Wednesday Night's NBA Preview: Warriors Are Lock of the Night

There are few things that are certain in life. Death and taxes definitely are up there, but the Warriors holding down the fort at Oracle Arena is certainly another. That’s so much the case for Golden State this year (they’re a perfect 21-0 at home) that they even housed a very good Spurs team by 30 on Monday. On Wednesday night they’re at home again and the Dallas Mavericks decided to stroll into town, on the second game of a back to back no less, without Dirk Nowitzki and Zaza Pachulia.

Not good, Dallas, not good.

The Warriors have to be the easiest pick of the night and they cap the action with the final game of Wednesday night’s schedule. Still, there are seven other games tonight and there is a lot to discuss, so let’s cover all the bases as we preview tonight’s NBA slate and hand out our picks:

Clippers @ Hawks

Los Angeles isn’t great on the road this year but they do fare well against the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are terrible at rebounding and have issues at point guard, too, so look for Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan to go nuts in a big road win.

Pick: Clippers 104, Hawks 101

Suns @ Cavs

Phoenix has been playing better lately thanks to big efforts out of Archie Goodwin and Alex Len, but it’s going to be extremely tough for them to go into Quicken Loans Arena and beat the Cavs tonight. It’s likely they won’t even be able to contend.

Pick: Cavs 107, Suns 94

Nuggets @ Celtics

Expect a high-scoring, fast-paced game tonight, as the Nuggets and Celtics both love to run. Denver plays zero defense, though, and the deep Celtics have plenty of able bodies to lock Denver down in spots tonight.

Pick: Celtics 105, Nuggets 100

76ers @ Pistons

Philly has been a lot better lately than some people are probably willing to admit, but going into Detroit and taking down a solid Pistons team is a reach. Look for Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond to both do as they please in a big home win.

Pick: Pistons 104, 76ers 92

Thunder @ Timberwolves

OKC is fresh off of an unlikely overtime thriller with the Knicks, so they could be awfully tired tonight in another road game. Luckily the Timberwolves are awful.

Pick: Thunde 106, Timberwolves 101

Rockets @ Spurs

No Tim Duncan for the Spurs, but San Antonio still plays great team defense and is undefeated at home this year. James Harden could draw Kawhi Leonard, which should stifle him enough to help the Spurs get the win.

Pick: Spurs 104, Rockets 98

Hornets @ Jazz

Utah has Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert back and the Hornets are depleted down low. They could get Nicolas Batum back tonight, but in Utah I have to side with the Jazz.

Pick: Jazz 88, Hornets 84