential. Mike Soroka will try and get his first win of the season tonight after six previous tries. He has a 6.83 ERA and 1.689 WHIP. Though he is coming off one of his best starts where he allowed two runs and four hits to these twins in a no decision on the 25th. He'll try again here tonight but I don't expect him to get much run support. Take the Twins even though the price is a bit high.