12-10-21 NBA Blog Train Friday
It’s been almost a month, but the Blog Train is finally back up and running!
Nine games on the Friday night menu.
All aboard!!!
Kings at Hornets +1.5 OVER 232.5
Mere seconds before tip-off, we locked in this Hornets Over, recalling that the previous game between these two featured a crazy 250 combined points, even if the Hornets would be playing with an entirely different roster.
The Hornets are still ravaged by the protocols, missing LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee, Ish Smith and out tonight due to a non-Covid related illness: P.J. Washington and Nick Richards.
That meant plenty of PT tonight for James Bouknight, JT Thor and even Kai Jones.
Guess what?
The kids are alright!
And the pace was absolute bliss from the jump. Just four minutes into the game, the scoreboard read: 16-15, and we were already at an 81 percent chance to hit according to our handy dandy Action Network app. The points stayed flowing throughout. This Hornets Over was a Pure Lock!
As for the game: it was exciting as hell and came down to the wire.
Fox missed both free throws and the Hornets survived! Hum Diddly Dee!!
Hornets 124, Kings 123.
The shorthanded Hornets snapped the Kings 3-game winning streak.
The Hornets and Kings both made exactly 48 total field goals and 14 total 3s each.
In the latest edition of your favorite segment, WHO HE!?, we have #98 for the Hornets, Arnoldas Kulboka. Arnoldas is a rookie, a second-round pick from Lithuania known for his shooting. He played 3 minutes tonight in his NBA debut. Kulboka didn’t take a shot, but welcome aboard!
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Mavericks at Pacers -2.5 Under 213.5
Pacers 106, Mavs 93.
This Over/Under was hovering around 50 percent throughout most of the game. Then the Mavs scored only 13 points in the 4th quarter. Three-pointers were kind of an issue for Dallas in this one: 4-of-29.
LeVert and Sabonis combined for fiddy, and the Pacers have won 3 in a row for the first time this season.
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Nets +2 at Hawks Under 227.5
Nets 113, Hawks 105.
KD dropped 31 and Harden had 20, but it was Cam Thomas who had the highest plus-minus in this game at +16 in 25 minutes. Cam hit three 3s and received heaps of praise from his teammates in the post-game interviews.
Trae Young stayed ballin’ with 31-10-7, and Kevin Huerter was snappin’ with five 3s. TLC had a forgettable night: 0 points in 31 minutes. (This was not a TLC Revenge Game.)
The Nets won despite only making six 3s. How? Points in the paint: Nets 66, Hawks 50.
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Knicks at Raptors -1.5 UNDER 207.5
The Raptors jumped out to an early 20-point lead. The Knicks bench brought them back in it, of course, but it was too much to overcome in the end.
Raptors 90, Knicks 87.
Fast break points: Raptors 21, Knicks 9.
Starters: Raptors 80, Knicks 48. (Alec Burks scored 1 point in 37 minutes…)
Obi Toppin played well, scoring 19 points in 24 minutes. Knicks Twitter is clamoring for more Toppin minutes, but Thibs says he has to earn them…
Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet combined for nine 3s for the Raptors, the same amount of 3s the entire Knicks team made tonight.
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Bucks at Rockets +9.5 Over 228
Nine and a half seemed like a lot of points for a team on a 7-game winning streak at home, even if they were playing the far superior defending Champions. So we rode with the Rockets +9.5!
And the Bucks biggest lead of the game was… nine points!
However, despite covering for the entirety of this game, this actually wasn’t quite a Pure Lock thanks to a late-late run from the Bucks at the very end.
Almost had a heart attack thinking that Giannis was going to lay this in. It looks like somebody yelled something to him. Thankfully, he passed it off and Rockets +9.5 pulled through!
Bucks 123, Rockets 114.
Rockets +9.5 turned out to be a Squeaky Lock.
Typical Giannis stat-line: 41 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
It should be noted that the Rockets led by as many as 10 at one point. Sengun scored a career-high 15 points in 16 minutes.
Twitter saw it first.
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Cavaliers -1.5 at Timberwolves Over 213.5
In our only loss of the night (we went 3-1), this Under 213.5 was an Anti-Lock.
The Cavs blitzed the T-Wolves from the opening tip 20-4 and led by as many as 33 in a wire-to-wire win.
Cleveland was straight rollin’ with 7 players in double figures.
Cavs 123, T-Wolves 106.
Points in the paint: Cavs 62, T-Wolves 42.
The Cavs have now won 6 of the last 8.
Meanwhile, the T-Wolves have followed their hot stretch of winning 7 of 8 by losing 5 in a row.
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Pistons at Pelicans -6.5 Under 211.5
Diallo power dunk! Perhaps that can help get him some more minutes…
The Pistons actually had a 16-point lead in the 2nd quarter, but they only scored 12 points in the 3rd quarter which derailed their chances of ending their current losing streak.
The Pelicans led by as many as 27, a whopping 43-point swing.
Pelicans 109, Pistons 93.
Rebounds: Pelicans 60, Pistons 38.
Detroit has lost 11 straight games. (Somebody on Twitter said that the Pistons are Tanktastic which is PERFECT.)
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Lakers -3.5 at Thunder Under 217.5
Without AD tonight, the Lakers were hot from 3-point land early. But the first shoutout goes to Tre Mann!
Chances seem very good that will be making the cut for the next edition of Power Dunk City.
LeBron had a little bit of power here as well.
Lakers 116, Thunder 95.
Vintage King — LeBron flat-out dominated: 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting, 4-of-6 from 3, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in 35 minutes.
Words can hardly express how badly the Lakers needed this commanding victory over the Thunder who had already beaten them twice this season, both in come-from-behind fashion.
Three-pointers: Lakers 19-of-42. Thunder 10-of-44.
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Celtics at Suns -3.5 Under 214
No Deandre Ayton and no Devin Booker… no problem for the Suns!
Leading the way was… JaVale McGee! That’s right, 21 points and 15 rebounds for JaVale in 26 minutes.
Suns 111, Celtics 90.
Three-pointers: Suns 14-of-38. Celtics 4-of-26.
The Celtics have lost 3 in a row and have dropped below .500 at 13-14.
The Suns are 21-4 and tied with the Warriors atop the Western Conference.
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It shouldn’t be nearly as long until the Blog Train runs again as it was this time.
We love this game!
