Yeti

Game 2 of the NLCS looks like a tight, run-starved game. Two quality right-handers take the mound, both bullpens were sharp in Game 1, and the two lineups have been scraping for runs rather than piling them up. The game should be decided from the fifth inning on, probably by a single swing or a single rally.

This is a game shaped more by the calendar and the medical room than by the table. Barcelona is a rebuilt roster still assembling itself, and it plays again after a very short turnaround following a home Euroleague loss that slipped away late. Valencia arrives rested, healthy by the latest report, and in better form than the standings, which are level after two league games, suggest.

This looks like a slow, physical, low-scoring game decided by rebounds, turnovers and two-point shooting rather than by who hits more threes. Both teams defend the arc well and score only 78 to 79 a game, which squeezes margins. Dubai have the better top-end talent and the home floor, but their results so far have been narrow.

Tortona come into this one on a bad run, and the problem is on the defensive end. They have lost three games in a row, conceding 86 in Riga, 98 to Venezia in the Super Cup and 108 in Rome, which was their worst defeat since reaching Serie A. Le Mans bring a quick, guard-led attack that should find space against that. That clash of a leaky defence and a fast attack is the reason I am backing the visitors.

Toyama's two home games tell two different stories, and the second one has an easy explanation. They beat a heavily favoured Utsunomiya in the opener, then lost by 22 the next day after Amir Simms picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter with the game still close. Kyoto, on the other hand, have played all four of their games at home so far, and this is their first trip away.

Hiroshima have started the season 4-0, and every one of those wins came by 11 points or more. Ibaraki are 0-4 and have given up 80 or more in three of those four games. The way I see it, Hiroshima's defence squeezes a team that is already struggling to shoot, and that is a recipe for a comfortable margin rather than a nailbiter.