01-27-21 NBA Blog Train Wednesday
Twelve games on the Wednesday night slate.
We are keeping things shorter than usual tonight, because tomorrow morning, lads, it’s to the moon we go.
Pacers -3 at Hornets Over 222
Having actually and finally learned our grand lesson to never bet on a game involving the Pesky Pacers, we had to stay away from this Hornets Over which would have been a hulluva ride.
Truth be told, we thought that the Hornets +3 and the Under would have been the move, but then we found out that Sabonis was actually playing after suffering a left knee contusion on Monday night. The fabulous Eric Collins described Sabonis as “tough as tortoise toe nails.”
Sabonis was indeed a problem all night long on both ends, but it was Brogdon and Justin Holiday who showed up with their shooting shoes on in the first quarter, punching the Hornets in the mouth with a 17-point lead after the first frame.
The Hornets started the second quarter on a 23-6 run, completely evaporating the 17-point deficit and tying the game at 42-42. P.J. Washington was the main catalyst, and he would go on to finish with 18 points and a team-high +17 net rating.
Sabonis banked in a 911 three-pointer just before the second quarter buzzer, and the Pacers took a 59-55 lead into halftime — on pace to go Over, but not by a whole lot.
An 11-0 run by the Pacers in the middle of the third quarter didn’t do the Hornets in, but 16 points in the 4th quarter from Doug McDermott ultimately did.
And it was a Dougie McFresh layup in garbage time that sent this one Over by a hair.
Pacers 116, Hornets 106.
Sabonis finished with a triple-double (22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists), and Domas has now tied Detlef Schrempf for most triple-doubles in Pacers history with seven. A reminder that Sabonis is only 24 years old!
The Hornets upcoming schedule is TOUGH: Pacers again on Friday night, then the Bucks, Heat, Sixers and Jazz.
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Pistons at Cavaliers -2 Over 215.5
We rolled with the Cavs -2 in this Drummond Revenge Game. Drummond drew first blood and the Cavs were up early, but the Pistons went on a run in the second quarter, grabbing an 8-point lead. A Drummond And-1 just before the half cut the Pistons lead to 2 points.
The Cavs started the second half hot while the Pistons had some turnover problems, turning this one into a Solid Lock.
Drummond Revenge Game power dunk on top of Plumlee! Oh how sweet it is.
It would not have been a Pistons broadcast without an injured bench gang. Tonight, we welcome Kevin Love and Larry Nance.
Cavaliers 122, Pistons 107.
Big Penguin got his 15 points and 15 boards by way of 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Somebody who has caught our eye on a couple of occasions now: Dylan Windler for the Cavs, the smooth southpaw.
The Wayne Ellington Resurgence continues: 4-of-8 from 3 tonight which actually caused his 54.3% shooting percentage for the month of January to drop.
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Kings +1 at Magic Over 223.5
Of course the Kings would go Over against the Magic when we didn’t take them. We are on a Kings betting hiatus.
Kings 121, Magic 107.
The Kings starters were a UNIT, all five scored over 16 points: 29 for Hield, 21 for Barnes, 20 for friend of the blog Richaun Holmes, and 16 for both Fox and Bagley.
Aaron Gordon had a very forgettable game: 3 points with just 1 made three-pointer, 1-of-9 shooting on the night. Woof.
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Nets at Hawks +6 Over 238
We try to give rookies the benefit of the doubt around here, but tonight’s the night that we have to tell you that Reggie Perry quickly earned The Refrigerator monicker from us several games back. The nickname makes perfect sense given his last name being the same as football legend William “Refrigerator” Perry, and his game has also been ice cold. Tonight he had 3 fouls in 5 minutes.
Yo, Uncle Jeff had a bone to pick with the rim tonight.
Slick pass from the Beard set up another Uncle Jeff power dunk!
Nets 132, Hawks 128. OT
Harden was cookin’ with some step-backs and in OT, KD got where he wanted to get to. In the crunch, Uncle Jeff was getting a lot of looks.
Alas, the streak has come to an end. Joe Harris fouled out in OT and did not make a three-pointer tonight, ending his very impressive streak at 79 games.
He only had 9 points, but Clint Capela finished with a game-high net rating of +19.
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Nuggets -6 at Heat Under 215
Touchdown! This was one of only three assists for Jokic tonight. He didn’t need them.
Nuggets 109, Heat 82.
The Nuggets -6 and this Under 215 would have been the Purest Locks of the night.
Still no Jimmy Butler or Tyler Herro or Meyers Leonard or Mo Harkless. Avery Bradley did play tonight but Dragic did not, dealing with a left groin strain. It does sound promising for Butler to return soon, though.
It’s time for a Nuggets garbage time episode of WHO HE!?
Vlatko Cancar #31 — pronounced “CHAN-char," he’s from Slovenia and was drafted back in 2017, making his NBA debut on Halloween of last year. We thought he looked familiar, we hit a miraculous come-from-behind Over on Nuggets-Pelicans while out at the bar that night thanks to a late flurry of 3’s!
Zeke Nnaji #22 — a rookie and second round pick from Arizona.
Markus Howard #00 — an undrafted rookie from Marquette on a two-way contract. Howard was a 4-year college guy.
The Nuggets have won 5 straight. The Heat have lost 4 straight.
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Lakers at 76ers +4 Under 222.5
A scary moment in the 3rd quarter when Embiid fell on his back after jumping up to dunk and getting a little push from LeBron which earned LeBron a flagrant 1. Very thankfully, Embiid was okay and he even stayed in the game and played really well.
Who else played well for Philly? Tobias Harris! We have given a lot of credit to Embiid for the Sixers early season success, but we probably haven’t given enough love to Tobias who is currently averaging career-high shooting and efficiency numbers.
The Sixers led throughout but a late 13-0 run by Lakers that included 3’s from Caruso, Dennis the Menace and KCP (from a SICK baseline dime from LeBron) helped give the Lakers a 1-point lead with seconds left.
We also have to give credit to Doc for being the Tobias Harris whisperer!
AD had a long desperation heave while falling down at the buzzer. Alas, she did not fall.
Sixers 107, Lakers 106.
The Lakers did not get a lot from the supporting cast tonight. Trez laid a goose egg in 15 minutes.
Philly is 10-1 at home and now heads out for a 3-game roadie: @Minnesota, @Indiana and @Charlotte.
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Bucks -6.5 at Raptors Under 228
Giannis power dunk oop on top of Baynes! It’s always Aron Baynes lol.
Big Ragu power dunk!
Bucks 115, Raptors 108.
Bucks -6.5 covered on an unnecessary garbage time dunk from Giannis with 0.4 seconds left. Raptors +6.5 would have been a baaaaaaad beat.
Over 20 points for Giannis (24 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assists), Middleton (24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists) and Brook Lopez (20 points).
Norm Powell scored over 20 points again, his fourth consecutive game.
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Celtics at Spurs +4.5 Under 224
We took the Celtics -4.5 and the C’s snagged a 6-point lead quicker than you can say “The Celtics Big 3 is finally back together.”
Things were looking great until the Spurs closed the first half on a 29-6 run!? All of a sudden, the Spurs had a lead of 14 points at halftime.
The C’s rallied all the way back in the 3rd and actually took a 2-point lead into the 4th quarter. It was back and forth and the Spurs went up by 5 with about 8 minutes left. That’s when we hedged our bet and took the Celtics MoneyLine +170 cause that -4.5 spread wasn’t looking too good.
The Celtics went up by two after a 3 from Kemba and lay up from Tristan Thompson. The Celtics MoneyLine was going to save our ass!
That’s when our guy Keldon Johnson…
…power dunked on us. Tatum did NOT want that smoke.
Still tied with 30 seconds left…
DeRozan made that look too easy.
“COME ON CELTICS!!!”
“We need a bucket!!!”
“KEMBA PASS IT TO TATUM!!!!!”
It was a Slippery Lock that slipped away.
We felt exactly like Jaylen Brown after the game.
Spurs 110, Celtics 106.
The Spurs won despite a season-high 20 turnovers.
Next up for the Celtics: The Lakers on at home on Saturday night in the ABC showcase!
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Wizards at Pelicans -8.5 Over 226.5
We gotta get Blue Panda out of D.C., ya’ll.
Pelicans 124, Wizards 106.
Beal scored 47 points in the loss. The Wizards have lost 10 straight games when Beal scores 40+ points.
Zion and Brandon Ingram both scored 32 points in a MUCH needed win for the Pellies.
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Thunder +8 at Suns Under 215
We almost bet the Live line on the Suns MoneyLine to come back and win several times and it’s a good thing that we did not.
Thunder 102, Suns 97.
Because this was NOT a Chris Paul Revenge Game despite CP3 scoring 32 points.
It was said that Ayton and Jae Crowder will have bruises on their thighs when they wake up tomorrow morning from taking shots from Dort trying to fight through screens.
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Mavericks at Jazz -2 Under 221
With Donovan Mitchell out due to concussion protocol and Derrick Favors also not suiting up, we were quite confused as to why the Jazz were still favored in this one.
We found out quickly why.
Jazz 116, Mavs 104.
This Junder would have come down to a garbage time shot at the very end. Nate Hinton (WHO HE!?) had a good look at another 3 (he made a 3 on the previous possession), but she did not fall and the Junder prevailed! #14 Nate Hinton for the Mavs is a rookie from Houston, but he was born and grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. Shoutout NC!
The Jazz have won 10 games in a row and now sit atop the Western Conference standings.
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Timberwolves at Warriors -8.5. Over 230.5
Kelly poster power dunk and it’s nowhere close to his best stuff.
Yoo look at the goal a shakin’.
Warriors 123, T-Wolves 111.
Tonight was #2 pick Wiseman’s best game as a pro: 25 points for a career-high.
The #1 pick Ant-Man had a solid game, too: 25 points with 5-of-8 threes. (After we were talking shit about his poor 3-point percentage.)
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Thursday night features a lite 4-game slate:
Clippers at Heat — Kawhi and PG are out.
Lakers at Pistons — The poor Pistons get the Lakers the night after a close loss.
Blazers at Rockets — Dame vs. the world.
Warriors at Suns — Kelly Oubre Revenge Game!
The Blog Train should be back up and running on Friday night if all goes according to plan. That should be our first blog from the moon.
We love this game!
