02-10-21 NBA Blog Train Wednesday
NINE games on the Wednesday night slate as the Blog Train returns, back in on the action, and back to the edge of our seats.
Raptors -5.5 at Wizards OVER 235.5
No OG Anunoby or Yuta Watanabe for the Raptors + Westbrook back in the lineup for the Wiz = we took this Over 235.5 without hesitation.
When you have the Over and your listening to the game on the radio while in the shower after a post-work workout with Coach Joel, things that you want to hear include:
“These two teams are off to the races!”
“Which is faster: Usain Bolt in the 100-meter dash or Chris Boucher taking and making his first 3?”
“The game plan is to attack them with a quick pace.”
The Raptors scored 40 points in the first quarter, had 70 at halftime and this one was an absolute Pure Lock.
Boucher with another power dunk after two last week!
Raptors 137, Wizards 115.
Westbrook made back-to-back 3’s (it’s true) to make this a 5-point game with 8 minutes left. The Raptors ended the game on a 26-9 run.
Norm Powell rang up the Wiz for 28 points. Powell is averaging 23 points over the last nine games. The Raps have an impressive turning-of-the-corner 7-2 record over those nine games. After their dreadful start to the season, the Raptors are currently in 5th place in the Eastern Conference.
_____________________________________
Hawks +3.5 at Mavericks Over 231
We raised an eyebrow with the Hawks up by 10 at the half, but then we remembered that John Collins always plays good against the Mavs. JC scored 33 points tonight after 35 against the Mavs last week.
It felt like a Luka-led Mavs comeback was inevitable in this one. That’s exactly what we got, but the Hawks clawed back in and still had a chance, down just one with 4.7 seconds left. The Hawks were not able to get the ball to Trae Young on the final possession, though, and it was Gallo taking a potential 20-foot fallaway game-winning jumper. Alas, she did not fall.
Mavs 118, Hawks 117.
Luka triple-double: 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
THJ and Jalen Brunson were a big part of the Mavs spark in the 4th quarter with 24 combined 4th quarter points.
_____________________________________
Hornets at Grizzlies -2.5 OVER 224.5
Ahhh yes, a Hornets Over that we felt great about and it was GOLDEN from the jump.
The Grizzlies were absolutely dialed in from 3 all night. We knew it was going to be a doozy when Grayson Allen hit four 3’s in the first quarter. Eight minutes left in the 3rd quarter and Grizz had already tied their season-high of 17 made threes.
The Over was a Pure Lock, never in doubt!
Grizzlies 130, Hornets 114.
The Grizz finished with 23 made three-pointers!
Kyle Anderson: 6-of-8 from 3
Grayson Allen: 5-of-12 from 3
Desmond Bane: 4-of-8 from 3
Dillon Brooks: 4-of-8 from 3
Tyus Jones: 3-of-4 from 3
Ja Morant: 1-of-3 from 3
Defending the 3 has been a bugaboo for the Hornets.
_____________________________________
Pacers at Nets +1.5 UNDER 235
It was tale of two halves, but the Nets led by 32 at halftime, so it was already over:
First Half: Nets 62, Pacers 30.
Second Half: Pacers 64, Nets 44.
A power dunk oop from DJ!
Nets 104, Pacers 94.
A much needed bounce-back win for Brooklyn.
Out of the nine games tonight, the NETS were the only game to go Under!?!
_____________________________________
Clippers at Timberwolves +8.5 Over 224.5
Look who was back tonight!
KAT, after missing the last 13 games. You gotta love to see KAT and the Ant-Man out there smiling.
When we saw that Big KAT was making his return tonight, we gave some thought to rolling with the T-Wolves +8.5. We were kicking ourselves for staying away when the T-Wolves were up by 13 early.
We figured the Clippers would made a run, even without PG, and it was Kawhi (36 points) and Sweet Lou (27 points off the bench) who did their thang.
Clippers 119, T-Wolves 112.
Clippers -8.5 would have been a BAD BEAT! Malik Beasley must have had T-Wolves +8.5, gunning for late late garbage time points. A dunk from Beas at the last second gave the Wolves the miraculous backdoor cover!
The 4th quarter was high-scoring even-Steven: Clippers 39, T-Wolves 39.
_____________________________________
Pelicans at Bulls +2.5 OVER 230
We tried to get this Over in at the last second, but the game had already closed.
A big bummer, because the Bulls led 44 to 34 after the 1st quarter, on pace for 312 points and a 90% chance to hit.
This Over would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
Bulls 129, Pelicans 116.
Zach LaVine and Coby White became the first teammates to both make eight+ 3’s in the same game.
Lavine dropped 46 and Coby had 30.
The Pelicans scored 40 points in the 2nd quarter but had just 14 points in the 3rd.
Zion was efficient per usual: 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting. BI was off: 6-of-19 shooting but still with 21 points.
_____________________________________
Cavaliers at Nuggets -9.5 Over 219
The Nuggets -9.5 would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
How about a garbage time power dunk fest?
Okoro!
R.J. Hampton!
Zeke Nnaji!
Lamar Stevens! Wait… WHO HE!?
Nuggs 133, Cavs 95.
#8 for the Cavs, Lamar Stevens is a rookie from Penn State who was born and raised in PA.
_____________________________________
Bucks at Suns +4 OVER 228.5
We had the Bucks -4 and it was looking great, a 16-point cushion in the second quarter and still up by 10 late in the third. Then the Suns caught fire. Cam Johnson made three 3’s. Chris Paul made a couple of 3’s. CP3 had four 3’s on the night!? Frank The Tank even made a couple of 3’s?? Kaminsky started and played 35 minutes tonight, but he was so bad in the preseason for the Kings that they straight up cut him.
What was once looking like a Solid Lock wasn’t looking good at all, the Suns were up by 8 points with two and a half minutes left. Needing the Bucks to win by more than 4, we needed the guys at B-Dubs to miraculously send this one to OT.
Right on cue, the Bucks went on an 8-0 run with a Giannis dunk tying the game at 124-124 with 47 seconds left!
Book got fouled, and we needed him to make these like he always does, so the Bucks could score and send this puppy to OT. But Book missed the second free throw! A 92% free throw shooter last season, Book is down to 82.5% this season and tonight he missed two, 7-of-9, and a big one that we really needed.
The Bucks proceeded to turn the ball over immediately. The Suns couldn’t run out the clock, though, and Book missed a pull-up jumper. Book Lopez got the rebound and called timeout with 2.8 seconds left.
We needed Giannis to get the ball and drive to basket, get fouled and make one free throw. A specific request but totally possible!
Giannis attempted a potential game-winning deep fallaway jumper. Alas, she did not fall.
Suns 125, Bucks 124.
Giannis scored a season-high 47 points and shot a very surprising 17-of-21 from the free throw line!
Book had 30 and CP3 had 28. The Suns have won 7 of their last 8 games.
_____________________________________
Thunder +12 at Lakers Over 217
Even when you don’t have direct action on a game, you still root for your boy to win as if you actually had skin in the game, especially if it’s a pick that you advocated for. (By the way, Coby White points, rebounds and assists Over 27.5 was a no doubt Pure Lock earlier.)
Player props are fun, and it seemed like LeBron was poised for a big game without AD out again, and also after two straight Overtime games to the underwhelming Pistons and Thunder. So we were rooting for points and rebounds: Over 26.5 and Over 8.5.
Like we have seen on countless occasions over the last 18 years, LeBron was in pass-first mode to set up his teammates. It’s still early February after all. LeBron always has the long game in mind.
Meanwhile the Thunder were out for blood again, up in the first half by as many as 20 points!
Leading the way for the Thunder, it was Darius Bazley a.k.a. “Baby Faced Killa” who was hot early, but he certainly cooled off. There was whole bunch of Al “Traveling Lama” Horford and Kenrich “Dreadi” Williams. Horford and Williams combined for 49 points!
Just as we knew they would, the Lakers made a run in the second half. LeBron finally got going late, but the Thunder were still up and we still needed more LeBron points and rebounds. The game started to have an eerily similar feel to the last two games that went into Overtime. OT would be great! Bonus time to get more points and rebounds.
After two Lama free throws with 24 seconds left, the Lakers trailed by three. “A LeBron 3 to send the game to OT is EXACTLY what we need!”
Bron didn’t waste any time, drilling a 3 right out of the timeout.
Called it!
“NEED A STOP!!!”
Dort fired up a 3 that was no good, just the same as all of his five three-point attempts tonight.
To OT we went with LeBron needing just two more points and three rebounds.
“LeBron will definitely score in OT. You got this in the bag.”
Except the time kept ticking by and LeBron was not scoring any points or grabbing any rebounds. He was playing the same LeBron Ball, dishing out the rock and setting up his teammates for wide-open looks, making the right play.
The score was tied again at 111-111 with less than minute in OT remaining.
Lakers ball and LeBron went to work in the pick-and-roll with Trez, driving downhill and kicking it out to Wes Matthews in the corner who drilled the 3!
A Lou Dort bulldozer lay up on the next Thunder possession cut the Laker lead to just one. The Lakers needed another bucket from LeBron to seal it, but LeBron settled for a deep jumper with Dort all up in his grill. Air ball. Shot clock violation. 4.3 seconds left for the Thunder.
That’s when LeBron made the game-winning play on the defensive side of the ball, deflecting the in-bounds pass and causing the Thunder to jack up a hail mary from half court that sailed over the shot clock.
Lakers 114, Thunder 113. OT
So LeBron actually didn’t score in OT, but he made all the necessary plays to win in a third straight overtime game and third straight game with over 40 minutes played. LeBron finished with 25 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. The player props didn’t work out, but a hard fought win is a hard fought win.
Without SGA, Theo Maledon and Roby, the Thunder played eight players all night. Apparently Aleksej Pokusevski has been sent to the G League. Not exactly what you want from the 17th overall pick in the draft.
_____________________________________
If all goes according to plan, we’ll be back up and running on Friday night.
We love this game!
