01-03-21 NBA Blog Train Sunday
Tonight’s Blog Train post is brought to you by HBO’s new hit “The Flight Attendant,” some birthday eve GTA, a green apple Johnny Bootlegger, some Bold Rock seltzers, a shot of Fire Ball, a couple of volcanoes and last but certainly not least, some homemade carrot cake.
Before we get to tonight’s game capsules, we need to address the elephant in the room. Not the usual elephant in the room, but the glaring argument within: Has this site again become “The Ramblin’s of a Gamblin’ Man’s?” And even worse, The Ramblin’s of a Losing Gamblin’ Man’s. Folks, we have been straight Marty Mush-ing it out here. Would our Sunday birthday eve be any better? The thing about a cold streak is that you have to turn it around at some point, right?
Celtics at Pistons +8 Over 212
A revenge game for the Celtics who were embarrassed by Detroit on Friday night when the Over was also an embarrassment of a pick by us. We rolled with the Celtics -5.5 in the first half in the Sunday matinee.
We will admit to not watching anywhere close to the entirety of this game — getting caught up in “The Flight Attendant” was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It’s a good show! Always love a murder-mystery that’s suspenseful with some comedy thrown in. It’s also fun to watch a train wreck.
And Kaley Cuoco is hot, we’ve had a crush on her since “8 Simple Rules.”
Celtics 122, Pistons 120.
The Celtics got their revenge, but not in convincing fashion. This time, the Over would have been a Pure Lock!
Oh, you want to know how our Celtics -5.5 in the first half pick went? Well, the Celtics led by 4 points with 5.8 seconds left in the second quarter after a Blake Griffin made free throw. Marcus Smart then inbounded from the baseline to Payton Pritchard who was near half court. Pritchard drove down the lane and had a pretty good look at an up-and-under lay up…
Which he bricked off the glass.
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Lakers -10 at Grizzlies UNDER 220.5
It was not just but a couple of weeks ago that we were looking at tickets for going to this game in person. The Grizzlies were going to be one of the few select teams allowing a limited number of fans at their games at FedEx Forum to start the NBA season. We thought we had the right seat picked out, but the next time we looked at tickets, the SeatGeek app said, “Search results not found.” And that’s how we found out that the Grizzlies were no longer allowing any fans at their games.
Because we have been Mush-ing it so much lately, we needed to make up some ground and hit a big one. Who could we count on? The Lakers -9.5 against the Grizzlies, but of course!
The Lakers jumped out to a quick 9-point lead and we let out a long exhale. “We really need this one!”
And then the Grizzlies proceeded to go on a 17-0 run.
The Lakers went from having a 9-point lead to trailing by 12 points in a HURRY.
AD got off to a tremendously slow start, scoreless in his 10 minutes of game action.
There was a Xavier Tillman (WHO HE!?) in for the Grizzlies, getting his first playing time of the season. Tyus Jones was… everywhere. Killing us all night.
AD finally got going and Schroder was consistent. Dennis The Menace has been consistent all season, scoring more than 10 points every game this season and averaging 17.
The Lakers took control of the second quarter while the third quarter was even. Heading into the 4th, the Lakers led by 2 points.
That’s when LeBron went to work and officially turned this one into a Comeback Lock for the good guys!
Lakers 108, Grizz 94.
LeBron scored 13 points in the fourth, including the first 10 of the quarter for the Lakers. The King drained two 3’s — one from the Grizzlies logo, and he finished with a game-high +19 net rating.
Montrezl Harrell had a nice game off the bench with 16 points and 9 boards, 7 of 11 from the field in 21 minutes.
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Wizards +7.5 at Nets Over 241.5
Down the stretch, it was Bradley Beal who made the winning plays. To be clear, we are not disputing that Westbrook contributed heavily to the win, but we want to reiterate in the highest fashion: Get Bradley Beal the ball in crunch time.
This is Blue Panda’s team after all.
THIS is winning basketball. Not just jacking up some awful contested jumper.
Thomas Bryant had a big game in addition to this game-winning dunk off the fancy dish from Beal. 21 points and 14 rebounds on 9 of 12 shooting for TB13.
Wizards 123, Nets 122.
Kyrie scored 30 and KD put up 28, but it wasn’t enough for Brooklyn who coughed up 20 turnovers to the Wizards 7.
Kyrie and KD both had good looks at potential go-ahead game-winning shots with the game on the line. Alas, they did not fall.
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Nuggets -8.5 at T-Wolves Over 226
We pulled the trigger on Over 226 and it started out just fine, on pace for 228 points after the first quarter.
The second quarter was NOT what we wanted. By halftime, we were somehow now on pace for just 206 points, kicking ourselves for taking yet another Over.
But the second half, dear friends, was simply delightful.
Points were flying every which way. The T-Wolves were actually making it somewhat of a game, before the Nuggets really put the pedal down.
Jamal Murray was playing like playoff bubble Jamal Murray all night, 36 points on 13 of 20 shooting. Jarrett Culver was impressing us with 10 points in the third quarter and 20 points on the night. JaMychal Green hit three 3’s! Jokic tallied his 4th triple-double of the season and The Joker leads the league in assists.
Down the stretch of this game — when the points continued to flow, and specifically when Monte Morris knocked down three free throws to seal the Over — we were high-fiving, fist pumping, dapping up and whooping and hollering like crazy. And that’s when it hit us: The only way to get this fired up about a Nuggets-T-Wolves game on a random Sunday in early January is to be in on the action.
Our second Comeback Lock of the night!
Nuggets 124, T-Wolves 109.
Three-pointers: Nuggets 19 of 45 for 42.2 percent. T-Wolves 10 of 31 for 32.3 percent.
Points in the paint: Nuggets 42. T-Wolves 64.
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Jazz -5.5 at Spurs OVER 222.5
This Junder was an Anti-Lock, it never stood a chance.
The Jazz scored 32 or more points in every quarter!
Yeah, no Junder tonight.
Jazz 130, Spurs 109.
Three pointers: Jazz 21 of 41 for 51.2 percent! Spurs 6 of 19 for 31.9 percent.
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Clippers -3.5 at Suns Over 215.5
The Clippers were up by 31 in the second quarter, but the Suns fought back from the wilderness to make it a game in the 4th. Things were getting quite chippy!
Clippers 112, Suns 107.
The Paul George Revenge Tour’s latest stop was in Phoenix tonight: 39 points on 15 of 24 shooting, 7 of 10 from three (!!) and a game-high +17 net rating.
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Mavericks at Bulls +4 Over 222
No Luka tonight (left quad contusion) and it was Jalen Brunson who led the way for the Mavs with 31 points in 38 minutes as “The Dude” for Dallas.
Bulls 118, Mavs 108.
Zach LaVine, per usual, was “The Dude” for the Bulls, raking in 39 points on 14 of 25 shooting.
Coby White added 23 points and 4 threes.
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Blazers at Warriors +4.5 OVER 235
E-Babs was over for the games tonight and wanted in on the action on the late game. E was all about the Blazers -5. We heeded caution: “The Blazers have definitely been the better team, but we really, really don’t like to bet against Steph.” E-Babs was adamant: “It’s all about the Blazers tonight, bro!” And that’s when the thought of the Blazers torching the Lakers last Monday night and also these very Warriors on Friday night when we almost and should have taken the Blazers. And so, we locked it in.
Yup, that’s right.
We had the Blazers on the night that Steph scored a career-high 62 points!!! Steph was lit from the jump, determined to will the Warriors to a win at all costs. And Draymond made a big difference, playing impeccable defense and was he there for Steph, to be his rock and to set him up (even if by an air balled backpack 3).
We have to mention that the Blazers were in serious foul trouble throughout the game (with numerous questionable calls), but this, THIS right here was the Steph we have so much wanted to see but had not seen in any of the few games last season or this season.
He was Stephortless, and he wow’ed us time and time again just like we were back in 2015-2016.
Warriors 137, Blazers 122.
We got Steph’ed. By our own guy. Perhaps we deserved it for making fun of his braids that we weren’t a fan of. And perhaps we deserved it for, ya know, betting against him.
Either way, we don’t even really mind that we lost so long as he really is back. A small price to pay for a priceless endeavor.
Tell everybody: Steph Curry is BACK!
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Nine games on the Monday night birthday slate:
Cavs at Magic -5 O/U 217 — Nate Dogg is going to be at this game in person tonight!
Hornets at 76ers -8.5 O/U 219 — The first matchup was a Hornets Over on Saturday night!
Knicks at Hawks -7 O/U 222.5 — These two last played on March 11th, 2020 — the night that the season was suspended.
Thunder at Heat -9 O/U 214.5 — The Heat feel due for a bounce back after losing to the Mavs on Friday night.
Celtics at Raptors -4.5 O/U 218.5 — A rematch of the Eastern Conference Semis, but things have changed.
Mavs at Rockets -4.5 O/U 229 — The big question is whether or not Luka is going to play.
Pistons at Bucks -16 O/U 224 — Sixteen is a LOT of points! 224 feels kinda low…
Pacers at Pelicans -1.5 O/U 216.5 — A matchup featuring two 4-2 teams. The Pacers looking to rebound after losing to the Knicks (!!) and the Pellies fresh off solid wins over the Thunder and Raptors.
Kings at Warriors +2 O/U 233.5 — The Warriors are getting 2 points!?
We love this game!
