01-12-22 NBA Blog Train Wednesday
Nine games on a Wednesday night means nine game capsules below.
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.
All aboard!
Hornets +5.5 at 76ers UNDER 225
In a face-off between the two hottest teams in the Eastern Conference, we will admit to feeling a little bit of apprehension considering that the Hornets hadn’t won a game against the Sixers since 2016, but we rolled with our beloved Hornets +5.5 anyway.
We are proud to report that Gordon Hayward was hotter than a fur coat in Arizona! 22 points at the half on perfect 9-for-9 shooting, 4-for-4 from 3. The Hornets closed the second quarter on a 18-4 flurry to take a 14-point lead into the half.
That lead increased to 20 before Philly finally started making a run.
Embiid was bulldozing the Hornets undersized front court. Both Mason Plumlee and P.J. Washington were in foul trouble.
Back-to-back 3s from Seth Curry cut Charlotte’s lead to 7.
Rozier stopped the bleeding with a bucket that the Hornets desperately needed. Rozier’s 4th quarter touch is softer than a masseuse.
And then we got a…
Miles Bridges power dunk! On top of Drummond! Big Penguin had a very forgettable game. James Borrego even pulled a little Hack-a-Drumm. Drummond missed four consecutive free throws.
Hayward still had it going late. It looked real easy for him tonight, like shooting fish in a barrel!
Hornets 109, Sixers 98.
This Over was looking so juicy after a 35-34 first quarter, but it was ALL downhill from there.
Hayward finished with 30 points on 16 shots — no freebies.
Embiid did get to 30 points as well, extending his streak to 8 games.
The Hornets have now won 4 in a row and 7 out of their last 9. Charlotte’s first win vs. Philly in five years!
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Celtics +1 at Pacers Over 210.5
This was NOT a Pacers Revenge Game from Monday night’s 3-point loss in Boston in OT.
This was a Celtics wire-to-wire victory with the J-Team dialed in from the jump.
Jaylen Brown dropped 34 and Tatum put in 33.
Add in Schroder’s 23 and that’s 90 points between three dudes.
Celtics 119, Pacers 100.
Three-pointers: Celtics 18-of-38. Pacers 7-of-36.
In the latest episode of WHO HE!? for the Pacers, we have #32 Terry Taylor, a 6-5 rookie from Austin Peay. Tonight was his second career NBA game after appearing in the final 50 seconds of an 8-point loss to the Nets on January 5th in Kyrie’s first game back. Taylor played 5 minutes tonight, did not attempt his first ever NBA shot, but he did record his first ever rebound. Congrats and welcome aboard!
The Pacers have now lost 8 out of 9 games.
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Magic +6.5 at Wizards Over 213.5
The Wizards led by 9 at halftime, but they were up by as many as 20 early on.
The Wiz got back up by 16 in the second half, but the Magic were DETERMINED to cover.
*Bad Beat Alert*
The Wizards led by 8 points with 6 seconds left. That’s when Franz Wagner got a garbage-time runner to go just before the buzzer.
Wizards 112, Magic 106.
This Over 213.5 would have been a Squeaky Lock.
Kuzma was one assist shy of a triple-double: 19-10-9. And the same went for Cole Anthony at 19-11-9 despite going 0-for-6 and having 0 points in the first half.
Both teams had six players score double-digit points.
The Magic have now lost 10 games in a row while the Wiz have won 3 straight.
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Heat +2.5 at Hawks Under 222
The Hawks grabbed an early 11-point lead, but then Tyler Herro got going, scoring 16 points in the first half and the Heat never looked back, outscoring the Hawks by 30 in the final three quarters.
Heat 115, Hawks 91.
This Under 222 would have been a Pure Lock.
The Hawks have not won a home game since November 22nd when we were in ATL for the Thunder game. Woof! On a brighter note: De’Andre Hunter played tonight in his first game since November 12th.
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Mavericks at Knicks +2.5 UNDER 203.5
This was NOT a Reggie Bullock Revenge Game. Or Frankie Smokes or Theo Pinson for that matter.
We are still wholeheartedly of the belief that the Knicks never should have let Pinson go!
Anywho, Julius Randle was locked in early, and we agree with Doris Burke’s advice to him: play well and they will cheer for you. Simple as that.
Randle was not the only Knick who came to play. RJ Barrett’s hot streak continued in a big way, scoring 31 points and becoming the youngest player in Knicks history to score 30+ in back-to-back games.
Knicks 108, Mavs 85.
This Under 203.5 would have been a Comeback Lock thanks to a low-scoring 24-19 fourth quarter.
The Mavs were due for a clunker after winning 6 in a row.
The Knicks have made it back to .500 at 21-21. Fun fact: the Knicks were 21-21 last season as well before their big second half of the season push all the way up to the 4-seed. The East is a lot more stacked this time, but perhaps this can be the Knicks turning point in the season again?
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Rockets +7 at Spurs Over 234
Knowing that the Spurs love to hit the Over at home and knowing that the Rockets have hit the Over in 6 out of the last 8, we had to jump in on this Over 234 even in spite of the high total.
The points were FLOWING early and often. The Rockets led 39-36 after the 1st quarter, and we were already sitting at an 86% chance to hit according to our handy dandy Action Network app.
There was a lull in the 3rd quarter and at the beginning of the 4th, but then the points took the hell off again. Kind of like Jalen Green — fast as lightning, bruh.
Rockets 128, Spurs 124.
This Over 234 was a very, very Solid Lock. Almost Pure but not quite.
The Spurs have now lost 8 out of the last 9 games. At least 8 out of the next 9 will be at home, including the next 6.
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Cavaliers +5 at Jazz Under 224
Still no Gobert for the Jazz, and that’s still a big problem.
Darius Garland racked up his first career triple-double (11-15-10), but it was Laurie Markkanen and Lamar Stevens (!!) who led the Cavs in scoring. 23 points for Stevens and 20 for Markkanen. The two dudes in Klay’s poster on Sunday night!
Cavs 111, Jazz 91.
Cavs +5 would have been a Pure Lock, and this Under 224 was also very Pure.
The Jazz have now lost four in a row and 5 out of the last 7. In their 5 games without Gobert this season, the Jazz have the worst defensive rating in the league, per Statmuse.
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Nets -1.5 at Bulls Over 238
This was a get-right game for the Nets who coming into tonight had lost 5 out of 7 games, including an embarrassing loss in Portland on Monday night.
If the 4th quarter of the first matchup between these two was the Bulls signature quarter of the season when they outscored the Nets 42-17, then the 3rd quarter tonight was the Nets signature quarter of the season thus far, outscoring the Bulls 39-19.
Nets 138, Bulls 112.
This Total was high, but not high enough. Over 238 was a Pure Lock.
Kyrie actually had a quiet game, 9 points, but the Nets still had four players score 20+:
KD: 27 points on 10 shots (!!), 3-of-4 from 3 and 10-of-11 from free.
Harden: 25 points and 16 assists.
Patty Mills: 21 points in 22 minutes off the bench, 6-of-8 from 3.
And Day’Ron Sharpe! The rook, putting in work in his first career start. (The Nets started Sharpe and Kessler Edwards.)
It was an ominous sign for Chicago when Derrick Jones Jr. suffered an injury 30 seconds into the game, had to be helped off the court and did not return.
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Lakers at Kings +4 OVER 230.5
We stayed away from taking the regular spread here, but we jumped on Lakers -1 for the first quarter.
The Lakers always jump out to big early leads and blow them. And that’s precisely what happened tonight!
Malik Monk came out on fire once again, and the Lakers had a 9-point lead halfway through the 1st quarter that would hang on.
But the 3rd quarter was all about the Kings who walloped the Lakers 40-23 in the 3rd frame, the opposite of the first game in Sac between these two.
The Lakers trailed by 11 going into the 4th. Did we jump on a Lakers live MoneyLine at +370? Yup, sure did. Could. Not. Resist.
And late in the 4th, here came the Lakers! An 8-0 run fueled by none other than LeBron James. The Lakers cut the lead to 2 points with 1:36 left.
But De’Aaron Fox swished a pull-up jumper. And then Westbrook chucked a 3 that didn’t have a chance.
Ballgame.
Kings 125, Lakers 116.
We should have just gone with Over 230.5. That was probably the Pure Lock of the night.
The Kings snapped their 5-game losing streak. They seem to always play the Lakers well.
LeBron scored 34 points which puts him at 30+ in 11 out of the last 12 games. Out of his illustrious and legendary 19-year career, LeBron has now scored the 2nd-most points through the first 42 games of the season. Absolutely unreal.
Even crazier is the fact that he had to carry those Cavs teams back in the day, and now he is having to carry this Lakers team that drops back to .500 — the same record as the Knicks.
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Five games ahead on Thursday night, including a spicy Warriors-Bucks matchup that we’ll be glued to. Wolves-Grizz is certainly enticing as well.
We probably won’t be running the Blog Train because we have some catching up on Power Dunk City.
We love this game!
