01-04-21 NBA Blog Train Monday
And we are back AGANE for some birthday hoops!
Let’s get it!
Cavs at Magic -5.5 UNDER 214.5
Nate Dogg was at the game in Orlando tonight with some 2,700+ other fans at Amway. Dizzle was enjoying some LIT’s for us.
Fultz with a power dunk! We’ll give him around a 2.9 for that one.
Since when did Aaron Gordon get braids? We miss the fro. :/
Magic 103, Cavs 83.
The Under would have been a Pure Lock! Magic -5.5, too, for the most part. Vooch was ole reliable.
The Cavs have gone Under in their last 5 games.
The rematch of this baseball series is Wednesday night.
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Hornets at 76ers -8 Under 221.5
The Hornets and 76ers went way OVER on Saturday night, but we were actually feeling the Under in this Revenge Game — the Hornets had gone Under in the 4 games before that, much to our dismay. But taking a Hornets Under felt just plain wrong, and we thought: “What kinda Hornets fans would we be if we didn’t take the Hornets +8 in their Revenge Game?”
We would have been smart Hornets fans is the answer to that question.
Sixers 118, Hornets 101.
Points in the paint: Sixers 64. Hornets 38.
The Sixers are simply a terrible matchup for the Hornets. We hope not to make this mistake again.
Philly has the #1 defense in the NBA through the first 7 games of the season and is the first team to achieve 6 wins.
The End of this game was a masterclass in WHO HE!?
76ers:
#7 Isaiah Joe — A rookie, 2nd round pick from Arkansas.
#33 Dakota Mathias — An undrafted rookie from Purdue with the nickname “Midwestern Cowboy.”
#44 Paul Reed — A rookie, 2nd round pick from DePaul.
Hornets:
#14 Nick Richards — A rookie, 2nd round pick who is from Jamaica and went to Kentucky.
Oh and lastly, we learned from the lovely Ashley ShahAhmadi on Saturday night that Shake Milton got his name when he was still in his mother’s womb, because his dad’s nickname is Milk, somebody asked his mom, “How’s little milkshake doing in there?” He’s been Shake ever since. (His real name is Malik.)
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Knicks +7.5 at Hawks Under 224.5
Reggie Bull-ock a.k.a. Palmtree.
Thibs was upset and bewildered. Mike Breen was not sure why because instead of being 10 feet away from Thibs like usual, he was 800+ miles away from State Farm arena watching the game at MSG with Clyde.
Knicks 113, Hawks 108.
The Hawks led by as many as 15 points, but the Knicks played inspired basketball with some timely hooping in the 4th quarter in a scintillating comeback win. Kevin Knox showed up just in the nick of time with two momentum changing 3’s. Mitchell Robinson was omnipresent with 8 points, 7 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 steals and 2 blocks. RJ Barrett (26p/11r/5a) had several nice lobs in to Mitch Rob. Julius Randle poured in a team-high 28 points plus 17 rebounds and 9 assists (also 7 turnovers and 0-5 from 3). The Knicks continue to play well against the Hawks.
After a great Revenge Game win against the Nets, the Hawks have dropped two in a row now to the Cavs and Knicks…
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Thunder at Heat -9 Under 214.5
The Heat were due for a bounce back and would have been a Pure Lock.
Hate to say it, but there is just a bit too much going on here with these new Vice jerseys and especially the court. It’s just too distracting. Can we get more of a blend or smoother transition on the gradient?
This side of the court wasn’t as bad.
Bam power dunk oop on top of Moose! 3.7 out of 5.
Heat 118, Thunder 90.
Points in the paint: Heat 52. Thunder 28.
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Celtics +6 at Raptors OVER 217
Tatum scored 26 points in the 1st half. A new career-high for Tatum in a half. JT would finish with 40 points.
Celtics 126, Raptors 114.
This final score doesn’t quite do this game justice. The Celtics had a solid 20-point lead throughout.
The Celtics won despite 20 turnovers to Toronto’s 10. The big difference was rebounds: C’s 56. Raps 37.
Payton Pritchard continues to look like a steal for the 26th pick in the draft. Pritchard contributed 23 points off the bench.
The Raptors are definitely still in a funky funk.
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Mavericks +4 at Rockets Under 229.5
Luka played and he played well. We love watching Harden and Luka guard each other.
A lot of neck tattoos in this game.
Boogie was ejected after just 3 minutes of work and could not believe it.
Luka’s first triple-double (33p/16r/11a) of the season and the 26th of his career.
Mavs 113, Rockets 100.
THJ was ballin’ off the bench with 30 points on 8 of 10 shooting from three!
While watching this game tonight and the Mavs game last night, it has come to our attention that Jalen Brunson looks just like JJ Barea on the court.
Harden was off (5 of 17 from the field) and P.J. Tucker played 35 minutes with 0 points (0 for 1 shooting).
Porzingis has been cleared for basketball activity and is set to practice this week!
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Pistons +16 at Bucks Over 223.5
The Bucks were up pretty much the entire game, but the Pistons were determined to cover.
The Greek Freak was getting all kinds of freaky in Detroit tonight: 43 points on 17 of 24 shooting.
Bucks 125, Pistons 115.
Points in the paint: Bucks 62. Pistons 42.
Killian Hayes went down with another injury. It looked like he was holding his thigh, it’s listed as a hip injury. Hayes has sure started his NBA career banged up.
The Bucks have won 29 out of their last 32 games against Central opponents.
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Pacers +1.5 at Pelicans Over 216
This game had a wild finish. The Pelicans led by 10 with a little over 2 minutes left (thanks to some Lonzo Ball 3’s, seriously, Lonzo was 4 of 6 from beyond) and then DiPo brought the Pacers back late with a deep 3 and clutch steal to help force OT.
Just like Brogdon used to carve up Bledsoe every day in practice in Milwaukee.
Pacers 118, Pelicans 116. OT
Another Pesky win for the Pacers and another close game that slipped away for the Pellies.
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Kings at Warriors +1.5 Over 235.5
Ah yes, the night after we were on the very wrong side of Steph’s 62 points career-high night, we were perplexed why the Warriors were getting points, and we had to roll with the Dubs.
Golden State got off to an 8-0 start and led wire-to-wire and by as many as 36.
That’s what we call a Pure Lock around here!
Kelly Oubre might have finally turned the corner, making 4 of 6 three-pointers tonight!
Warriors 137, Kings 106.
Steph only had to play 31 minutes, a ho hum 30 points on 9 of 18 shooting (5 of 12 from three) and 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
The Kings are really missing Haliburton. The rook is already that vital to what they are this season.
It’s now time for a Sacramento garbage time edition of WHO HE!?:
#3 Jahmi’Us Ramsey — A rookie, 2nd round pick out of Texas Tech.
#13 Robert Woodard II — A rookie, 2nd round pick out of Mississippi St.
#25 Chimezie Metu — A rookie, 2nd round pick out of USC.
You might be able to discern that we do not know the 2nd round draft pick rookies too well.
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A very lite 5-game slate on the Tuesday night slate. The Blog Train might not be making it out of the station, but we’ll catch you next time.
We love this game!
