01-08-21 NBA Blog Train Friday
Suns at Pistons +7.5 Under 216
We’ve said it before (in our season preview) and we’ll say it again: Sometimes it’s good to bet on yourself.
Jerami Grant tonight: 31 points on 10 of 15 shooting and 10 rebounds, even with 2 assists!
Pistons 110, Suns 105. OT
Free Throws: Pistons 25 of 29. Suns 6 of 13.
Fastbreak points: Pistons 3. Suns 19.
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Hornets +7.5 at Pelicans Over 218
Ohhh yes. The first Battle of the Ball Bros. Petey Pablo asked if we were going to have the Hornets game on. “Always lol” was the reply. Sometimes it’s like they don’t even know us.
It’s a funny thing, we tried several times to roll with our beloved Hornets +7.5 on this one, but we couldn’t get it in. Sometimes that happens and you wonder if it’s a sign. To stay away? Perhaps. Or maybe to evaluate for the time being and get in on the action later. So that’s what we did.
We kicked back and relaxed and when the Hornets went down by as many as 18 points, we were sure glad that we didn’t get in. But then another funny thing happened, something that we hoped and believed in: The Hornets started buzzin! We could see it even if they were still down. So halfway through the third quarter, we officially made it into the ballgame: Hornets +7.5. Same as the original, but with +112 odds instead of the -110 we previously tried to lock in. Albeit with the caveat that the Hornets were trailing by 7 points.
Right on cue, Terry Rozier drilled a 3! Nothing but net. The next Hornets possession — after a missed Lonzo jumper (there were a lot of those) — LaMelo dished it out to Miles Bridges, open for 3, and Bridges knocked it down! A couple of easy Zion buckets later, it was P.J. Washington making an above the break 3! Oh yes, we were already whooping and hollering when LaMelo capped it all off by draining a 30-foot step back 3 before the end of the 3rd quarter in his older brother’s face.
The Hornets didn’t stop buzzin’ either, no sir. Charlotte kept ballin’ in the 4th with good ball movement and patience, waiting for the best open look. Halfway through the 4th quarter, the Hornets took their first lead of the game after a Devonte’ Graham runner And-1. The Hornets never trailed the rest of the game and our Live bet was more golden than a goose!
Hornets 118, Pelicans 110.
As if we didn’t have enough fun already, there were some power dunks on display down in the Big Easy tonight:
Sky Miles Bridges, we’ll give a 3.2 on this one.
Loading up on our Sky Miles tonight. This put-back power dunk looks like a 2.7.
Air Zion soaring in. Zion power dunks are usually hard to grade, because no matter what it’s going to be a lot of power due to his sheer size. A 4.0 feels right here.
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Below is the aforementioned LaMelo step-back. LaMelo won the first Battle of the Ball Bros. tonight and it wasn’t even close.
LaMelo was a whisker away from a triple-double: 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.
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Wizards at Celtics -3.5 Under 237.5
When you hear that Blue Panda dropped 41 points.
vs. when you hear that the Wizards have lost nine straight games when Bradley Beal scores 40+ points and/or when you see Westbrook’s stat line: 4 of 16 shooting, 7 turnovers and -17 net rating.
Celtics 116, Wizards 107.
Not sure if you heard or saw above, but it was Tacko Time in Boston on Friday night!
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Thunder +3 at Knicks UNDER 212
Nobody knows the Knicks better than Wob. Nobody. (And we totally should have hammered OKC +3!)
It was SGA and… Hami Diallo leading the charge for the Thunder tonight with 48 combined points, 25 for SGA and 23 for Diallo who had one of the best games of his career.
Thunder 101, Knicks 89.
This UNDER would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
The Knicks were due for one of these, and we told you the Thunder would be better than you would think.
OKC is now 4-4, tied for 6th place in the West with the Mavs, Blazers and Spurs. Sam Presti is probably panicking. “You were supposed to TANK!!!”
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Magic at Rockets -7 Push 222
Not much to report here, folks. Except if you like 42-point blowouts and freakin’ Pushes.
Rockets 132, Magic 90.
Fournier didn’t play for the already shorthanded Magic who are now giving 20+ minutes of work to Jordan Bone and Karim Mane. Uh… yeah, that’s going to bring us into your favorite segment. That’s right, another episode of WHO HE!?
Karim Mane — a rookie from Senegal. That’s pretty cool.
Jordan Bone — another rookie, from Tennessee. 2nd round pick. We have trouble with those.
No disrespect to these gentlemen that we just met, but watching the Magic without Fultz just bums us out now — kinda like watching the Grizz without Ja.
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Nets at Grizzlies +1 Over 218.5
Speaking of the devil, we’ll be honest and tell you that we didn’t watch a lick of this game.
Grizzlies 115, Nets 110.
It would appear from the box score that Caris LeVert dropped 43 points on 23 shots! 15 of 23 from the field and 7 of 9 threes. But the Grizz won this game in the paint:
Points in the paint: Grizz 52, Nets 38.
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Jazz +6 at Bucks OVER 231.5
Bogdanovic, surprised to see ya! Bogey had been struggling mightily but had some of his powers back tonight: 20 points and 4 threes in addition to this 2.9 power dunk.
Royce O’Neale had himself a Friday night: 6 of 8 on three-pointers. All eight of his shots on the night were 3’s. The Jazz made a franchise-record 25 three-pointers!
Jazz 131, Bucks 118.
Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell combined for 17 assists. Don Mitch also rang up 32 points.
Giannis and Middleton combined for 66 points and it was not nearly enough.
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Raptors -1 at Kings OVER 222.5
The Kings roared out of the gate in this one with a quick 19-point lead. The scoreboard read 40-21 with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter. The polar opposite of the Thunder-Knicks game earlier, this one was immediately on record pace to go OVER. They went Over with 10:51 left! That would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
The Raptors would completely turn the ship around.
Look who was smiling! Smiling Siakam is the best Siakam.
Raptors 144, Kings 123.
That’s the new franchise record in points scored in a game for the Raptors. Hopefully this ignites them.
@WorldWideWob led off his Late Night with Wob Periscope tonight with… Chris Boucher! And we are proud to note that we have also been on the Chris Boucher hype train. Nick Nurse finally went to the ace up his sleeve.
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Bulls +8.5 at Lakers Over 221.5
The Lakers didn’t cover last night (they didn’t even win) — so they owed us one. No AD or KCP, but it’s the Lakers, the land of depth and prosperity.
The Bulls burned us on Tuesday night (no Blog Train post that night, we were cooking up some Power Rankings) when they beat the Blazers in Moda, so fuck the Bulls.
You know who took that personally? Zach LaVine, who popped off for 38 points, 14 of 22 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3. The dude was flying around everywhere. The Lakers were having a really tough time keeping up with his speed.
And so, it was another slow start for the Lakers who trailed by 10 points early in the second quarter after Coby White got hot and scored 10 straight points, including two back-to-back no doubt about it 3’s.
The Lakers dwindled the Bulls lead down to 1 by halftime and proceeded to win the third quarter by 3 points to give LA a 4-point lead going into the fourth. The third quarter damage was handled by Wes Matthews coming alive and making three 3’s. Trez Harrell also contributed down low, and LeBron, of course did a little bit of everything (except make any 3’s, 0 for 5).
The 4th quarter commenced with the Lakers running away from the Bulls. The LA lead ballooned to 12 points after a LeBron And-1. (Poor rookie Pat Williams drew the LeBron defensive assignment a lot tonight.) The Bulls never completely went away, though. The Lakers didn’t run away — they were still running with the Bulls.
Some timely shots from Garrett Temple and Thad Young wiped out any chance for our cover (unless they went to OT!) and all of a sudden, the game was in jeopardy for the Lakers. The lead was only 1 point with 12.1 seconds left, Bulls ball.
If you didn’t see the game, you might know what happened next if you are familiar with Chicago Bulls basketball (or if you’ve followed this blog). Zach LaVine took an early fadeaway with a hand in his face and she did not fall.
Lakers 117, Bulls 115.
In our Season Preview, when we made the case for the Bulls Under, we stated: “Picture Zach LaVine jacking up contested late-game pull-ups with the game on the line.”
Welp, the Lakers have burned us two in a row and so have the Bulls.
Oh well, wanna see a Wendell Carter Jr. power dunk?
Giving this one a 4.2! A ferocious attack on the rim.
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Clippers at Warriors +6.5 Under 229.5
Three West Coast games starting a 10pm EST meant that the Lakers game was on our main TV and that Clippers-Warriors was on the secondary TV. So we didn’t watch this one as closely, but we kept an eye on it.
What we saw was the Clippers in control, leading by as many as 22 points in the third quarter.
But then we saw something special catch our eye. Our guy! 2015-2016 Steph Curry for the second time in a week!
Back when the Warriors were the Warriors, they were known for their patented third quarter landslide runs. That’s what we witnessed tonight, with the brilliance of Steph flowing through his team. Steph was feeling himself so much after a late in the 3rd quarter 3 that he started dancing his little dance.
That’s precisely the moment that we locked in the Warriors Live MoneyLine at +326 entering the 4th quarter down by 6 points.
It is with great delight that we get to share that there was a Pascanimal sighting in the 4th quarter, taking over for the Dubs when Steph and Draymond were on the bench getting their last rest of the night. Kent Bazemore even hit a 3! It took the Warriors bench unit just a couple of minutes to flip a 6-point deficit to a 6-point lead.
The Clippers tied it back up at 97-97 with 7 minutes left after three-pointers from Kennard and Ibaka, the Clips newcomers. That would be the last time it was close, thanks to a couple of Brad Wanamaker 3’s (!!) and… Andrew Wiggins (!!!) who was clutch down the stretch.
The Warriors didn’t just win our big MoneyLine, they won by 10 points.
It’s SO great to have him back. And that he had some help!
Warriors 115, Clippers 105.
Fourth Quarter: Warriors 34. Clippers 18.
That’s another meltdown for the Clippers. You have to wonder if they are feeling some type of bubble way.
Who do the Clippers play on Sunday afternoon at Staples? The fucking Bulls.
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The Blog Train will not be leaving the station this weekend, but we should be back up and running on Monday night which has a couple of beauties on the schedule:
The New York Knickerbockers at our beloved Hornets.
Pelicans at Mavs — Zion vs. Luka Round II.
Catch you then.
We love this game!
