01-07-22 NBA Blog Train Friday

Ahh yes, the first Blog Train of 2022!

In case you are new: the Blog Train is where we keep track of the Vegas lines, the power dunks, #NBATwitter, the WHO HE!? characters and whatever other game observations and box score musings might tickle our fancy.

Nine games on the first Friday of 2022 means nine game capsules below.

All aboard!




Spurs at 76ers -8.5 Under 221

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have been rollin’ recently, so we had to roll with the Sixers -8.5 tonight ourselves as the Spurs came to town with a slew of players out in the protocols: Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Devin Vassell and Doug McDermott — four of the top-6 Spurs in minutes played this season.

Just as we suspected, Embiid dominated and Philly was up by 20 after the first quarter.

Also in the first quarter, we recognized a familiar face:

That’s Charlie Brown! You might recall that he debuted this season for the Mavs on Christmas (a Charlie Brown Christmas!), and if you are a real basketballin dot net diehard, you’ll recall that Charlie Brown was a part of our Sunday Scaries Hawks-Lakers Bad Beat back on November 17th, 2019. (We been out here, yo!)

Embiid power dunk! He had another one, too.

Sixers -8.5 was a Pure Lock. Always a great way to start the night.

Sixers 119, Spurs 100.

This Over 221 was on pace to hit for the majority of the game, but it took a serious nosedive in the final minutes when they brought in the deep reserves. (More on that in a second.)

Embiid finished with 31 points, his sixth 30-point game in a row, the first Sixer to pull that off since Allen Iverson. The Sixers have won all 6 of those games for a nice 6-game winning streak. Over the last two weeks, Philly has the #1 offense in the NBA.

In the latest episode of WHO HE!? we have a couple of Spurs and a Sixer. For San Antonio:

  • #15 Joe Wieskamp, a 6-6 2nd round draft pick rookie from Iowa. Tonight was Wieskamp’s 9th career NBA game. He missed two straight free throws late in the 4th quarter much to the delight of the Philly fans in attendance. Free Frostys for all! (Wieskamp was actually fouled shooting a 3-pointer, and he made the 3rd free throw, but Kate Scott assured us that it still counts since he missed the first two.)

  • #30 Jaylen Morris, a 6-5 third year player from Molloy college (a private Catholic university in Rockville Centre, New York, per Google). Jaylen Morris played six games with the Hawks in 2017-18 and four games with the Bucks in 2018-19. Tonight was his second game with the Spurs this season.

And for Philly:

  • #2 Braxton Key, a 6-8 rookie from Virginia (and Bama). Tonight was Braxton’s Key’s NBA debut and in the final 30 seconds, we watched his first ever NBA assist to Aaron Henry. It was Aaron Henry’s first ever NBA basket! And if you are wondering WHO HE!? then you must have missed our 12/20/21 Blog Train.

Welcome aboard, y’all!

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Bucks +4 at Nets Under 232.5

The Bucks jumped out to an early lead and didn’t look back, cruisin’ the Nets in a wire-to-wire victory without Jrue Holiday, Pat Connaughton, Donte DiVencenzo, Grayson Allen and George Hill. (Yup, protocols.)

Giannis only played 27 minutes, and he didn’t even need to play that many. Steve Nash waved another early white flag with 6+ minutes remaining.

Bucks 121, Nets 109.

This Over 232.5 got going after a big 3rd quarter with 69 combined points (nice), but like the Spurs-Sixers game above, it lost its legs in the final minutes.

  • The Nets have lost 4 out of the last 5 games and are now tied with the Bucks for 2nd place in the East.

  • Giannis has seven straight games of scoring 30+ points against Brooklyn.

(The Bucks were the only Underdog to win and cover tonight.)

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Jazz at Raptors -13.5 OVER 217

The Jazz were missing a few guys tonight. No Mitchell. No Gobert. No Bogey. No Conley. No Clarkson. No Ingles. No Royce O’Neale. And no Rudy Gay. Ya know, just the top-8 players on the team in minutes per game.

Even so, 13.5 points sounded like a lot… And when the Jazz had an early 17-point lead (!!), we were really thinking that 13.5 points was too many. But it wasn’t.

The Raptors came alive in the 3rd quarter behind Fred VanVleet shooting 8-for-8 and 24 points (in the quarter!), devouring the Jazz in the 2nd half: Raptors 73, Jazz 46.

Good enough for a giant swing of over 30 points.

Raptors 122, Jazz 108.

This Over 217 would have been a Pure Lock, but you would have to have some major cajones to put that one in.

  • Fred VanVleet notched his first career triple-double: 37-10-10.

  • The Jazz leading scorer? Our old friend Pascanimal! Eric Paschall scored 29 points while Elijah Hughes scored 26. (Somehow Elijah Hughes hasn’t made it onto WHO HE!? before despite playing in 18 games last year for the Jazz. He’s a 6-5 2nd year guy out of Syracuse and… ECU!)

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Wizards at Bulls -5.5 OVER 224.5

When we saw the Bulls intros, with DeRozan followed by Lonzo, we locked in Bulls -5.5 less than 60 seconds before tip-off.

The Bulls were up pretty much the entire first half and took a 73-66 lead into the break after a Coby White falling down 3 ended the 2nd quarter.

KCP got hot in the 3rd, and the Wiz grabbed a little lead, but the Bulls took it back and never relinquished it again, securing their first 9-game winning streak since the spring of 2011.

Bulls 130, Wizards 122.

This Over 224.5 would have been the Pure Lock of the night. They went Over by 27 points and with six minutes left!

  • The Bulls bench scored 50+ points for the second time this season.

  • Three-pointers: Bulls 15-of-33. Wiz 7-of-24.

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Mavericks -2.5 at Rockets OVER 215.5

This was one of those games that we totally meant to lock in (Mavs -2.5) but we just didn’t get around to it.

And then we proceeded to watch a shellacking unfold that we could have been a part of. It happens.

At least we got a…

Jalen Green power dunk!

Mavs 130, Rockets 106.

Mavs -2.5 and this Over 215.5 would have been a Double Pure Lock.

  • No Luka or Porzingis, no problem for the Mavs who had six players score in double figures: THJ, Brunson, Powell, Bullock, DFS and… Josh Green! A career-high 17 points for Josh Green whose previous career-high was 9.

  • In the latest Rockets edition of WHO HE!? we have #15 Daishen Nix, a 6-4 rookie from… the G-League Ignite! Tonight was Nix’s sixth game of action this season.

Alrighty then. You have our attention!

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Timberwolves -5 at Thunder OVER 219.5

Ant-Man was playing like a superhero in the 1st quarter: 17 points and 5-for-5 from 3.

The T-Wolves eviscerated the Thunder, leading by as many as 41.

T-Wolves 135, Thunder 105.

The T-Wolves -5 and this Over 219.5 would have another Double Pure Lock.

  • The Wolves shot a blistering 68 percent from the field in the first half.

  • Minnesota has won 3 in a row while OKC has lost 3 in a row.

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Kings at Nuggets -8 Over 226

Recalling that the Kings swept the Nuggets last season, 8 points seemed like too many points.

So we rolled with the Kings +8, and the Kings had an early lead that was completely erased by the Nuggets who were running — talking ‘bout REALLY running and flying up the court.

Jokic was slangin’ hilarious no-look dimes.

Uncle Jeff was power dunkin’. A two-pack!

But Fox kept the mid-rangers flowing late. And all of a sudden, the Kings were only down by 10 with 25 secs left. We totally had a chance at the backdoor cover!

And…

The Kings turned the ball over. #Kangz

Nuggets 121, Kings 111.

Kings +8 was a Pseudo Lock. But at least it was our only loss of the night.

This Over 226 would have been Pure despite not going Over by that many. It was always on pace.

  • Points in the paint: Nuggets 70, Kings 44. (Dayum.)

  • Jokic (33-10-7) and Fox (30-7-5) both reached the 30-mark.

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Cavaliers -6 at Blazers Under 216.5

If there is one player that we think is not getting enough love for All-Star, it’s Darius Garland.

Cavs 114, Blazers 101.

This Over/Under was bizarre. The Under was looking like the move the entire game until late in the 4th when a flurry of buckets took place. But there were no points in the final 50 seconds and the Under hung on after all.

  • Rondo made his Cavs debut tonight. The Blazers were leaving him WIDE open. Rondo was 2-of-8 from 3.

  • Cedi Osman was 4-of-7 from 3 with all four made 3s coming in the 4th quarter.

During one of the in-game entertainment breaks, there was a fan shooting 3-pointers granny-style. He missed them all, save for the very last one.

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Hawks at Lakers -1.5 OVER 231.5

Unable to resist such a low spread, we took the Lakers.

The Lakers started out red-hot, led by… Avery Bradley! AB had 13 points in the first quarter, and the other scorching-hot Laker was… Malik Monk! Monk had 21 at the half, starting out 5-for-5 from 3.

But the Hawks made a run late in the 2nd, only down by 3 at the break after trailing by 19.

The 2nd half was all about the LakeShow.

Wob is lucky that he got to watch the Lakers broadcast. (No offense to ESPN. We just prefer our guys.)

Lakers 134, Hawks 118.

This Over 231.5 would have been yet another Pure Lock. 6 out of the 9 games tonight went Over and all were Pure.

  • LeBron: 32 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. The Lakers are 5-0 with LeBron at Center. (Did you know that he is 37 years old and in Year 19?)

  • Monk finished with 29 points and seven 3s. Avery Bradley and THT both scored 21. Melo had four 3s-to-the-dome.

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Folks, we are just two days away…

From what, you ask?

Sunday.

a.k.a. KLAY DAY.

We love this game!