10-25-21 NBA Blog Train Monday

Nine games on the Monday night slate as the Blog Train returns!

We were at a wedding this past weekend, so last week’s Power Dunk City will run tomorrow.

Speaking of power dunks, tonight was absolutely filled with them!


Celtics -1 at Hornets OVER 224.5

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Eastern Conference Player of the Week!

We have been shouting it from the mountaintops for quite some time: Miles Bridges (friend of the blog!) is so much more than just a power dunker. (And he is still very much the most consistent and ferocious power dunker in the league.)

Jaylen Brown can power dunk as well. (And on top of Bridges himself.)

And so can Time Lord with the game on the line.

Celtics 140, Hornets 129. OT

The Celtics were involved in another wild finish on Monday night.

Both the Hornets and C’s botched ATO plays at the end of regulation with a chance to win it.

Even without OT, this Over 224.5 was a Pure Lock — never in doubt with a 1st quarter score of tied at 33 and 68-66 at halftime.

  • Jayson Tatum did a little bit of everything, scoring a game-high 41 points, including 6-of-12 from 3, and dishing out 8 assists and hauling in 7 rebounds. A fantastic +/- of +22.

  • There was a Jabari Parker sighting! He was red-hot off the pine, 13 points and three 3s in his first action all season.

  • Miles Bridges scored 25 points, his third game in a row with 25 or more. Last season, he scored 25 or more points five times total.

  • No Terry Rozier (ankle) or P.J. Washington (knee) tonight for the Hornets, but Nick Richards filled in with his best game as a pro with 7 points and 3 blocks in 14 minutes off the bench.

At the end of OT when he was at the foul line, Tatum received MVP chants even though he was on the road in Charlotte.

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Bucks -1.5 at Pacers Under 229.5

Giannis vs. T.J. McConnell, who ya got?

McConnell was happy to make it out of there alive, but the Pacers did not.

Bucks 119, Pacers 109.

According to our trusty Action Network app, this one was at an 83% chance to hit the Over entering the fourth quarter.

That’s when the points came to a screeching halt.

That sure would have been a Slippery Lock that slipped away.

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Pistons at Hawks -11.5 Over 212.5

John Collins was 4th on our 1st All Power Dunk Team last season. It’s starting to feel like he took it personally.

Hawks 122, Pistons 104.

If you had told us ahead of time that only two out of the nine games tonight would go Over, we would not have suspected that one of the games to go Over would involve the Detroit Pistons who have by far and away the worst offense in the NBA after the first week.

  • Ice Trae did his thing: 32 points and 9 assists.

  • Cam Reddish scored 17 points off the bench in 27 mins despite shooting just 5-of-14. (He made three 3s.)

  • In spite of getting his soul snatched by John Collins on that power dunk oop, Kelly Olynyk did score 21 points, a co-team high matched by Saddiq Bey.

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Wizards at Nets -6.5 UNDER 229

”Respect is what you play for every day.” - KD

Nets 104, Wizards 90.

This Under 229 went UNDER by 35 points — a lowly 194 points.

Last season, Nets-Wiz games had an average total of 253 points.

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Magic at Heat -13.5 UNDER 212

Jimmy Beans was on one: 36 points on a crazy efficient 15-of-21 shooting and with 5 steals.

He did not attempt a three-pointer and 10 of his buckets came within 10 feet of the hoop.

Heat 107, Magic 90.

212 seemed like a low total, but they still went UNDER by 15 points. (For the record, 15 points is the minimum amount for us to feel compelled to capitalize OVER or UNDER in the game headers at the top.)

  • P.J. Tucker: 21 minutes and 0 points.

  • Terrance Ross: 22 minutes and 0 points.

The Magic were on the second night of a back-to-back after coming from behind to beat the Knicks at MSG on Sunday night, avenging their loss to the Knicks on Friday night.

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Bulls -2.5 at Raptors Over 213.5

The Bulls led by as many as 20 points in the first half.

The Raptors stormed back late.

And thanks to a Vooch missed free throw, Freddy V had a chance to tie the game and send it to OT at the buzzer.

Alas, she did not fall.

Bulls 111, Raptors 108.

Chicago has some late-game execution issues to work on, but the Bulls are 4-0 for the first time in 25 years, since the 1996-97 season.

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Pelicans +5.5 at Timberwolves UNDER 224.5

With Zion out, Ant-Man has moved up to #2 behind only Miles Bridges on our unofficial and early as hell 1st All Power Dunk team. (John Collins would be third.)

BI got some revenge for Trey Murphy.

Pellies 107, T-Wolves 98.

Two teams with sub-par defenses last season, this Under 224.5 went UNDER by over 19 points. Are you seeing a theme here?

The Pellies wanted this one more, hungry to get their first win. Rebounds: Pels 60, Wolves 41.

  • Three Pelicans scored 20+ points: Ingram (27), Valanchoony (22 points and 23 rebounds) and Devonte’ Graham (21). Meanwhile Herb Jones started, played 32 minutes and did not score a single point.

  • Anthony Edwards started slow in the first half but took off in the third quarter, scoring 21 of his 28 points.

  • KAT scored a game-high 32 points, but the Pelicans early damage was too much.

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Cavaliers +9.5 at Nuggets UNDER 220.5

*gasp*

Not only was this Markkanen power dunk on top of Jokic shocking but so was this final score.

Cavs 99, Nuggets 87.

This Under 220.5 went UNDER by 34 points. Yet another Under Pure Lock. It will be interesting to see how Vegas adjusts for these early season low totals.

That’s two very nice wins in a row for the Cavs now after beating Atlanta on Saturday night.

  • The Fro led the way for the Cavs with 21 points and 16 rebounds. And Kevin Love scored 22 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Yes, Kevin Love!

  • The Joker’s assist numbers are down, way down, as Michael Porter Jr. continues to struggle so far shooting the ball.

    • Jokic had 3 assists tonight.

    • MPJ shot 4-of-14.

    • Aaron Gordon wasn’t much better, 5-of-14.

It’s time for another episode of WHO HE!? #6 for the Cavs, Kevin Pangos… WHO HE!? Pangos is a 28-year-old Canadian rookie from Gonzaga. He had been playing overseas for quite some time before making his NBA debut on Friday night against the Hornets. Welcome aboard!

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Blazers at Clippers -2.5 UNDER 230

Soo smoooooth.

Clippers 116, Blazers 86.

Just like the Pelicans, the Clippers wanted this one more, hungry to get their first win.

  • The lefty sniper, Luke Kennard, had a very efficient game, 23 points in 24 minutes off the bench, shooting 8-of-10 from the floor.

  • On the other hand, Dame has now shot a putrid 2-of-24 (8.3%) from 3 to start this season. He is shooting 34.0% overall.

Dame and the Blazers don’t have to wait long to seek out their revenge.

The rematch against the Clippers is Friday night at the Moda Center.

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Five games ahead tomorrow night on the Tuesday night schedule.

We love this game!