NBA Game Previews 11/14

All game times and poetry styles Japanese, well minus 14 hours. All games on League Pass unless otherwise noted. 

Here's the Games Thread

For Previews.

Charlotte at Atlanta 7:00pm

Cats and Hawks surprise,
Last years' records mean nothing,
Hawks hope Smith don't shoot

Hawks to win, Charlotte is on the road in a back to back and hasn't played well 2 nights in a row yet.

Magic won four of five,
James can't beat winners alone,
Without front court depth.

Magic should be too much to handle up front, and that should be the difference.

Pacers now losers,
But Bullets now 1 and 5,
Both squads want this win.

Both Washtington and Indiana have missions in this particular match-up. Indiana wants to get back to .500 after the loss last night, Washington wants out of the basement. Pacers listen to Rolling Stones, Wizards get what they want.

Rapts one game from even,
Jazz roll on four game win streak,
But three of four home.

The Jazz are 2-1 on the road, with none of them being blowouts, but they're 4-1 at home. Good news for Rapts? No, they're 1-2 at home, but in their defense, one was an overtime win against the Celtics. This could go either way, Jazz have better starters, Rapts have more depth, but in the end I think Boozer and Williams are better than any 2 players the Raptors have. That'll make the difference.

Seattle at Miami 7:30pm

Look-two blind squirrles,
Neither team is very good,
Sonics' to find nut.

Well, someone has to win this game, and considering that Pat Riley said his team would have a better chance of winning if he was on it, I'm going with the sonics. 

Philadelphia at New Orleans 8:00pm

Sixers lately bad,
Only win over good teams' bad nights,
Hornets don't have them.

The 76ers have only beaten squads when they were having uncharistically bad nights  (Charlotte and Chicago), but otherwise they lose to the teams they should. Don't think tonight is any different.

Memphis at Milwaukee 8:00pm

Second game at home,
Game one beat Rockets last night,
Bucks should make streak.

The Grizzlies started coming together last night, and new acquisition Darko Milicic showed some spunk. Bucks should be another victim tonight.

Sacramento at Minnesota 8:00pm

Big Al playing big,
But not enough for the Tims,
More like Timber-pups.

The Kings are not one of my favorite teams, but I think they've got enough to avoid being the Wolves first win. Kings win.

Portland at Denver 9:00pm

Blazers four and three,
Blazers won all four at home,
They lose on the road.

The Blazers are the team of the moment right now (I know, misguided), but they lost 3 in a row on the road to start the season. Until they prove they can win on the road, I will chose to beleive they cannot.

LA Lakers at Houston 9:00pm

Houston playing well,
Lakers not so bad either,
Rockets just better.

Houston won early against the Lakers, and they're coming off of a tough loss to the Grizzlies. Sure, Kobe can score 30 or 40 or 60 points on any given night, but T-Mac can score 40 and Yao can grab 30 and 15. The Rockets also followed up their last loss with 3 wins.

Detroit at Golden State 10:30pm

Warriors peaceful now,
Golden goose egg in San Fran,
At least jack's back soon.

Golden State is one of 2 winless teams, and after tonight I think they will be the only one. Detroit (and more importantly Rasheed Wallace) just got embarassed last night in Portland, and although they're traveling and on the second night of a back to back, they'll still want to revenge that loss.

NY Knicks at LA Clippers 10:30pm

Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha
Stupid Knicks always help laughs,
They will continue.

The Knicks won't win a game again until they're back in MSG. Their best point guard just left the team because he was benched, they may actually start Mardy Collins, and they can't put 2 really good games together.