02-03-20 NBA Blog Train Monday
Ten games on the Monday night menu.
Let’s Blog Train!
Mavericks +5.5 at Pacers Over 212.5
Oladipo pulled off this Steph/Dame impression nicely, but he was actually only 1 of 10 from three and 4 of 17 from the field. We have no doubt that Dipo will turn this around once he gets his game legs back under him.
KP’s final stat line: 38 points on 10 of 20 shooting, 6 of 13 from three, 12 of 12 from free and 12 rebounds. Stepping up as the #1 option for the Mavs with Luka out.
Mavs 112, Pacers 103.
Three pointers: Mavs 18 of 45, Pacers 7 of 34.
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Knicks -2.5 at Cavaliers Over 216.5
Larry Nance two-handed power dunk. Level 3?
Marcus Morris not only hit the go-ahead jumper but also hit this jumper to extend the lead and ultimately seal the win. How do Knicks fans feel about Morris now?
Mike Miller does not look like he wants to trade Morris… or does he?
Knicks 139, Cavs 134. OT
The Cavs embarrassed the Knicks in the first game between these two and then the Knicks won the next 3 games to complete their revenge.
This was the 11th consecutive home loss for the Cavs. #yikes
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Magic -5 at Hornets Over 203.5
Every time that the Hornets even started to climb back in, T-Ross would hit a 3 to kill the momentum.
Magic 112, Hornets 100.
The first line of the AP report gave us to chuckle: “All the Orlando Magic needed to get back on track was a return trip to Charlotte.”
Fultz career high 14 assists!
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Warriors +6.5 at Wizards Over 234.5
Marquese Chriss power put-back dunk! Level 3.5?
Warriors 125, Wizards 117.
The G League Warriors scored 72 points in the first half!
Brad Beal did his part with 43 points on 15 of 30 shooting, 3 of 7 from three and 10 of 10 from free. Blue Panda was killin’ the mid-range.
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Suns at Nets -2 Under 224.5
Look out below! Caris LeVert tied his career-high with 29 points.
Folks, we have a triple Suns episode of WHO HE!? Starting with #12 Jared Harper @Therealvinoo. Harper is a 5-11 rookie point guard from Auburn. This was Harper’s third career game, playing Sunday night in Milwaukee and also in the Suns Opening Night win over the Kings when they burned us.
We also have #41 Tariq Owens. WHO HE!? Owens is a 6-10 24-year-old rookie from Texas Tech. Tonight was his second career game, also playing Sunday night in the blowout loss to the Bucks.
And last but certainly not least, we have #0 Jalen Lecque. WHO HE!? Lecque is a 6-4 19-year-old rookie who skipped college to enter the 2019 draft. Lecque went undrafted but has the nickname “Baby Westbrook” on his Basketball-Reference page and check this out:
WOAH!!! Is that a Level 4.5 G League power dunk!?
One more thing on Lecque, apparently he attended Christ School for his junior year of high school. Shoutout Western NC!
Nets 119, Suns 97.
We also have a Nets episode of WHO HE!? #9 Chris Chiozza — a 5-11 point guard who is not a rookie but a second year guy from Florida with the nickname Cheese on his Basketball-Reference page. Chiozza actually made an appearance on this here blog back on October 23rd Opening Night Round 2 when he hit a garbage time three pointer for the Wizards to cause a bad beat. We knew that we recognized those tattoos! Cheese was waived by the Wiz on December 17th and signed by the Nets on January 4th. Tonight was his first game with the Nets.
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Celtics -6.5 at Hawks Over 232.5
Threes from the logo are becoming commonplace throughout the league and we love it.
Just like we love three goggles.
KOBE!
Celtics 123, Hawks 115.
Ice Trae and the Hawks were hot early, but the Celtics dominated the third quarter which ended up being the difference.
Points in the paint: Celtics 66, Hawks 52.
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76ers at Heat -2.5 OVER 211
76ers on the road and the Heat at home. Heat -2.5 was a Pure Lock.
Bam transition power dunk. Not quite Level 2, maybe 1.6?
Heat 137, Sixers 106.
Philly won the first meeting in November by 27 points and then Jimmy Butler got his complete revenge with the Heat winning the next three games against his former team. Butler scored a season-high 38 points in three quarters and said he “felt like Luka out there” in the immediate post-game on-court interview.
The Heat are 22-3 at home but have a 6-game road trip starting on Wednesday.
The Sixers are 9-18 on the road and have lost 3 in a row.
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Pistons at Grizzlies -9 UNDER 223.5
The second night of a back-to-back for Detroit and JJJ back in the lineup for the Grizzlies, so Grizz -9 was a Pure Lock and so was UNDER 223.5. The Pistons were seriously stuck in the mud, scoring 10 points in the third quarter and 29 in the entire second half!
JJJ poster dunk on Drummond! There is some power in there, too. We’ll go with Level 1.5?
Grizzlies 96, Pistons 82.
The Grizz won this game by 14 points despite making just two three-pointers all night.
Drummond got his 15 points (25) and 15 boards (18), but Big Penguin’s net rating was -18, getting outworked by Valanchoony who finished with 26 points, 17 rebounds and a +28 net rating.
Reggie Jackson was absolutely abysmal: 3 points on 1 of 16 shooting.
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Timberwolves at Kings -1 Under 226
After a 5-second inbounds violation on Harrison Barnes with 3 seconds left, Wiggins almostttt got a game-tying three to drop that would have sent the game to OT. She did not fall. The T-Wolves did not avenge their loss to the Kings last week when they blew a 22-point lead with 6 minutes left. It would have been fitting because the Kings led by as many as 21 in this one.
Kings 112, T-Wolves 109.
The T-Wolves have lost 12 in a row.
De’Aaron Fox is averaging 29 points over the last 3 games.
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Spurs +9 at Clippers UNDER 230
Trez two-handed power dunk. Level 2?
Jakob Poeltl tried to check in the game without his jersey on and it got a little smile out of Pop.
PG hit the clutch dagger.
Clippers 108, Spurs 105.
This was just the third game all season that the Clippers played at full strength.
The Spurs annual Rodeo Road Trip has officially commenced: 02/03 at Clippers, 02/04 at Lakers, 02/06 at Portland, 02/10 at Denver, 02/11 at OKC, 02/21 at Jazz, 02/23 at OKC.
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Four games ahead on the Tuesday night slate: Bucks at Pellies, a TNT must watch. Hornets at Rockets, our beloved Hornets and Harden/Russ are always a must watch. Blazers at Denver, Dame is an absolute must watch right now. Spurs at Lakers, another TNT must watch, the Lakers are always must see TV. Four must-see games means that we might have to run the Blog Train on a Tuesday!
We love this game!