01-11-21 NBA Blog Train Monday
Seven games on the Monday night slate instead of eight games — Mavs-Pelicans was postponed due to the Mavs not having 8 players available to play.
Not only was this going to be Zion vs. Luka Round II, but this was also going to be KP’s first game back.
Double ugh.
But let’s not dwell on the bad shit.
Instead, let’s take a look at some Hornets power dunks from the weekend:
Another vicious power dunk from Scary Terry!
Caleb Martin with some serious power here. And oh baby was the sound glorious on this one.
Folks, between the Hornets knack for playing sound, team ball, LaMelo dimes and power dunks from Sky Miles Bridges, Scary Terry Rozier, P.J. Washington and Caleb Martin, the Hornets, OUR beloved Hornets, are a highlight machine!
That said, all aboard tonight’s blog train!!
Knicks at Hornets -5 Under 212
We were skeptical of this Hornets Over, we truly were. Yet we couldn’t stay away. The spread scared us, because the Knicks seemed due for a bounce back and the Hornets have played to their competition’s level this year. A nail biter with a breakout in points is what we envisioned.
What we got was a double Pure Lock: The Hornets covered with ease and they went way, way Under. We [hopefully] won’t be taking any more Knicks Overs. Their offense was stagnant and repugnant.
LaMelo struggled shooting (3-of-13), but still contributed 8 points (2 threes), 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 block in addition to several gorgeous dimes per usual.
Gordon Hayward, surprised to see ya!!! Hayward scored a Monday-high 34 points.
Hornets 109, Knicks 88.
The Knicks have very much come back down to earth, losing 3 straight after being on top of the world.
The Hornets, however, have won 4 straight games for the first time in almost two years!
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Grizzlies -2 at Cavaliers UNDER 206.5
If 212 seemed really low for the Knicks-Hornets, then 206.5 seemed super low for this one. But then we took a look at the numbers: Over their last five games, the Grizz and Cavs both averaged 92 points per game. Not to mention these two played last week and the score was 94-90.
So we rolled with the Under and it was Pure Lock.
B.C. power oop!
Grizz 101, Cavs 91.
Yogi Ferrell was signed to a 10-day contract by the Cavs… *checks notes* today, and Yogi played 17 minutes tonight. The Cavs are still without the Sexland backcourt.
The Grizzlies won despite making just five 3’s.
Points in the paint: Grizz 64, Cavs 42.
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Bucks -10 at Magic Under 226
The Magic held close early, but the Bucks pulled away late, outscoring the Magic by 18 points in the 4th quarter.
This Aaron Gordon dunk on Giannis is rattled home / not dunked cleanly, but we totally have to include it here anyway.
Bucks 121, Magic 99.
After starting 4-0, the injury ravaged Magic have lost 5 of their last 7 games.
The Bucks are averaging an NBA-high 121.9 points per game.
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Suns at Wizards +6 Over 232
This was the shocker of the night. The Wizards led from wire-to-wire and were up by as many as 32 points!
Wizards 128, Suns 107.
Three-pointers: Wizards 15-of-34 for 44.1 percent. Suns 4-of-27 for 14.8 percent.
The Latvian Laser was back tonight! Bertans shot 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.
We are not afraid to say it: The Wizards are better without Russell Westbrook!
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76ers at Hawks -6 Under 222.5
The 76ers are still depleted from the health and safety protocols, so you can’t really hold this against them.
Hawks 112, Sixers 94.
The Hawks needed this win in the worst way, having lost 4 in a row and 5 of their 6 games coming into tonight.
John Collins tonight: 4-of-7 with all 4-of-7 from 3…
We have a short Hawks episode of WHO HE!?
#4 Skylar Mays, a 6-4 shooting guard from LSU. A rookie and 2nd round pick in last year’s draft.
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Raptors +4.5 at Blazers Under 230.5
The Raptors led throughout this game, by as many as 17 points in the 2nd quarter. We eyed the Blazers Live MoneyLine at almost +300. We were close to pulling the trigger! Alas, we did not, thinking that surely the Raptors would be able to finally pull one out. (Narrator: They did not)
Blazers 112, Raptors 111.
For the second time in as many nights, Pascal Siakam missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer and the Raptors now fall to 2-8, tied for the worst record in the NBA with Detroit.
The good news is that Chris Boucher still looks phenomenal.
Here is your game-winner from C.J. McMidrange:
Soo smooth and clutch.
It must be noted that Melo was huge for Portland in the 4th quarter, including defense and making three 3’s!
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Pacers at Kings +3.5 OVER 227.5
Having split our two bets on the early games, we had to get in on the action on one of the late games. Raptors-Blazers felt like a toss up (it was) and this one did, too, until we tuned into the pregame and the big story was about how banged up the Kings are. Fox and Hield were even questionable to play, and Richaun Holmes (friend of the blog!) did not play in the previous game. So we locked it in: Pacers -4.
The Pacers jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, and we probably got a little bit too excited. “This is going to be a Pure Lock!” (Narrator: It was not.)
The first three quarters were close, but the Kings, and more specifically, De’Aaron Fox, set the pace and tone. (We should have just stuck with the Over!)
Sacramento led by 4 points entering the 4th. That’s when Richaun Holmes drilled a deep “911” 3 at the shot-clock buzzer from damn close to the logo!
The next Kings possession, our guy Haliburton made a 3 to give the Kings a 10-point lead. We were already preparing to chalk this one up as an L, but then we remembered that these were the Pesky Pacers after all — and scrap their way right back into the game they did!
Edmond Sumner (the original WHO HE!?) had a very solid game, scoring 8 points in 11 minutes off the bench. McDermott’s 3-ball came alive in the 4th, Oladipo attacked the basket with ferocity and Sabonis, as he usual is, was the rock. The two-man game with Sabonis is so nice, the Pacers send in nifty, tight passes, especially Brogdon.
All of a sudden, a downhill Oladipo layup gave the Pacers a 115-113 lead with 3:35 to go. We were right back in it!
A couple of possessions later, the score remained the same and that’s when the game reached it’s ultimate turning point. Sabonis slipped out of a pseudo screen for Dipo who fired in a bounce pass to Sabonis driving to the hoop. The Kings defense collapsed down on him, and Sabonis dropped in a bounce pass to Justin Holiday roaming along the baseline. Holiday went up for a layup that Richaun Holmes pinned on the glass for the possession-saving block. Buddy Hield hit a 3 on the other side of the court to complete the 5-point swing. We knew we were doomed. We shouldn’t have bet against friend of the blog Richaun Holmes who wasn’t so friendly to us tonight and rightfully so.
And if that wasn’t enough, how about a power dunk dagger to send us packing.
Kings 127, Pacers 122.
We still can’t bet a Pacers game right, their peskiness lives on!
Blazers at Kings on Wednesday night. You can count on us locking in the Over.
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Six games ahead on the Tuesday night slate instead of seven games — Celtics-Bulls has already been postponed due to the Celtics not having enough players available to play.
Several intriguing matchups remain: Nuggets vs. Nets, Lakers vs. Rockets Game II and Pacers-Warriors. We will not be betting the Pacers game tomorrow night! … or will we?
We love this game!
