03-31-21 NBA Blog Train Wednesday
Ten games on the Wednesday night menu means that ten game capsules await.
Let’s Blog Train!
Blazers -8 at Pistons Over 221.5
Dame and C.J. combined for 57 and the Blazers owned the Pistons in the 2nd half.
1st half: Pistons 52, Blazers 51.
2nd half: Blazers 73, Pistons 49.
Yeah, the Blazers OWNED the Pistons in the 2nd half. But Jerami Grant dropped 30 and this…
Powerful punch! Count that baby and the foul.
Blazers 124, Pistons 101.
This Over 221.5 was looking great after the 1st quarter, not so good at halftime and then mostly good in the 2nd half when the Blazers filling it up, but it actually didn’t hit until the final minute.
The Blazers have completed a 4-0 East Coast roadie, albeit not against the toughest opponents.
The Pistons have a 2.7 percentage points lead on the T-Wolves for 2nd to last place in the NBA.
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Heat -1.5 at Pacers UNDER 217.5
The Pacers led by as many as 15 points at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, but the Heat grinded this one out as the Heat like to do.
Duncan Robinson’s six made 3’s were the biggest difference.
Heat 92, Pacers 87.
This Under 217.5 would have been one of the most Pure Locks.
Heat last two games: 186 and 179 total points. SHEEEEESH.
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Rockets +12.5 at Nets Under 229
We thought about rolling with the Nets -12.5, thinking that Harden would surely show out against his former team. Yet we also felt that the Rockets would be gunning for him (even though a scarce amount of players on the current Rockets roster actually played with Harden at the beginning of this season — we count just six), so we ultimately just went with the Over 229.
After the first quarter in which the Rockets came out GUNNIN’, we were already chalking this one up as a Pure Lock: 1st quarter: Rockets 42, Nets 29. On pace for 284 points!
Things slowed down considerably in the 2nd quarter: Nets 28, Rockets 26.
Halftime: Rockets 68, Nets 57. On pace for 250 points!
We were still looking great, but there was a serious lull in the 3rd quarter that saw the Rockets score only 19 points.
3rd quarter: Nets 29, Rockets 19. After 3: Rockets 87, Nets 86. On pace for 230.
Still on pace, but barely, and Harden strained his hammy and did not return, so things were looking grim.
There was still a fighting chance in the 4th, especially when the Nets rained down 3’s.
Bird at one point yelled “JOSEPH EDWARD BUCKETS.”
The problem was Houston who struggled mightily to score, the Nets went on a 19-2 run.
With two minutes left in the game, we were sitting at just 214 total points.
But that’s when Blake hit his second 3 (!!) and then Joe Harris drained back-to-back 3’s, with a KPJ layup sandwiched between them. All of a sudden, we were sitting at 225 total points with 47 seconds left. We just needed a couple more 3’s!
Alas, we only got one more at the very end.
Nets 120, Rockets 108.
This Over 229 was a Slippery Lock that slipped away, but at least we didn’t take the Nets -12.5 which was such a bad beat that we had to tweet about it.
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Mavericks +1 at Celtics Under 225
Just before the tip, we locked in the Mavs MoneyLine at +105 since the spread was only 1 point. We did this because we recalled what The Don did to the poor Celtics back on a random Tuesday night in February.
We thought about taking the Mavs that night, but we didn’t, and we didn’t want to feel left out tonight.
Luka was dialed in from deep early, while the Celtics were not, and the Mavs led wire-to-wire and by as many as 23.
It got a little interesting late, but we were not worried in the slightest.
Hard to be concerned when you have LukaMagic on your side.
Luka’s final line: 36 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, 7-of-11 from 3 and it just looks so easy for him, all the time.
Mavs 113, Celtics 108.
This Under 225 would have been a Solid Lock, and you could have an argument that it was Pure.
The Celtics are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are currently in 8th place in the East. But only two games back from 4th! The East, and this season, be wild, yo.
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Jazz at Grizzlies +6 Under 225.5
The Jazz and Grizzlies just played two games back-to-back last weekend in Utah. The Jazz won both, and we generally like the team in the revenge game spot here, but we were ultimately too afraid of the Jazz.
It was a tight game throughout. The largest lead for the Jazz was 10, and the Grizz fought down to the very end.
Without D. Mitch (personal reasons), Mike Conley was the money man for the Jazz, back in his old stomping grounds, scoring 13 of his 26 points in the 4th quarter.
Jazz 111, Grizz 107.
After going Over in their two meetings last week, tonight, the Junder prevailed. It would have been a Pure Lock, too.
Another close game for Memphis which have been few and far between this season.
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Knicks at Timberwolves +3.5 UNDER 218.5
Ant-Man was brilliant down the stretch and had a sleek up-and-under lay up to tie the game at 99-99 with 1 minute left. And then after a Taj Gibson offensive rebound cleanup and tip-in, Anthony Edwards drove the lane and kicked it out to Malik Beasley who knocked down his fifth 3 of the game, 102-101 T-Wolves with 30 seconds left.
That’s when R.J. Barrett lost the ball out of bounds on a lackadaisical drive. But then Reggie Bullock stole it from Beasley!
Randle missed a jumper and KAT got the rebound, but then he lost the ball!
Knicks ball down by 1 with 5.1 seconds left.
It was R.J. Barrett who took the potential game-winning shot at the end. Alas, she did not fall.
T-Wolves 102, Knicks 101.
Per usual with the Knicks, this Under 218.5 would have been a Pure Lock.
Jaden McDaniels is somebody to really keep an eye on. McDaniels has had four straight really solid games now for the T-Wolves. He made four 3’s tonight.
A fun fact from the AP report:
Only Towns and Josh Okogie remain on the roster Thibodeau had when he was fired by the Timberwolves on Jan. 6, 2019. The Knicks have the same amount of players from that team: Gibson and Derrick Rose.
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Raptors at Thunder +7.5 Under 221
To be honest, we didn’t give much thought to the Diallo for Svi Mykhailiuk trade, but there was Mykhailiuk tonight, scoring a season-high 22 points with 10 in the 4th quarter as the Thunder won yet another game that they have no business winning.
Thunder 113, Raptors 103.
This Under 221 is actually an Under tonight that would have been a 4th quarter comeback lock.
4th quarter: Thunder 26, Raptors 14.
Yeah, the Raptors scored a measly 14 points in a game they really needed to win, and they have now lost 4 in a row and are 1-9 over their last 10 games.
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Kings at Spurs -2.5 Under 230.5
This seemed like Spurs -2.5 all the way in a Spurs revenge game from Monday night. Not to mention Pop vs. Luke Walton.
We stayed away because the killa Kings — the KANGZ — have loved to burn us this year.
And like the Pesky Pacers, the Kings burned us even when we stayed away!
Spurs 120, Kings 106.
This was another Over that trailed off in the 4th quarter. Have you noticed a lot of Unders tonight? Because there were a lot of Unders tonight.
Oh, and we can’t forget this Dejounte Murray power dunk!
The odds feel pretty good that this will make it into this week’s Power Dunk City. Check back next Monday!
OH, and we also cannot forget your favorite segment. That’s right, it’s a Spurs episode of WHO HE!? Checking into the game in supreme garbage time, #23 for the Spurs… WHO HE!? That’s Cameron Reynolds, an undrafted four (*checks notes*) FIVE-year college guy at Tulane who played a brief stint with the T-Wolves back in 2019. He’s a two-way 10-day contract guy with tonight being his third game this season for the Spurs. Welcome aboard!
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Bulls +7.5 at Suns OVER 215.5
At the last second, we took the Bulls MoneyLine +300. The thought was that the Bulls would be desperate to get this win, having lost four games in a row and each of Vooch’s first two games.
When we saw that LaVine wasn’t playing, we wondered why the hell we hadn’t double checked the starting lineups! A rookie mistake, but understandable when you remember that we are keeping track of 10 games a night and eight prior to this one tipping off.
Either way, the Bulls got out to an early lead, which was nice to see, but the Suns took control in the second quarter and were in command.
The Bulls, however, came charging back in the 4th quarter to make it a game! A Markkanen 3 brought them to within just three points with 8 mins left after they had trailed by as many as 16.
Yet every time they needed a bucket, it was CP3 in the midrange or it was Book. All night.
Our guy Devin Booker completely roasted us for 45 points!
It’s official and it already should have been: Book is in the group of players/teams that we do not want to ever bet against: Luka, Steph, the Pesky Pacers, the Killa Kings and Jokic are the current ones that come straight to mind.
Suns 121, Bulls 116.
We should have just taken this Over which would have been a PURE Lock after 76 combined points in the first quarter, one of only two Overs to actually hit tonight.
Also could have just rolled with the Bulls +7.5… alas.
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Bucks -9 at Lakers Under 222
Drummond made his Lakers debut tonight and was in the starting lineup!
However:
Drummond left the game and did not return.
The Lakers actually had a solid start and were up by 10 points in the first quarter? It’s true, and we were a little nervous because we took the Bucks -9.
The Bucks got it going in the 2nd quarter, turning it all the way around and led by 8 at the half.
Trez has been on the wrong end of a couple of power dunks this season.
The Lakers made us sweat this one out a little bit at the very end before they eventually faded for good.
Bucks -9 was a Solid Lock.
Bucks 112, Lakers 97.
This Under 222 would have also been a Solid Lock. Eight out of ten games tonight went Under.
The Bucks snapped their 3-game skid while the Lakers 2-game winning streak is gone like Drummond’s toenail.
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These days, it’s difficult to say when the Blog Train will be leaving the station.
Friday night would be nice, but regardless you must know:
We love this game!
