01-12-21 NBA Blog Train Tuesday
And we are back AGANE with six games on the Tuesday night menu.
pointer
Heat +8.5 at 76ers OVER 213
This game was a roller coaster.
Kelly Olynyk celebrates a 3 by Gabe Vincent. If you’re wondering WHO HE!? then we guess you missed Heat-Clippers back on February 5th of last year when Vincent started for the Heat on ESPN.
The Sixers led by 9 in the 1st and the Heat led by 8 at halftime.
Embiid came ALIVE in the 3rd quarter (20 points on 8-of-8 shooting in the quarter) and the Sixers reclaimed the lead, up by as many as 12 points with under 8 minutes left in the ballgame.
That’s when Tyler Herro showed out, scoring 13 points to bring the Heat allllll the way back and on top with a 5-point lead with 32.2 seconds left. The Sixers went quick, a made 3 from Isaiah Joe and a 20-footer from Embiid tied the game back up at 120-120 with 3.3 seconds left. Olynyk had a feeble attempt at a potential game-winning shot. Alas, she did not fall and we headed to OT.
Overtime belonged to Embiid, but the Heat of course made another run at the end, never giving up.
Doc has once again made it onto Coaches in Despair.
Sixers 137, Heat 134. OT
The OVER was never in doubt and would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
If you couldn’t tell from the crunch time mentions of Isaiah Joe and Kelly Olynyk, or even from the Gabe Vincent sighting, both of these rosters had multiple players out due to health and safety protocol.
Embiid finished with 45 points, 13-of-13 on free throws (!!), 16 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and a block.
_____________________________________
Nuggets at Nets -1.5 Over 230
Our first bet of the night was locking in this Over 230.
It was an easy decision, the Nuggets have the 2nd highest offensive rating in the NBA and the 26th ranked defensive rating. The Nets? 8th in offense and a misleading 10th in defense. The Nets 10th ranked defense is misleading because when you look at the points they’ve given up over the last couple of weeks: 141 to the Hawks, 123 to the Wizards, 110 to the Grizzlies and 129 to the Thunder, you realize what your eyes are seeing is actually true: The Nets defense has trouble stopping teams from scoring a lot of points.
The points were steady flowing from the jump, but we got nervous that this was going to turn into a blowout, which can definitely cause an Over that’s on pace to really slow it’s roll. The Nuggets led by 16 at halftime.
The third quarter, however, was dominated by the Nets, who outhustled and outscored the Nuggets by 16 to leave the score tied up at 90 heading into the 4th. We were still on pace for 240 points, but not the same high pace of 248 points that the halftime score presented.
We went looking for our umbrellas in the 4th quarter when the 3’s starting raining down in Barclays. Three straight triples to start the quarter! Will Barton was 6-of-8 on the night from downtown.
Three-point numbers you want to see when you have the Over:
Nets 16-of-32 for 50 percent. Nuggets 18-of-37 for 48.6 percent.
The Nets kept their momentum from the 3rd quarter rolling, and it was The Slim Reaper who ultimately put the Nuggets to sleep.
This, THIS, was the bucket that officially made our Over hit. Sometimes you really have to love gambling.
Nets 122, Nuggets 116.
It actually got kinda close at the very end, but the Over was never really in doubt. We are still chalking this one up as a Pure Lock.
When Isaiah Hartenstein checked into the game, Bird told us that he saw a video where Hartenstein pronounced his own last name, “HartenSHtein.” This seemed important at the time, but we didn’t really know exactly why. We found out:
Isaiah HartenSHtein, surprised to see ya again!
_____________________________________
Jazz -12.5 at Cavaliers Under 208
Ohhh baby, you already know!!! If you are new around here: Jazz Unders are one of our favorite pastimes, and just last night we hit a lovely Pure Lock on the Grizz-Cavs Under 206.5 (they went under by 14.5 points). Cavs on the second night of a back-to-back and still without Sexland and no Drummond tonight…
We had to give this Junder a whirl!
Much to our delight, the scoring was few and far between.
Halfway through the first quarter, the score was 9 to 12, a whopping 21 combined points.
1st quarter: Jazz 22, Cavs 18 — on pace for 160 total points.
Halftime: Jazz 49, Cavs 36 — on pace for 170 total points.
“THE JUNDER is another Pure Lock!!!”
We thought for sure it was a wrap…
And it was mostly was, but we can’t leave out that it actually got kinda hairy there at the end. You see what happened was the Jazz offense found a serious groove in the second half, putting up 68 points after just 49 at halftime. The Cavs improved a bit, too, but they struggled so much in the 1st half that we made it to the finish line and our Junder hit.
Jazz 117, Cavs 87.
Three-pointers: Jazz 24-of-45 for 53.3 percent. Cavs 8-of-31 for 25.8 percent.
It must be noted that the Cavs still have the best defensive rating in the NBA. Well, they are technically tied with the Lakers after tonight according to NBA.com. But either way, the Cavs are tied for the best defense rating in the NBA!!! In case you don’t know, the Cavs were dead last each of the last two seasons is the reason why we are making such a big deal. Is this sustainable? Ehhhh.
Oh, and the Cavs offensive rating? Dead last in the league at a putrid 99.8. Woof!
_____________________________________
Lakers -5 at Rockets Under 224
OH YES. You might or might not know that we love LeBron, and we love the Lakers. (We do love everyone, but we especially love LeBron and the Lakers.
It was a grand surprise to see the line at just a mere 5 points against… the Rockets? The same Rockets who the Lakers trounced on Sunday by 18 points when the final score wasn’t a true indicator of how much they actually dominated the game?
We locked in Lakers -5 without hesitation and it was never in doubt, another Pure Lock! If you are keeping score at home, that’s a Triple Pure Lock to start the evening!!!
Watching this happen Live was absolutely magnificent. As the legend would have it, Dennis The Menace from the bench bet LeBron that he wouldn’t make a no-look 3. LeBron shot it, turned and said, “Bet,” as the 3 swished home behind him.
THT with the TNT put-back power dunk!
Lakers 117, Rockets 100.
Just like Sunday night, this final score here is no indicator. The Lakers led wire-to-wire and by as many as 30 points. Soo pure.
The Lakers starting 5-man lineup of LeBron, AD, Gasol, Schroder and KCP currently has logged 97 minutes and posted an offensive rating of 132.2 and a net rating of +29.3.
Houston, we have a problem. That’s what the headlines will read tomorrow morning. After the game, Harden said in his post-game press conference that there’s no fixing this and that the Rockets just aren’t good enough. We have to agree with John Wall here, it’s only been 9 games. That said, when you’ve checked out, you’ve checked out. If your heart isn’t in it, it’s time to move on.
The only thing that could actually give the Rox a chance of working this out is winning, and the schedule does get a little bit easier over the next 7 games, including the Spurs (twice), Bulls, Pistons and Wizards.
_____________________________________
Spurs -2.5 at Thunder Under 218.5
This Diallo power dunk sounded like a gunshot.
Lonnie Walker IV scored a game-high 24 points, including this tough as nails And-1.
Spurs 112, Thunder 102.
Turnovers: Spurs 4, Thunder 13.
Per usual, the Spurs are averaging the fewest turnovers in the NBA.
OKC has yet to win at home despite their still surprising 5-5 start.
_____________________________________
Pacers +3.5 at Warriors UNDER 227
It is with great pleasure that we get to share with you, dear reader, that we did not bet on the Pacers game tonight, having learned our lesson yet again last night: Do not bet on or against the Pesky Pacers!
For the record, our official pick on The Action Network app was the Pacers -3 and the Under, but our heart would have wanted us to roll with Steph and the Dubs and to take the Over.
Sometimes staying away is just as good as winning.
As for the actual game, the Warriors held a 7-point lead at halftime that was lessened to only 2 after the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter was all about the Pacers who made the big shots when it mattered most, a timely 13-0 run capped off this defensive-minded affair.
Pacers 104, Warriors 95.
Myles Turner was the difference: 22 points (3-of-5 from 3!), 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 steals. Turner still leads the league in blocks, averaging 4.1 per game, 1.5 more than second place.
@WorldWideWob started his Periscope tonight by saying that he’s long been a Myles Turner truther. Having been fans of Wob’s long before Wobtober, we can attest to his clamoring of Turner’s over the years. However, Wob did also say that Myles Turner should be a “superstar.” Now listen, we agree that Tuner is certainly underrated and has the potential to be an excellent player, but we have never viewed him as a superstar caliber talent, that’s for sure.
The next 3 games are a fucking Test for the Warriors: @Denver, @Phoenix and @ Staples vs. the Lakers.
_____________________________________
Currently there are eight games ahead on the Wednesday night slate instead of the originally scheduled 10 games. Jazz-Wizards and Magic-Celtics have already been postponed due to the Wizards and Celtics not having enough players available to play.
Mavericks -4.5 at Hornets O/U 220 — Luka and the Mavs will look to avenge the beatdown the Hornets handed to them in Dallas in their first home game of the season.
Bucks -10.5 at Pistons O/U 226 — Bucks Pistons Round III.
Nets -6.5 at Knicks O/U 219 — Obi Toppin is listed as Probable!
Grizzlies at T-Wolves -3 O/U 221 — A battle of the bottom of the West. KAT is on track to play.
Lakers -8 at Thunder O/U 217 — Dennis Schroder Revenge Game!
Hawks at Suns -6.5 O/U 227 — Ice Trae vs. CP3. John Collins vs. Ayton. [Update: Postponed. :/]
Pelicans at Clippers -7.5 O/U 218 — Pelicans look to stop the bleeding having lost 3 in a row.
Blazers -3.5 at Kings O/U 236 — Last Saturday, the Blazers beat the Kings by 26 and the total was 224.
Another fun night of hoops awaits.
We love this game!
