2014 NBA Playoff Picks: Thunder and Pacers Look to Get Even

After a ho-hum two-game night featuring blowouts by the hands of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs, NBA fans will be hoping for a little more excitement out of Wednesday night’s matchups.

They just might get it, and then some.

With the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder both under-performing their way to an 0-1 hole in their respective series, they’ll surely aim to bring their A game in an effort to avoid a disastrous 0-2 hole. Indiana welcomes the Washington Wizards back to their home court to try to get the job done, while the Los Angeles Clippers return to OKC, trying to go up, 2-0.

Let’s break both games down and see if both series can’t get tied up at one game apiece:

Washington Wizards (5) @ Indiana Pacers (1) – 7:00 PM ET

It’s starting to look like this young Wizards team is for real. They looked hungrier, faster and more assertive than Indiana in game one, as just about every starter was ablaze in a solid win.

Roy Hibbert continues to be a mess, while the Pacers simply won’t be able to avoid an 0-2 hole if Paul George plays poorly for a second straight game. Washington is younger and more athletic, but Indiana is at home and is still capable of playing much better defense. Look for them to even the series up.

Pick: Pacers 96, Wizards 94

Los Angeles Clippers (3) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (2) – 9:30 PM ET

L.A. stormed into OKC and destroyed the Thunder in game one, as Chris Paul has probably the most efficient game of his career. That won’t happen again, though, so the rest of the Clippers will need to step up a little more.

The Clippers clearly came to play in what is expected to be a long, grueling series. OKC didn’t fully show up and got caught off guard, but it’s tough to imagine a team as talented as they are to go down 0-2 at home.

Pick: Thunder 106, Clippers 101