03-24-21 NBA Blog Train Wednesday
Eleven games on the Wednesday night slate means eleven game capsules.
Let’s Blog Train!
Pistons +7.5 at Pacers Over 219
In the 25th hour, we locked in this Under 219.
The pace was slow in the first quarter and it was looking good.
1st quarter: Pistons 24, Pacers 21. On pace for 180 total points.
Things you don’t want to hear in the second quarter when you have the Under:
“Wow, they are really firing away.”
“Caris LeVert and the Pacers are all of a sudden red hot!”
Thanks to the good start, we hovered right on a 50% chance to hit throughout most of the rest of the game until the 4th quarter.
That’s when Edmond Sumner caught fire to the point that we wondered what we ever did to Ed. And then we remembered that he was the original WHO HE!?, and we once described the Pacers bench as being as exciting as an actual wooden bench. So yeah, guess we deserved this one.
Pacers 116, Pistons 111.
We also deserved this one because we actually bet on a game involving the PESKY PACERS. Our first Pacers bet of the season and they are still pesky as hell.
Indiana’s 6-game losing streak is ova.
It’s time for your favorite segment, a Pistons episode of WHO HE!? #25 Tyler Cook… WHO HE!? Tyler Cook is a 2nd year two-way G Leaguer who went to Iowa, and he’s already on this 5th team: Cavs, Nuggets, T-Wolves, Nets and now Pistons. Cook actually played four games for the Nets earlier this season. Tonight was his third game with the Pistons, and when we saw him out there tonight, flushing home a full extension oop, we didn’t know who the hell it was. Welcome aboard!
_____________________________________
Celtics +7 at Bucks Over 231
The Bucks led by as many as 25 points, but the Celtics were desperate for a win and fought back in the 4th.
Daniel Theis had a great look at a wide open potential game-winning buzzer beating 3 at the very end.
Alas, she did not fall.
Bucks 121, Celtics 119.
This Over 231 was pretty much a Pure Lock.
The Bucks have won 8 in a row (despite Giannis only having 13 points tonight), while the Celtics have lost 5 of their last 6 games and are currently 8th in the Eastern Conference.
The big question is who are the Celtics going to get at the deadline? We like the idea of Aaron Gordon, but then again, we like the idea of Air Gordon on all the teams he’s rumored to go to (Boston, Portland and Denver).
_____________________________________
Nuggets at Raptors +1.5 OVER 224.5
Upon seeing the original line this morning at Nuggets -2.5, we were bewildered, thinking that the spread would be more in the 7-8.5 range. The Nuggets were on the second night of a back-to-back, sure, but the Raptors had lost 9 in a row! However, they had everyone available to play tonight in what could be their last game with this gang together. The possible last game with Kyle Lowry after nine seasons as a Raptor.
We stayed away, gotta beware of desperate teams looking for one last hurrah!
Raptors 135, Nuggets 111.
The Raptors and this Over 224.5 sure would have been a double Pure Lock.
Lowry only scored 8 points but dished out 9 assists and was a career-high and ridiculous +42.
A classic Lowry way to go out.
_____________________________________
Hornets -4 at Rockets Under 223
We rolled with our beloved Hornets -4 in this one, surprised to see the line so low. Listen, the LaMelo injury obviously sucks big time, but we know better than most that this is still a damn good team. A damn good team that walloped the Rockets by 25 in their first meeting.
At halftime, the Hornets led by 3 but they were hotter than fish grease in the 3rd quarter, 3-balls canning left and right, most notably from Devonte Graham who definitely has an uptick in usage and shots with LaMelo out.
The Hornets outscored the Rockets by 20 in the third quarter and never looked back.
Hornets 122, Rockets 97.
Tonight was Charlotte’s first win in Houston since 2004 when they were the Bobcats.
Two fun nuggets on the Rockets from the always insightful Eric Collins and Ashely ShahAhmadi:
Christan Wood first linked up with Stephen Silas when they were both in… Charlotte!
John Wall wore #2 for this entire NBA career with the Wizards and switched to #1 this year. Another player who donned #1 for the Rockets? Tracy McGrady, yes. But also… Scott Brooks!
_____________________________________
Suns at Magic +9.5 Over 215.5
We eyed a Magic Live MoneyLine at +220 when the score was tied 102-102 with 4 minutes left in the game. Those are great odds for a tie game!
Ultimately, we were too nervous about CP3 in winning time.
But it was Evan Fournier who hit the game-winner off the glass in what could be his last game as a Magic.
Book had a chance at a wild up-and-under at the buzzer. Alas, she was wild and did not fall.
Magic 112, Suns 111.
Another team here in the Magic that banded together in a potential last stand.
Surprised to see these two teams go Over when they usually go Under.
_____________________________________
Cavaliers +7.5 at Bulls Under 214
The Bulls trailed by 7 points with 8 minutes left, and that’s when we jumped on a Bulls live MoneyLine at +300. The thought was that the Bulls have played in more close games down the stretch than the Cavs.
Unfortunately, this didn’t turn out to be a close game down the stretch.
The Cavs lead went to 11 points, and the Bulls never got closer than the 7 we started with.
Our Bulls Live MoneyLine fell way short, but we did a get a power dunk from…
P. WILLY!!!
Cavs 103, Bulls 94.
This Under 214 would have been a Pure Lock.
Sexton didn’t play tonight, but Garland looked super smooth, a game-high 22 points and 9 assists.
_____________________________________
Mavericks -8 at Timberwolves Over 230.5
The T-Wolves began this game up 16-3 which was as startling to see as you would think it would be.
The Mavs got their shit together and led at the half, but just by 1.
It was all Dallas in the second half, outscoring Minnesota 72-53.
Mavs 128, T-Wolves 108.
This Over (which we actually meant to put in but did not) would have been a 2nd half Comeback Lock.
Luka had mostly a quiet night while Porzingis stepped up.
_____________________________________
Grizzlies -7 at Thunder Over 219
It’s no secret that we have been live MoneyLine chasing a lot lately, and when the Thunder took a 12-point lead early in the third quarter after back-to-back baskets and then an assist by POKU, we tried to lock in the Grizzlies here, but we didn’t get it in in time. You have to be QUICK on the draw, son.
The Grizzlies proceeded to flip the script and had a 12-point lead of their own before the end of that same quarter.
Grizzlies 116, Thunder 107.
It was no doubt a tale of two halves for the Grizz: 1st half 49 points. 2nd half 67 points.
It has been announced that SGA will miss a significant amount of time, so the tank is finally on! Sam Presti can finally sleep a little bit better at night.
In all seriousness, though, plantar fasciitis is no joke. Neither is the rest of this Thunder team.
_____________________________________
Clippers -6 at Spurs Over 222
The Clippers big comeback win against the Hawks on Monday night was the most enjoyable Clippers game we can remember in quite some time. The Clips trailed by 22 points in the third when Luke “Money” Kennard ignited them with 20 points off the bench and was perfect from the field, 8-for-8 and 4-for-4 from 3 including a euro-step half-court buzzer beater at the end of the third.
The Clippers carried that momentum into San Antonio tonight, punching the Spurs right in the mouth.
Pow, right in the kisser! Zubac has had several of these.
Clippers 134, Spurs 101.
Sweet Lou has now scored 15,000 career points and is the NBA’s all-time leader in bench points. But we have to agree with Brian Sieman: Manu Ginobli is the best bench player that we have ever seen.
The rematch is tomorrow night.
_____________________________________
Nets at Jazz -13 UNDER 227
No Big 3 for the Nets tonight. KD has now missed 17 games in a row and 19 of the last 20, still without a timetable for return.
We locked in a good ole fashioned player prop in this one, Donovan Mitchell Over 26.5 points. D. Mitch has been on a tear, scoring over 30 points in three straight games with a chance tonight to tie Pistol Pete as the only two Jazz men to ever run that to 4 games in a row.
Our guy Don Mitch was dialed in early and often, 12 points in the first quarter and 20 by halftime. Yet we were worried about the Jazz being up by too much and pulling him early — the Jazz were up by… 38 points.
No need to worry, D. Mitch banked in a jumper with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter to bring his total to 27 points. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s a Pure Lock!!!
(He did not score another point the rest of the game.)
Jazz 118, Nets 88.
The Jazz -13 and this Under 227 sure would have been Pure Locks, too. The Junder!
The Nets high scorer with 23 points and also 15 rebounds tonight was… Alize Johnson! Alize Johnson… WHO HE!? Dude kinda looks like Jimmy Butler. #24 and signed to a 10-day contract on Monday, tonight was Johnson’s first game of the season and first game as a Net. We do recall seeing his name on the Raptors roster at the beginning of the season. Alize actually played two seasons in Indiana but prior to tonight had played over 10 minutes just three times in 31 career games. Welcome aboard!
_____________________________________
Hawks at Kings +3 Under 232
We had two bets in this one, taking Over 232 and Trae Young assists Over 9.5.
Over 232 never got off the bus, a regrettable Anti-Lock from the jump.
Trae Young dished out 3 assists in the first quarter and had 5 at the half, so that was quite promising.
Only 1 assist in the 3rd quarter was not what we wanted to see.
A slick dime to Capela down low for an easy dunk gave Trae his 9th assist with 4 minutes left, we needed just one more!
But with 6.2 seconds left, he was still at 9 assists, however, the Hawks trailed by just 2 points so we were cheering for overtime like crazy, to give our Over at least a puncher’s chance and knowing that surely Trae could get one more dime in OT.
Gallo had a look at a potential game-tying overtime-forcing jumper at the buzzer. Alas, she did not fall.
Kings 110, Hawks 108.
WE STILL CAN’T BET ANY KINGS GAMES RIGHT, EITHER. The Pesky Pacers and Killa Kings, tell you what.
Fox scored 37 points and Cory Joseph was traded for Delon Wright about 10 minutes after this game ended.
_____________________________________
The Blog Train should hopefully, probably and should be leaving the station on Friday night for another 11-game slate, so we’ll catch you then.
We love this game!
