12-13-19 NBA Blog Train Friday: 9 Games
Dear friends, this will be the last Blog Train post for a little while. Why is that?
Because Basketballin.net is leaving the couch and going out on the road!
Sunday 12/15 Lakers at Hawks - 6pm at State Farm Arena
Tuesday 12/17 Kings at Hornets - 7pm at Spectrum Center
Thursday 12/19 Rockets at Clippers - 10:30pm at Staples Center
Friday 12/20 Pelicans at Warriors - 10:30pm at the new Chase Center
We are closing the decade out on a high note. Keep a look out for us!
Now back to Friday Night’s Blog Train:
Rockets -6.5 at Magic OVER 220.5
Westbrook transition power dunk! We are still working out the kinks to our Power Dunk rating system.
Mr. Isaac, may we have this dance?
Rockets 130, Magic 107.
Harden’s stat line was BANANAS, again. 54 points with just 6 free throws, 19 of 31 shooting from the field, another insane 10 of 15 from three (!!!) to go along with 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. We are talking B-A-N-A-N-A-S. (Shoutout Gwen Stefani. Shoutout Laguna Beach!) The Beard now has the most points in NBA history through the first 25 games, passing one Michael Jordan. The Beard also tied Steph for most three-pointers in NBA history through the first 25 games. Harden is wrecking this league!
Ben McLemore also had a very solid night in 27 minutes off the bench: 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting and all 6 of 7 were threes.
For Orlando, Evan Fournier has continued his tear and Vooch should be back soon.
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Pelicans at 76ers -7 Push Over 225
Ladies and gentleman, Norvel Pelle!
Another great Sixers sequence sparked by another Pelle block.
So yeah… WHO HE!? Hailing from Antigua and Barbuda, Norvel Pelle went to high school in LA but never played in college due to issues with grades and ineligibility. Pelle is 6-10 and 26 years old, currently on a two-way contract. He’s listed as being a small forward on his Basketball-Reference page, but that doesn’t seem right.
76ers 116, Pelicans 109.
Embiid and Simmons both scored 24 points, but it was Tobias Harris who led the Sixers with a team-high 31.
Brandon Ingram put up 32 points in the Pelicans 11th straight loss in JJ’s return to Philly.
Yup.
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Lakers at Heat +5.5 OVER 211.5
The LeBron-AD pick-and-roll has lived up to the hype. No doubt.
King James with the raaange.
Lakers 113, Heat 110.
Miami’s first loss at home. The Lakers 13th straight win on the road. People might forget that the Heat led by 14 points late in the 2nd quarter.
In the immediate post-game on-court interview, LeBron credited his teammates for getting on his ass and telling him not to be so passive. That’s what we are talking about!
AD on the way! A central theme in our Lakers Season Preview, of course. Seeing it come to fruition has been glorious through 26 games. And in just two days, on Sunday night, we get to see it in person, 1st row behind the Lakers bench.
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Pacers -8 at Hawks UNDER 224.5
The Pesky Pacers balanced attack rolls on just like this Blog Train. Seven Pacers in double-digits.
Why does T.J. McConnell look so mad here?
Pacers 110, Hawks 100.
This was actually a closer game than the final score indicates thanks to a big third quarter from the Hawks, outscoring the Pacers 35 to 23.
Malcolm Brogdon was on triple-double watch with 19 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. We never really viewed Brogdon’s big contract as too crazy in today’s climate, and we especially don’t now. The dude is the Pesky Pacers leader and does everything night in and night out.
See you very soon, State Farm Arena.
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Hornets +7 at Bulls UNDER 214
Fast break euro-step hesitation into a power dunk?! Alrighty then!
Going into the 4th quarter, the score was 59 to 50. FIFTY-NINE to FIDDY. Thoughts and prayers if for some reason you had the Over. If you have been following this blog, you know that Hornets Overs are Canceled. (Until maybe Tuesday night when we are live and in color in Charlotte, baby.)
Hornets 83, Bulls 73.
A total of 156 points, they only went 58 points UNDER.
The Hornets first wire-to-wire win of the season. Hornets +7 would have been a Pure Lock! Of course the Hornets would get revenge from their November 23rd epic collapse against the Bulls. But tonight was another night without any action for us. Sometimes you just need to reboot.
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Bucks -12.5 at Grizzlies OVER 229
Giannis was power dunkin’ and mean muggin’.
There was a UNICORN ON FIRE in Memphis. JJJ finished with a career-high 43 points.
Bucks 127, Grizzlies 114.
Giannis: 37 points on 12 of 23 shooting, 3 of 7 from three and 10 of 13 from the free throw line. The Freak also had 11 rebounds but just 2 assists.
No matter, Milwaukee has won 17 games in a row! The Bucks play the Cavs on Saturday for the third time, but next week: Mavs and Lakers!
No Ja Morant in this game was a drag.
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Warriors at Jazz OVER 211
Don Mitch rise up power dunk!
Jazz 114, Warriors 106.
The Warriors in crunch time is still lolz. Down 2 with two minutes left, Cauley-Stein missed a dunk and then the Warriors gave up a 3-ball. A 5-point swing that did Golden State in. Utah ended the game on an 11-2 run.
As League Pass fiends who have watched an inordinate amount of “Warriors” basketballin’ this season, we know that the Jazz have SO much work to do. However, starting slow and picking up steam would be very on brand for the Jazz.
Bojan Bogdanovic had himself a night with 32 points and 8 of 13 threes. Yeah, 8 of 13! There have been some seriously ridiculous three-point shooting displays here recently.
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Clippers -4.5 at Timberwolves OVER 228
That feeling when your other starters combine for 0 points in the first half.
‘Barrassin’!
Clips 124, T-Wolves 117.
No matter, PG and Kawhi both dropped 40+ points, combining for 88. Gulp.
But who was taking the crunch time free throws for the Clippers with 20 seconds left? Derrick Walton Jr. Okayyy… Lou Williams did not play tonight, but STILL. Walton Jr. made 1 of 2.
KAT and Wiggins did their part but no offensive help was found outside of Jeff Teague, who is still coming off the bench these days but is playing starters minutes like he’s Sweet Lou or something.
Minnesota has now lost 7 in a row.
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Knicks +8.5 at Kings UNDER 210.5
Trailing by 16 points in the 3rd quarter, the Knicks went on a big 12-0 run in the 4th and grabbed their first lead since being up 2-0 with 4.5 minutes left. The Knicks didn’t look back.
Can’t believe we saw this again. Especially so soon! Glad they got it right this time.
Knicks 103, Kings 102.
The Kings have now played 7 games decided by exactly 1-point and they are 4-3 in those games.
Elfrid Payton has had quite the resurgence! Tonight, Sir Elfrid scored 16 points in 27 minutes off the bench, shooting 7 of 13 from the field and he even made a three-pointer!
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Tomorrow’s Saturday night slate features 8 games and there are 6 games on Sunday.
Look for us at State Farm Arena on Sunday! First row behind the Lakers bench in the corner.
We love this game!