12-11-19 NBA Blog Train Wednesday: 11 Games
An 11-game slate on the 11th. Welcome to The NBA Blog Train!
Lakers -8.5 at Magic UNDER 210.5
Nate Dogg was at Amway tonight, his second Magic game of the season and first since opening night on 10/24. Nate Dogg suggested taking the Magic +8.5, which we did give some thought. Glad we stayed away as Magic +8.5 would have been a bad beat! AD’s free throws with 20 seconds left and then a missed Fournier three at the very end sealed it.
MO BAMBA. (In slow-mo, it kinda looks like a foul, but LeBron did not complain.)
Lakers 96, Magic 87.
Mo Bamba apparently wears #5 for KG. We find that kinda funny, because when we think of KG, we think of #21. T-Wolves, baby.
LeBron triple-double: 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Magic could not quite recover from their abysmal first quarter in which they scored nine points. NINE.
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Clippers -3 at Raptors UNDER 222.5
Kawhi’s Return to Toronto and Championship ring night.
Fun Guy with the big smile!
Clippers 112, Raptors 92.
PG was off the mark (2 of 12 shooting) and the Clippers still rolled. Sweet Lou got back to getting fuckin’ buckets.
It was the worst shooting night of the season for the Raptors.
Kawhi and the Clippers have swept the season series between the Raps.
2-time NBA Champion Patrick McCaw!
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Rockets at Cavs +11.5 UNDER 230.5
We said, “Woah,” when we flipped on Rockets-Cavs with 9+ minutes left in the 4th quarter and we saw PJ Tucker get beaned in the head by a pass from his own teammate and then a Kevin Porter Jr. three-pointer gave the Cavs a 6-point lead.
But the Harden step-backs continued.
Delly had a three hit in his eyeballs and got smacked in the face lol.
And there was a pure clutch step-back 3 on KPJ.
Rockets 116, Cavs 100.
Harden went out for a 55-burger with only 5 free throws, 10 of 18 from three (!!) and 20 of 34 from the field. The Beard’s 11th 55-point game of his career. Harden went on a personal 13-0 run in the 4th, shooting lasers. Wrecking this league!
Kevin Porter Jr. did have a helluva game, though. 24 points and 6 of 9 from three. We see you, rook!
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Celtics at Pacers -1.5 OVER 211
The Pesky Pacers were able to withstand 44 points from Kemba thanks to excellent play from the Holiday bros off the bench. That’s right, the Pacers bench has taken such a turn from the beginning of the season and has, in fact, looked more exciting than an actual wooden bench.
Pacers 122, Celtics 117.
Free throws were the difference: Pacers 30 of 36. Celtics 17 of 22. Brogdon was a perfect 15 of 15 from the charity stripe for Indiana.
Sabonis and Carsen Edwards bumped knees on the final in-bounds play at the very end of the game and that is NOT what you wanna see.
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Hornets +10 at Nets Over 216.5
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Hornets were down 18 at halftime, but Coach Borrego switched to a zone defense in the third quarter. That’s when the Nets went ICE COLD, missing 16 of their last 18 threes!
You wanna know who wasn’t missing his threes?
GOLDEN GRAHAM. 40 points, 7 of 12 from three!
Hornets 113, Nets 108.
Devonte Graham in the immediate on court post-game interview: “I feel amazing.”
It’s only December 11th, but the Most Improved Player Award is just about locked up in our book.
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Jazz -1 at Timberwolves OVER 221.5
Utah did the damage in the 3rd quarter, outscoring Minnesota 38 to 24.
Jazz 127, T-Wolves 116.
TBH Matt Harpring is starting to get on our nerves. He would not stop complaining about a late garbage time call that went against the Jazz. Just let it go, bro.
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Hawks at Bulls -6.5 OVER 221
Atlanta on the second night of a back-to-back did not fair as well as Charlotte. Like, at all.
Zach LaVine was on ONE: 35 points on 12 of 16 shooting, 7 of 7 from three. Yes, you read that correctly. SEVEN of SEVEN. From THREE!!!
Bulls 136, Hawks 102.
Points in the paint: Bulls 78, Hawks 42.
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Grizzlies +7 at Suns UNDER 230.5
Young Ja poster on Baynes! Poor Baynes is on the bad end of a lot of posters lol.
It’s true.
Grizz 115, Suns 108.
Phoenix missed soo many open shots. #analysis
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Pelicans at Bucks -9.5 OVER 232.5
No Giannis, no problem for the Bucks.
Eric Bledsoe led the way with 29 points on 10 of 13 shooting and 5 of 6 from three.
Bucks 127, Pelicans 112.
The Bucks have won 16 in a row.
Zion traveled to Milwaukee!
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Thunder +1.5 at Kings UNDER 207.5
OKC had an 11-point lead with less than 7 minutes left in the 4th. That’s when the Kings went on a 14-0 run.
Tonight, the Kings’ game-winner belonged to Bogey.
Kings 94, Thunder 93.
OKC still covered! Speaking of, we did not get in on any action tonight. It was pretty nice.
But damn, this UNDER would have been a Pure Lock. (Same goes for Lakers-Magic!)
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Knicks +5 at Warriors OVER 211
The Knicks led by as many as 22 points before the “Warriors” stormed back.
Ice In His Veins D-Lo! #eyeballs #shouldhavefouled
Knicks 124, Warriors 122. OT
The Knicks 10-game losing streak is snapped!
This turned out to be a fun game, but the new Chase Center’s harrowing reputation continues.
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Only 4 games on the Thursday night slate, so we’ll catch you on Friday night when the Blog Train is running again with 9 games.
We love this game!