01-22-20 NBA Blog Train Wednesday - Zion Day
Twelve games on the Wednesday night menu, including Zion’s long awaited debut!
Let’s get it!
Kings at Pistons +2 Over 222
Zion was not the only one with a debut tonight. This was Kent Bazemore’s Kings debut! (It did not go so well.)
Drummond did not play. (Big Penguin got the ole “DNP-MOUTH” according to ESPN’s boxscore.)
The injured Pistons gang on the bench was cracking us up.
Fox power dunk! Level 3.9?
Woah, look who’s back. That’s Reggie Jackson! Reg Jax drained a 3 at the 3rd quarter buzzer. This was Reggie’s first game since the second game of the season when he injured his back.
Pistons 127, Kings 106.
The Kings have now lost 5 in a row.
We need to figure out how to get D-Rose to Philly.
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Thunder +2.5 at Magic Over 210.5
OKC won the first meeting by 8 points on November 5th, and we hit Under 204.5 that night. That was back when the Magic had still yet to break the 100-point barrier.
Not only did the Orlando Magic not listen to us, wearing their orange city edition jerseys again when we just specifically asked them not to, but the Orlando Magic also wore them the same night they were playing the Thunder, granting us with double orange. Ugh.
Diallo lite power dunk. Level 1.5?
Ayy the spicy rooster!
Thunder 120, Magic 114.
Dennis Schroder tied his season-high with 31 points off the bench, 20 of which were scored in the 2nd half.
The Magic’s leading scorer was also a bench player, T-Ross with 26.
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76ers at Raptors -6 Under 216
The Sixers had an early 14-point lead, but it was tied 50-50 at halftime when the points came to a screeching halt in the 2nd quarter. The Raptors ended the 3rd quarter on a 10-0 run and did not look back.
Mathief!
Norm Powell lite power dunk! This is probably somewhere in Level 1.
Raptors 107, Sixers 95.
The Raptors lead the season series 2-1 and the final game will be played on March 18th. [Narrator: The final Raptors-Sixers game was NOT played on March 18th.]
Interesting box score note: Nick Nurse deployed nine Raptors and only six of them scored points, but all six scored in double figures.
Points in the paint: Raptors 52, Sixers 18. Safe to say that Philly missed Embiid in this one.
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Grizzlies at Celtics -7 UNDER 232.5
The Celtics cruised, leading by 14 at the half and by as many as 38 points.
Tatum left the game (groin) and went to the locker room. He did not return, but he definitely did not need to.
Celtics 119, Grizzlies 95.
Young Ja was due for a dud on Zion Day, only 2 points on 1 of 5 shooting.
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Lakers at Knicks +11.5 UNDER 223.5
A lot can change in a year. Last January these two were Pelicans.
Mike Breen told us a story about how in AD’s senior year of high school, his team’s record was 6-26. And apparently that high school is known for the art students?
At one point, Clyde Frazier stated: “LeBron is using very little energy. It looks like he could play another five years.”
Lakers 100, Knicks 92.
At the end, Caruso was getting MVP chants — even at MSG!
Shoutout Damyean Dotson who made 5 threes.
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Wizards at Heat Over 229
James Johnson lite power dunk. Does this make it to Level 2? Probably.
James Johnson also hit the game’s biggest shot to send the Heat to OT again.
Brad Beal had a great look at a game-tying 3 at the end of OT. Alas, she did not fall. Blue Panda was bummed.
Heat 134, Wizards 129. OT
The Heat are still perfect in Overtime games, 8-0.
Tyler Herro set the Heat rookie record with 7 made three-pointers. Nice job, rook!
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Clippers at Hawks +4.5 UNDER 228.5
No Kawhi. No PG. No Ice Trae. No Pat Bev.
The Clippers went on a 20-0 first quarter run, but the 2nd half was all about the Hawks.
Trez two-handed goal shaking slam. Not sure if this one is cracking Level 2 for us.
Usually the Hawks bench is doing this about Ice Trae’s treys, but Trae got to return the favor on Wednesday night. This was after De’Andre Hunter hit the biggest three of the game.
Hawks 102, Clippers 95.
This was wildly different than the first game when the Clippers beat the bricks off the Hawks 150-101. So technically it’s an Atlanta Hawks Revenge Game but definitely with an asterisk next to it.
John Collins was the game’s high scorer with 33 points and 16 rebounds. Brandon Goodwin chipped in 19. Goodwin continues to excel since being on WHO HE!?
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Timberwolves at Bulls -1 Over 219.5
Towns put up a 40-burger, but this was a LaVine Revenge Game.
We did get a brief appearance of “Pouty Towns” that Bill Simmons, Russillo and House were talking about on Tuesday.
Allen Crabbe is playing a lot more minutes for the T-Wolves than we would have thought.
Bulls 117, T-Wolves 110.
Otto Porter Jr. is apparently no longer in a walking boot!
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Nuggets at Rockets -10 Under 227
The Nuggets are absolutely decimated by injuries right now. No Jamal Murray (ankle). No Paul Milsap (knee). No Gary Harris (thigh). No Mason Plumlee (foot). No Michael Porter Jr. (back). … Sheesh.
A special guest joined Westbrook in the immediate on-court post-game interview with Cayleigh Griffin. (Disclaimer: The special guest? Yeah, we have NO idea who that is. But we love it!)
Special Guest: “I’m just glad we won.”
Russ (with extreme jubilation): “Me too!”
Rockets 121, Nuggets 105.
Russ scored a game-high 28 points on nice 11 of 25 shooting. Harden scored 27 points on 6 of 13 shooting, 2 of 6 from three and 13 of 15 from free. The Rockets had to have this one, no doubt.
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Pacers -1 at Suns Under 221.5
We had a good feeling that the Pesky Pacers would bounce back after losing to the Jazz on Monday night.
The Pesky Pacers led wire to wire.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting, 8 of 11 free throws and 14 rebounds. Domas is an Eastern Conference All-Star.
Pacers 112, Suns 87.
T.J. Warren Revenge Game! Warren scored 25 points, the most in the game against his former ‘mates.
Brogdon left the game and dit not return, requiring stitches for a forehead laceration.
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Spurs +3.5 at Pelicans Over 236.5
THE MAIN EVENT got off to a bit of a slow start, but in the 4th quarter, Zion arrived.
Zion scored 17 straight points in a 3:08 span! ZION hit 4 threes in a row. Yes, FOUR. Three-pointers! We were beaming. The Smoothie King Center was about to explode. This was special. Zion Day lived up to the hype after everything. And this is only the very beginning.
Spurs 121, Pelicans 117.
The Spurs won the game (somebody tell Jeff Van Gundy that we, too, know who won and will remember) because Zion had to be taken out in crunch time, having reached and exceeded his minutes limit.
The Spurs have won three in a row and are now currently in the 8th and final West playoff spot.
Winter is HERE.
And Zion is too!
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Jazz -9 at Warriors Over 220.5
This seems important.
Jazz 129, Warriors 96.
The Jazz have completed the season series sweep of the Warriors with wins of 14, 4, 8 and 33 points.
Three-pointers: Jazz 17 of 40, Warriors 6 of 23.
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Only three games on the Thursday night slate: Wiz at Cavs, Lakers at Nets, and Mavs at Blazers in a rematch from last week. We are already looking ahead to Friday night, Nuggets at Pelicans at 8pm. Zion’s encore!
We love this game!