Saturday Open Thread

Toronto at Indiana

2:00 PM CST

TNT

Toronto leads 2-1

Toronto looks to stay hot after taking the last two against the Pacers. It may be obvious, but the key for Indiana in this game will be Paul George. George will have to bring it on both ends of the court for the Pacers to have a chance at defeating the Raptors. The key for Toronto will be keeping Kyle Lowry going on offense. In the team's two victories, Lowry is averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 assists, and 5.5 boards, while posting a line of 11 points, 7 assists, and 2 boards in Toronto's only loss.

Miami at Charlotte

4:30 PM CST

TNT

Miami leads 2-0

This series may very well be wrapped up already. The Heat have won the first two games in convincing fashion, and with Hornet's wing Nicholas Batum out due to an ankle injury, colony collapse disorder may just hit Charlotte tonight. For the Hornets to have a shot at victory they will need forward Marvin Williams and guard Courtney Lee to step up in a major way. Williams has only converted on one (1!) of his 17 shots from the floor in the first two games and has tallied a +/- of -50. Lee is averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists, but the Hornets will need him to post bigger numbers now that Batum is out. For the Heat, their key will be to just continue doing what they are doing. Forward Luol Deng and center Hassan Whiteside have been phenomenal over the first two games, and guard Dwayne Wade has posted a team high +43 over the first two games.

Oklahoma City at Dallas

7:00 PM CST

ESPN

Oklahoma City leads 2-1

Dallas is pretty banged up and will have to play pretty maverick tonight to stand a chance against the Thunder. Forwards David Lee and Dirk Nowitzki and guards Justin Anderson, Deron Williams, and J.J. Barea are all suffering from some form of injury, with Williams, Anderson, and Lee all listed as questionable as of writing this. Truthfully, Dallas doesn't stand much of a chance as Oklahoma City will be at full strength. Look for this one to be a blow out by the time the final whistle blows.

Los Angeles at Portland

9:30 PM CST

ESPN

Los Angeles leads 2-0

Well, I think it is safe to say I was wrong about this series. I predicted the Trailblazers to win in seven, but the Clippers have proven they are the far superior team. Chris Paul has destroyed Damian Lillard in the battle of the point guards and the Blazers simply don't have a way to stop Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, especially on the boards as the two have combined for 51 rebounds over the first two games. Portland just doesn't have enough weapons to compete with the Clippers. That being said, the Blazers have only shot 15/56 (26.8%) from three during the series, so Portland needs to shoot better if they want to win.