10-20-21 NBA Blog Train -- Opening Night Round II
Ahh yes.
A full slate of 11 games on Opening Night Round II.
Eleven games means 11 game capsules.
All aboard!!!
Pacers at Hornets +1.5 OVER 223.5
Sabonis was an absolute BEAST early on.
He had 22 points with 8:35 left in the second quarter. Eric Collins was remarking about his ballerina-feet while Dell Curry was talking about his soft hands.
Going into the 4th quarter, however, Sabonis had 24 points, only adding 2 more points over the next 20 minutes of gameplay.
The Pacers led by as many as 23 points when Domas was dominating early, but the Hornets went on a nutty 28-2 run to take the lead near the end of the third quarter. Spectrum Center was straight BUZZIN.
LaMelo played lights out: 31 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. He made seven 3s!
Hayward scored 27 points on the night, doing most of his work in the midrange, bailing out several possessions. But Charlotte’s ball-movement was still there for the most part.
Ish Smith played 21 very solid minutes of backup point, chipping in 14 points off the bench.
Rookie Chris Duarte sure had himself an NBA debut for Indiana.
Eric Collins even said at one point that Duarte looked like a 10-year vet! Duarte is 24 years old, and the 24-year-old drained 6 three-pointers while posting a team-high +/- of +7.
The Hornets led by as many as 8 points in the 4th, but that’s when Sabonis woke back up.
The last five minutes were nail-biting back and forth.
In the end, it came down to free throws and a Sabonis fadeaway jumper at the buzzer that did not fall. P.J. Washington played impeccable defense on the last stand.
Hornets 123, Pacers 122.
This was NOT a Brad Wanamaker Revenge Game.
In fact, Wanamaker did not even play at all for Indiana. Neither did rookie Isaiah Jackson, fellow big man Goga Bitadze or Oshae Brissett who not only started for the Pacers in the play-in game when they trounced the Hornets, but he scored a team-high 23 points.
For Charlotte, none of the rookies saw the floor (most notably Bouknight or Kai Jones) as James Borrego stuck with a short nine-man rotation even with Terry Rozier out with a sprained ankle.
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Bulls -5.5 at Pistons Under 218
No Cade Cunningham (ankle) on Opening Night was a bummer.
The Pistons looked pretty bummed themselves, standing kinda awkwardly in the pre-game.
We had the Bulls -5 tonight and boy was it a humdinger of a doozy.
The Pistons led 44-40 at halftime (the Under was a PURE Lock) before the Bulls finally got going in the third quarter. Yet Detroit did not go quietly into the night, note even close. In fact, a Hami Diallo And-1 gave the Pistons a 4-point lead in the fourth quarter with about 8 minutes left.
The Bulls promptly went on an 8-0 run sparked by 3s from Lonzo Ball and… DeMar DeRozan! (Always great to see DeRozan taking 3s.)
Fast forward to the final 18 seconds:
LaVine made a couple of free throws to give the Bulls an 8-point lead.
Jerami Grant, who was relentless all night, drove in for a dunk with 11 seconds left. We were covering by one point with 11 seconds left.
After a Billy Donovan timeout, the Bulls flubbed the inbounds pass! Turnover, Pistons ball with 8 seconds left………
It was at that moment that we must say it just felt so good to be back in the electric chair.
Jerami Grant (of course) pulled up for a garbage-time 3 that caught back iron. But the rebound was grabbed by Cory Joseph who hoisted a shot right at the buzzer that… found the bottom of the net.
Nooooooooooooooo.
BUT THEY WAIVED IT OFF!!! It was after the buzzer. So we covered after all!
Bulls 94, Pistons 88.
Nothing like avoiding a Bad Beat on the first night by pulling off the good ole Squeaky Lock that came down to a garbage-time buzzer-beater.
It really is soo good to be back!
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Celtics at Knicks -2.5 OVER 220
This was an Opening Night Mele at MSG.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points in the first quarter!
(He must have been pissed that E-Babs said he didn’t belong on our Player Pyramid lol)
The Knicks took control in the 4th, but things got wild late. The C’s went on an 8-0 run fueled by a lot of Grant Williams (!!??) and with a Marcus Smart buzzer-beater to send it to OT.
It was RAINING 3s to start OT. Then exhaustion set in. Everybody was so tired they figured they should play another.
Double OT.
D-Rose hit the dagger to finally send everybody home.
Knicks 138, Celtics 134. 2OT
Jaylen Brown finished with a career-high 46 points, including eight 3s.
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum had a forgettable first game: 7-of-30 shooting and 2-of-15 from 3. Woof.
It was surprising to see Thibs playing the rookie Jericho Sims so early.
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Wizards +2.5 at Raptors UNDER 223.5
Because @WorldWideWob’s new gig is with Underdog Fantasy, and because we honestly would follow Wob anywhere (just like we told him!), we downloaded the Underdog Fantasy app and fired up an Opening Night Round II Player-Prop Pick-em Parlay.
Sabonis and LaVine went way Over.
Alas, OG did not.
Wizards 98, Raptors 83.
This game went Under by over 40 points. Talk about a PURE LOCK.
The Wiz looked pretty good with their rotations.
The Raptors looked good in transition, but they got worked in the paint 56-40.
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Cavaliers at Grizzlies -7 OVER 218.5
Ja did what he does best. Using his spring-loaded hops to his grand advantage.
Grizz 132, Cavs 121.
If you had the Grizz -7 then you were feeling good early, but you were probably pretty nervous late. A Collin Sexton 3 pulled the Cavs within one with 2:33 left.
Ja closed them out.
This Over 218.5 was SUCH a Pure Lock.
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Rockets at Timberwolves -6.5 Under 231.5
KAT coast-to-coast power dunk!
Ant-Man is back at it!
We have an early lead for best power dunk combo in the league.
T-Wolves 124, Rockets 106.
This final score is not a true indicator. The T-Wolves were up by as many as 35 points. The Rockets deep bench did what they could in garbage time.
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76ers -3.5 at Pelicans Under 224
You know who was suspended for this one. But it’s not like he’s actually going to play games in a Sixers uniform, right?
RIGHT!?
Sixers 117, Pellies 97.
Philly had four players score 20 or more: Embiid, Tobias, Maxey and Furkan Korkmaz.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the lone bright spot for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram was okay.
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Magic at Spurs -7 Over 212.5
Gary Harris was a late scratch for the Magic which moved the #5 overall pick Jalen Suggs into the starting lineup. We can’t help but wonder why Suggs was not in the starting lineup to begin with.
But it ultimately did not matter.
The Spurs rolled the Magic. Spurs -7 was very much a Pure Lock.
Spurs 123, Magic 97.
The Spurs had seven players score in double-digits. It’s going to be a team-effort from them.
Lonnie Walker and Devin Vassell were wreaking havoc off the bench.
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Thunder at Jazz -14 UNDER 221.5
This was NOT a Derrick Favors Revenge Game.
This was the biggest double Pure Lock of the night.
Jazz -14 and Under 221.5 were never in doubt.
Jazz 107, Thunder 86.
Guess what’s back? THE JUNDER.
It’s time for another episode of WHO HE!? #27 for the Thunder, Vit Krejci… WHO HE!? A rookie taken in the second round of the 2020 draft from the Czech Republic. It’s always the second-rounders!
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Nuggets +6 at Suns Under 224
This one was an Evil Joker Revenge Game from the Western Conference Semis.
Nuggets 110, Suns 98.
Jokic surprisingly only had 2 assists but dropped 27 points and snagged 13 boards. He and Book earned a double-tech in the third quarter.
A new rivalry has begun!
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Kings +6.5 at Blazers Over 234
Harrison Barnes was hotter than fish grease, a career-high eight 3s and 36 total points to lead the Kings.
Meanwhile Dame had an Off Night, 0 for 9 from 3.
He had a chance to tie it up at the buzzer. Alas, she did not fall.
Kings 124, Blazers 121.
The Kings and Blazers went Over, but of course!
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3 games ahead on the lite Thursday night slate.
We love this game!
