(USA TODAY Sports)`

The Milwaukee Bucks closed out the Detroit Pistons thanks to a big third quarter Monday. The Houston Rockets dropped their first game to the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell. Oklahoma City hopes to take their series with the Portland Trail Blazers to a Game 6 while Kyle Lowry tries to find his rhythm as the Raptors lead the Magic 3-1 . Here’s a sports betting recap from Monday and a lookahead to Tuesday.

Milwaukee Sweeps in More Ways than One

Two teams had a chance to complete first round sweeps on their opponents’ home courts in the NBA playoffs Monday. The Milwaukee Bucks (-12) started the night off by doing their part, beating the Detroit Pistons 127-104 to win their first playoff series since 2001.

The win didn’t come as easy as their first three did, though. Detroit outscored Milwaukee in each of the first two quarters to take a six point lead at halftime.

Milwaukee looked like an entirely different team in the second half, using a monster third quarter to take a 10 point heading into the fourth.

Giannis Antetokounmpo needed just 32 minutes to record 41 points and  9 rebounds.

The Bucks didn’t only sweep the Pistons, but they also covered the number in all four games. In fact, the +95 point differential is the second largest gap in a four game sweep in NBA history.

Interestingly, SuperBook USA released Round 2 series prices even before many Round 1 series have been completed. Milwaukee opens as -250 favorites against the Boston Celtics, who swept the Indiana Pacers on Sunday

Mitchell Leads Utah

The Houston Rockets (-2) might have followed Milwaukee’s lead if it wasn’t for Utah Jazz guard  Donovan Mitchell.

The second year player didn’t have as good of season as he did in his freshman campaign, but Mitchell was impressive in the fourth quarter of Game 4 Monday night.

Fighting to avoid a sweep, Mitchell scored 19 points of his 31 points in the final twelve minutes — 7 more points than the entire Rockets team scored during that same span. After trailing by one at the end of the third quarter, Utah beat Houston 107-91 to cover the number by 18 points as home underdogs.

Rudy Gobert helped on the defensive end, blocking Harden three times through the third quarter. Harden found a way to score, shooting 6-of-12 from the arc, but still fell 4.5 points shy of his points prop (34.5).

Trailing 1-3 in the series, the Utah Jazz hope to be the first team ever to come back from an 0-3 deficit in the NBA playoffs. So far, teams with a 3-0 lead are 135-0. FanDuel Sportsbook doesn’t give the Jazz much of a chance, listing the Rockets -20000 to advance to the second round.

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Stat of the Day: Thunder can’t Stop McCollum-Lillard Duo

The Portland Trail Blazers are +42 through four games with starting guards C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard both on the court. That doesn’t bode well for the Thunder who are facing an early first round exit Tuesday.

It didn’t help that Russell Westbrook went 0-for-7 from the field and only scored one point in the second half of Game 4. Westbrook will have to step up tonight if Oklahoma City wants to keep this series alive.

Unfortunately for Westbrook and the Thunder, the win will have to come in Portland, where the Trail Blazers beat Oklahoma city 104-99 and 114-94 in the first two games of the series.

After falling behind 1-3, bettors are skeptical to back the Thunder, even with their backs up against the wall. Early tickets favor Portland — 3.5-point favorites — at a 3-to-1 rate.

Portland has certainly looked like the better team, but I’ll take the 3.5 points tonight. Paul George, who is suspected to be playing with an injured shoulder, has looked better as the series has progressed. He had his best offensive game of the series with 30 points in Game 4. Westbrook should respond to his poor performance to help the Thunder steal this one on the road. Breakfast Pick: Thunder +3.5

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Prop Shop: Kyle Lowry Over/Under 12.5 Points (PointsBet)

Kyle Lowry has struggled in the playoffs throughout his career. While the Toronto Raptors hold a commanding 3-1 lead over the Orlando Magic, in large thanks to forwards Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam, Lowry’s struggles have persisted in the first round series with the Magic. Lowry, who averaged over 14 ppg during the regular season, started the series off 0-for-7 in Game 1. He followed up with 22 points in Game 2, then 12 and 9 points in games 3 and 4.

The Raptors are comfortable with a 3-1 lead over the inferior Magic squad and are playing as 11.5-point home favorites Tuesday. They’ll try to get Lowry more comfortable before a likely Round 2 series with the Philadelphia 76ers, and this is a great spot for Lowry to do just that.

At PointsBet you can find Lowry’s points prop at 12.5 (-113). Compare that to FanDuel Sportsbook where the Over is 13.5 (-120). Sign up and take advantage the value from PointsBet. Breakfast Pick: Lowry Over 12.5 Points (PointsBet)

Temperature Meter: Reds Love the Under

The Cincinnati Reds are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but thanks to a mixture of bad offense and good pitching, the Under has hit 9 times over that same span. Most recently, Reds pitchers held the Padres to two runs or less in three of their four games.

Cincinnati’s pitching staff is tied for third in the league with a 3.22 ERA and eighth in fielding percentage. Their batting average, on the other hand, is in last place.

Tuesday, the Reds will start Sonny Gray against the Atlanta Braves. Gray is 0-3 in four starts despite posting in early 2.79 ERA. Even more impressive, Gray has struckout nearly one-third of his opponents, holding batters to a .174 at the plate.

Atlanta will start a pitcher who has seen his fair share of success on the mound this season as well. Kevin Guasman tops Gray with a 2.75 and comes off career-high 10 strikeouts in his previous outing.

Oddsmakers at BetStars opened this one as a coin flip with an Over/Under of 9 runs. Other places around the industry have the total at 8.5 runs. I don’t see Cincinnati bats catching fire against Gausman, and until they do, it’s tough to back the Reds or the Over. Breakfast Picks: Braves -110; Under 9 Runs (BetStars)

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Quick links

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