The Cardinals finished last in the NL Central last season. They are a half-game out of the division cellar this season. St. Louis ranks 28th in homers and is at a starting pitcher disadvantage in this matchup. So I'll lay a small price with Kutter Crawford against Miles Mikolas.

Cutter has turned a corner this season becoming a consistent pitcher with an impressive 2.24 ERA. Not only do the Cardinals rank third-from-last in runs, but their main power hitters are over-the-hill. St. Louis is 26th in homers.

The Red Sox should do damage against Mikolas. He was bad last season and he's bad this season with a 6.19 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. He's allowed eight homers in 48 innings. Mikolas is 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA at home this season.

The season isn't even two games old for the Wings and already they have serious injury concerns. All-Star Satou Sabally is out recovering from a shoulder injury. Starting guard Jaelyn Brown is out with a broken nose and now it's been discovered that Natasha Howard will miss three-to-six weeks after breaking her foot in Dallas', 87-79, opening game win against Chicago this past Wednesday.

Howard is arguably one of the 25 best players in the league.

However, I can't get behind the rebuilding Sky in this rematch. But I can get involved with the Under considering the total is much higher than the closing 162 it was for Wednesday's game.

The teams did not shoot well in that first game.  The Sky, though, is more of a defensive team having traded some of their scorers. The Wings have to rely even more on ball hog Arike Ogunbowale with Howard out.

The Sky are dealing with injuries themselves along with plenty of roster movement and a first-year coach in Teresa Weatherspoon. It's going to take them time to jell, especially on the offensive side.

Slower tempo and much improved defensive play have resulted in the Under cashing during the past three games in this Mavericks-Thunder series. 

There have been 196, 196 and 206 combined points during these last three games. That averages out to 199.3 If anything I see more defensive intensity for this crucial Game 6 matchup with the Thunder trailing the Mavericks 3-2 in the series. 

Both teams are playing their best defense of the season. The Under is 7-2 in Oklahoma City's playoff games. The Under is 4-1 in the Mavericks' last five games. 

Superstars Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander get all the publicity. But there are several unsung, below-the-radar players whose defense has been exceptional, including Lugentz Dort and Derrick Jones Jr.

Washington is a defensive-minded team that already is battle-tested against the Sun and Liberty, two teams better than the Storm.

Seattle has upgraded its attack. However, it's taking time for the Storm to jell. Jewell Loyd, the league's leading scorer last year and key to Seattle's offense, is off to a terrible shooting start. She's just 7-of-40 in the Storm's first two games, losses to the Lynx. Skylar Diggins-Smith is off to a slow start, too, shooting just 12-of-35 from the floor.

Washington isn't likely to have point guard Brittney Sykes. She hurt her ankle in Washington's last game two days ago. Sykes is a huge key to the Mystics' attack.