12-22-20 Opening Night - A Beatdown in Brooklyn and Ring Night in L.A.
And we are back AGANE!
Welcome to the NBA Blog Train.
Warriors at Nets -7.5 Under 235
Before the game, KD was having fun with Steph’s new hair.
And the first power dunk of the 2020-2021 NBA season goes to…
…
Drumroll please!!!!!!!!!!
Kelly Oubre! Our former Sun, one of the best power dunkers in the league, with the monster put-back jam. Starting us off strong with what has got to be at least a level 4!
Steph was staring into space again.
Nets 125, Warriors 99.
Welp, we had a funny and ominous feeling about this Warriors season, and now we feel the exact same as we did after the first couple of bleak Warriors games last year. No Draymond tonight, but Draymond is no savior. James Wiseman looked pretty good for a 19-year-old rookie who hadn’t played a real game of basketball in over a year. The big lefty can shoot it, and it’s good to see that he’s not afraid to. We worried in our Season Preview that the Warriors defense can’t stop anybody and that Steph doesn’t have enough shooting surrounding him to give him optimal space to fully flourish. Those concerns were put in the spotlight tonight.
For Brooklyn, KD and Kyrie looked sharp, real sharp. Loved to see KD with his favorite straight away stare you down unguardable 3. Kyrie was letting the 3’s fly like it was Opening Night 2019, and he flashed some Uncle Drew handles as well. This Nets offense is going to be stout. The Nets have depth. Caris LeVert in the Ginobili role off the bench is nothing to laugh at.
We picked the Over on total regular season wins for the Nets and we picked the Under for the Warriors. Off to a good start.
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Clippers +2 “at” Lakers Over 219.5
Per usual, another Opening Night power dunk from The King, just in the 18th year of his career. Paul George didn’t want none of that! This is your classic 3.1 Akron Hammer.
The Paul George Revenge Tour’s first stop was Opening Night: 33 points on 13 of 18 shooting, 5 of 8 from three. The real damage was done at the end of third quarter when PG scored 10 straight points.
Clippers 116, Lakers 109.
Just how we felt the exact same about the Warriors last year, we felt deja vu again in this game which unfolded in eerily similar fashion to the season opener last year in the first Battle of L.A. The Clippers got out to a big lead, 39 to 19 after the first quarter where the Clippers shot 70% from the field and 5 of 10 from three. The Lakers proceeded to cut the lead to just 2 points by halftime, but the Clippers controlled the end of the third 3rd quarter behind PG and would not relinquish their lead.
It looked liked the Clippers were the team with everything to prove, playing highly motivated after their embarrassment in the bubble. And the Lakers played like a team coming off the shortest offseason in the history of professional sports.
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It’s so great to be back.
Tomorrow night features 13 games on the menu:
Hornets -2 at Cavs O/U 214.5 — #3 LaMelo vs. #5 Okoro! Over 214.5, yes please.
Knicks +8 at Pacers O/U 212 — The Pacers always have an easy beginning of the season schedule. We’re going under 212.
Heat -4.5 at Magic O/U 218.5 — The battle of Florida. Heat -4.5 feels like a Pure Lock.
Wizards at 76ers -7.5 O/U 229 — Dwight Howard Revenge Game? A clash of styles.
Bucks -3.5 at Celtics O/U 225 — Supermax Giannis with new sidekick Jrue vs. the Kembaless J-Team C’s.
Pelicans +4 at Raptors O/U 229.5 — A rematch of last year’s Opening Night, Ring Night in Toronto. But this time we get Zion! Under 229.5 for sure.
Hawks -2 at Bulls O/U 231.5 — These two teams finished within 3 games of each other last season, but one team (the Hawks) spent upwards of $150 million in free agency while the other team (the Bulls) spent… $10 million. 231.5 is a lot of points, but we are still hitting the Over.
Thunder at Rockets -7 O/U 225 — A rematch of the 1st Round of the playoffs, however, things have changed. Give us Doesn’t Give a Fuck James Harden.
Spurs at Grizzlies -2 O/U 231.5 — The old guard vs. the new. Rolling with the new, and the Over.
Pistons at T-Wolves -4.5 O/U 223.5 — Killian Hayes vs. The Ant-Man. If the T-Wolves are playing, we are taking the Over.
Kings +8.5 at Nuggets O/U 225.5 — Last year’s Sacramento-Denver games were settled by 7, 3 and 5 point margins. Kings +8.5 seems like a lot!
Jazz at Blazers -1.5 O/U 229 — Two Western Conference playoff contenders, both with aspirations to make it passed the 1st round.
Mavs +1 at Suns O/U 236.5 — Out of the 4 games vs. Phoenix last season, Luka scored 40 or more points twice. Gotta take the Mavs here and stay away from the Over/Under.
We love this game!
