NBA Preview: 76ers at Warriors

TV: CSN Bay Area, League Pass | Radio: KNBR 680

Without Andrew Bynum Philadelphia is coming in with a 14-15 record. When I look at the 76ers I see a roster full of guys who basically can't shoot. The ever-promising Evan Turner (who will always be a #2 pick, I guess) comes in shooting 45% on 3-pt shots, but overall, his TS% is only 51%. The most efficient scorer on the roster is Thaddeus Young at 54.8% TS, and after him, it's ex-Warrior Dorell Wright at 53.3%. Jrue Holiday who is carrying a lot of the scoring load (25.9% USG is as high as Stephen Curry), is shooting a very inefficient 51.2%. Nick Young is also shooting at 51.2%.

Surprisingly, Philly's defense (106 DRTG, #17) is actually worse than it's offense (103.4 #17), although both are ranked the same. And their strength of schedule is actually one slot below us (we're #25). The only one of the four factors that Philly excels in is limiting offensive turnovers (11.9 per 100 possessions). They're second only to the Knicks. We're ranked 26th in the league in opponent turnovers, so I would expect Philly to easily win the turnover battle. But the most important of the four factors is shooting efficiency, and we are statistically ahead in that area on both sides of the ball.

So obviously we're going to win. The only thing that can stop us from winning is the fact that I'll be at Oracle tonight.

Predictions:

• Klay Thompson is going to light up Evan Turner.
• Stephen Curry is going to light up Jrue Holiday.
• The battle between Thaddeus Young and Draymond Green is going to be epic.
• Harrison Barnes will have one spectacular put-back dunk.
• Warriors won't beat the spread (-6), but will win by 3 in a closely contested game.