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(2) Golden State Warriors at (6) New Orleans Pelicans - 8:00 PM, ESPN
Charles Barkley won’t do it, but the New Orleans Pelicans need to (figuratively) punch the Golden State Warriors in the face tonight if they have any chance of making this series competitive. To be fair, Game 2 was a bit of a dogfight, and if it wasn’t for the return of Steph Curry (28 points in 27 minutes), the Pelicans might have stolen one in Oracle Arena. New Orleans is good enough to win one of these next two at home, but they may find themselves on the wrong end of a “gentleman’s sweep” before long.
(1) Houston Rockets at (5) Utah Jazz - 10:30 PM, ESPN
The Jazz beat the Rockets in Game 2 despite a somewhat off-night from Donovan Mitchell... is it wrong to think that Utah might be able to pull off the upset? You definitely have to think that they’ll win (at least) one of these games at Vivint Smart Home Arena, making Game 5 a very interesting proposition for both teams. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves... Wednesday HAD to serve as something of a wake-up call for James Harden and Co., and I fully expect them to bring their A-game tonight in a contest that’s bordering on must-win territory.