02-15-21 NBA Blog Train Monday
Welcome to the NBA Blog Train!
We take a look at the Vegas lines, our bets, Locks, box score notables, highlights, and, of course, power dunks.
Seven games on the Monday night menu.
All aboard!!!
Rockets at Wizards -2 OVER 233.5
When this game was still at a Pick ‘Em, we wagered a sum of money on the Wizards, because this was a Revenge Game for Russ and the Wiz after John Wall and the Rockets embarrassed them three weeks ago 107-88 in Houston. The difference from that first meeting and tonight was that the Rockets would be without Oladipo, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker (C-Wood did not play in the first matchup either) while the Wizards would have Bertans and Rui this time around.
The Wizards led the entirety of the first quarter, but a 10-0 run by the Rockets in the second quarter gave the Rox a 47-46 lead. The Wiz responded with a 9-0 run of their own, and they never looked back. The Wizards did not relinquish their lead the rest of the way and led by as many as 18 points. We are chalking this one up as a good ole Pure Lock.
This Over sure would have been a Pure Lock, too.
A lite amount of power, but there weren’t many tonight. Wall scored a season-high 29 points and dished out 11 assists in his untriumhpant return to D.C.
Beal scored 37 points and Russ got his triple-double: 16 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds.
Wizards 131, Rockets 119.
Three-pointers: Wizards 12-of-30 for 40 percent. Rockets 8-of-37 for 21.7 percent.
Bertans is heating up: 5-of-6 from 3, his second-most made 3’s in a game this season. He had 16 games (out of 54 played) last season with five or more made 3’s.
The Rockets have now lost six in a row and are currently 14th in the Western Conference standings.
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Bulls +4.5 at Pacers Over 223.5
The Pacers were without Doug McDermott (sore right knee) tonight and he was missed.
And don’t forget that the Pacers have been without T.J. Warren since the end of December.
Even though LaVine missed a potential game-winner at the end of regulation, we are becoming increasingly convinced that Zach LaVine is an All-Star. Tonight was LaVine’s 12th 30-point game of the season!
Bulls 120, Pacers 112. OT
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and this Overtime was all about Denzel Valentine.
OT caused this one to go Over.
The Pacers are 3-7 in their last 10 games, yet they are still currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference.
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Hawks at Knicks +1.5 OVER 218.5
Julius Randle scored a season-high 44 points, his most points scored as a Knick, mesmerizing the Hawks with his offensive prowess and some high arching shots, seven made 3’s. But as noted above, it was Theo Pinson who stole the show in the end and rightfully so.
Knicks 123, Hawks 112.
The Hawks were lauded for the depth they obtained this offseason, but they continue to be ravaged by injuries (no Bogey, Hunter, Rondo, Snell or Dunn). Skylar Mays (previously on WHO HE!?) played 14 big minutes tonight. Mays actually started 3-for-3 and looked pretty damn good.
Trending in opposite directions: The Hawks have lost four in a row while the Knicks have won three straight, currently 6th in the Eastern Conference standings!
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Sixers at Jazz -8.5 OVER 225
No Embiid tonight for Philly and Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris STORMED out of the gates like the freakin’ Dothraki.
Simmons put up 19, the most in any one quarter of his career, and Harris added 14 points in the first frame. The first quarter! The Sixers scored 42 first quarter points, but the Jazz scored 35 of their own. This Over would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
It was Jordan Clarkson who led the way for the Jazz. Clarkson scored a season-high 40 points (!!) off the bench and tied the Jazz franchise record with eight made three-pointers. Not surprisingly, he was the Subway sub of the game. In our book, Clarkson has a sizable cushion for 6th Man of the Year at this point.
The Sixers rallied late and it looked like they might be able to pull off the backdoor cover, but Royce O’Neale had another story in mind.
Royce O’Neale knocked down three 3’s in the final three minutes of the game, his only made shots from the field all night.
It was Dwight Howard who hoisted a wide-open 3 at the very end that would have given Sixers +8.5 backers a great chance at a miracle comeback. Alas, she did not fall. (She drilled the backboard and clanked off the rim.)
Jazz 134, Sixers 123.
Ben Simmons finished with a career-high 42 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, and he made 12-of-13 free throws, not bad at all for a career 59.8 percent free throw shooter!
The Jazz have won 19 out of their last 20 games. Shit is getting crazy!
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Cavaliers at Warriors -10.5 Under 227.5
The Cavs were quite competitive early on, but the Warriors closed the first half on a 23-8 run to take a 64-54 lead into the break. Steph already had 24 points, and the Cavs were discombobulated with Sexton and Jarrett Allen yelling at each other, quite heated.
Draymond, on the other hand, was quite happy, and he tallied a career-high 16 assists.
This Over was on pace to hit throughout until the 4th quarter graveyard showed up. A flurry of points in the final two minutes gave the Over a chance anyway, but a missed free throw and open 3 by Dean Wade proved costly. The Cavs scored 14 points total in the 4th quarter. The total for the game was 227, so yeah, this Over 227.5 would have been a bad beat.
Warriors 129, Cavs 98.
Bob and Kelenna were commending the Warriors 2nd unit half-court ball movement as the best they have seen so far this year.
The Cavs are free falling and have lost 12 of their last 14 games.
No more Big Penguin in Cleveland. The Cavs will reportedly not play Drummond again and are looking to trade him ASAP, giving Jarrett Allen his job. There are plenty of teams that could use Drummond. Looking at you Brooklyn, Toronto and Dallas.
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Heat at Clippers +6.5 OVER 217.5
No Kawhi or PG or Pat Bev for the Clips, but we were still kinda stumped to see this final line at Heat -6.5. Although it did feel like the Heat would be desperate for a much, much needed win against a short-handed opponent. And when the game commenced 7-0 Heat, we were glad we stayed away. But then the Clippers went on a 8-0 run of their own, and we thought, “Yes, it was Clippers +6.5 all along.” And it was.
This game was tight and back and forth through three quarters, Clippers leading by just one, but they broke away in the fourth behind some back-breaking back-to-back 3’s from Luke “Money” Kennard.
Clippers 125, Heat 118.
There was some speculation about if this game will be the marker of Terance Mann’s arrival. Mann played a team-high 37 minutes and scored 15 points.
The Heat have had about the worst possible start to this season, yet they are currently only one game back of the 8th seed in the East.
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Nets -4.5 at Kings OVER 242.5
We really REALLY wanted to take this Over, but we still aren’t touching Kings games. So of course, Kyrie hit a 3 in the first ten seconds, settling into an early rhythm that carried throughout the night.
The Nets led 74-68 at the half. Ya know, only on pace for 284 points. Mark Jones even said, “The theme tonight is chuck and duck and sleep in the streets.”
We were kicking ourselves for staying away, but in the end, they only went over by 7.5 points. Still would have been a Pure Lock, though.
The Nets blew this one wide open with a 20-0 run in the 3rd. Kyrie scored 14 points in the third quarter alone and finished with 40 on the night in Sactown. Harden had a triple-double: 29 points, 14 assists, 13 rebounds and a game-high +33 net rating.
Nets 136, Kings 125.
Three-pointers: Nets 27-of-47 for 57.4 percent. Kings 12-of-33 for 36.4 percent.
The Nets 27 threes is a new franchise record.
Points in the paint: Nets 40, Kings 68.
This just in: The Nets have waived Norvelle Pelle to sign Andre Roberson. Roberson has always been a defensive specialist, but can the dude still play basketball?
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Six games ahead on Tuesday night, including Zion vs. Ja, so we might have to pull a back-to-back.
We love this game!
