12-23-20 NBA Blog Train Opening Night Round 2
Thirteen games (er, 12) on the Wednesday night/Festivus/Christmas Eve’s Eve menu.
All aboard!!!
Hornets at Cavs +3 OVER 217
In the first game of Opening Night Round II, we absolutely had to get in on this Hornets Over. If you are new here, we have an affinity for our beloved Hornets Overs. Tonight, we were back in the saddle!
The Hornets had serious trouble scoring out of the gate, of course. Dell Curry described it as “rust all the way around.”
The Cavs led 24-23 after the first quarter and thanks to a 21-4 run in the second, the Cavs led 65-44 at halftime. We had managed to get back to 50% odds, on pace to hit at… 218.
But the third quarter was simply glorious. Three-pointers cashing in left and right. The Hornets went on a 17-4 run. Terry Rozier scored 15 in the 3rd quarter alone. The Hornets cut the lead to thirteen, 93-80 entering the 4th. The Over was looking good and the 4th quarter was more of the same. We hit the Over with 3:25 to go!!
Cavs 121, Hornets 114.
When the points weren’t flowing early, it felt like Collin Sexton had our back. The Young Bull Scored 27 points on the night and Darius Garland finished with 22! Our old pal JaVale chipped in 13 points off the bench, attempting sky looks like Kareem.
#5 pick in the draft Okoro (11 points) takes the first matchup against #3 LaMelo (0 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound in 16 mins).
Rozier kept the flame that he had the last time the Hornets took the court back in March when he scored a career-high 40 points. Tonight, Rozier topped that with 42 points and 10 made threes! We learned from Eric Collins that Rozier wears #3 for Dwyane Wade.
Cody Zeller fractured his hand :/
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Knicks at Pacers -7.5 Over 215.5
It was tale of two halves for the Knicks who actually held a 66-61 lead at halftime, shooting 8 of 15 from 3.
Yet in the second half, the Knicks made just 4 of 13 from beyond the arc.
Pacers 121, Knicks 107.
Per Clyde, Sabonis and Oladipo provided the emphasis for the Pacers. The box score backs him up and also shows that Brogdon also scored 20+ points. The trio combined for 75 points.
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Heat at Magic +4.5 O/U 218.5
Have you seen Aaron Gordon’s fro!? It’s pretty great. Air Gordon was a game-high +17 net rating on the night, scoring 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting.
The Heat held a slight lead throughout this one, however, Orlando outscored Miami by 10 points in the fourth quarter in a rounded team effort. It was great to see Fultz aggressive and attacking late in the game!
Magic 113, Heat 107.
A crowd of over 3,000 fans got to watch this one in Orlando.
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Wizards +7.5 at 76ers Under 230.5
Despite this photo, the Wizards announcers could be heard saying that this is the happiest they have seen Beal.
Tied at 93-93 with 5:35 to go, there was a lot more Seth Curry down the stretch than we would have thought. Seth played well and made winning plays.
Sixers 113, Wizards 107.
Embiid led the Sixers with 29 points, feasting down low and hitting a few outside shots as well.
Points in the Paint: Sixers 52, Wizards 26.
Wizbrook had a triple-double through 3 quarters and finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 11 rebounds. It was on 9 of 22 shooting, not too bad. Beal also attempted 22 shots, 11 of 22, scoring 31 points.
Dwight Howard Revenge Game!
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Bucks at Celtics +3.5 Over 223
Giannis SWAT.
“I didn’t call bank, I called game.” Tatum balled out, 30 points and 6 of 13 from 3.
Giannis actually had a chance at 2 free throws with the game on the line, down 2 with 0.4 left… He made the first and missed the second. Free throws continue to be his kryptonite.
Celtics 122, Bucks 121.
The Bucks trailed by 17 points in the third, but Giannis took over in the 4th quarter to bring them back, before falling short.
The Bucks crunch time lineup featured mostly DiVincenzo and Connaughton alongside their new Big 3. Tatum was taking it right to Pat Conno as you can imagine.
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Pelicans +4 at Raptors Over 228.5
Zion SWAT.
The Raptors saw a 7-point lead at the half evaporate when the Pelicans blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Raptors 38 to 22.
Pelicans 113, Raptors 99.
The Pellies had a well-balanced attack, five players with 15+ points. Eric Bledsoe and Lonzo both shot 4 of 8 from 3. Redick drilled 6 of 11 threes off the bench.
Brandon Ingram was just 1 rebound shy of his first career triple double.
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Hawks -2 at Bulls Under 234.5
How do we feel about these Hawks jerseys? Not so sure about them.
A half court Trae Young to John Collins power dunk oop!
Hawks 124, Bulls 104.
This final score is NO indicator of this game. With 5:22 left in the third quarter, the Hawks were up 100-66.
The largest lead was 40.
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Thunder at Rockets -2.5 O/U 217.5 — PPD.
POSTPONED.
The Rockets did not have the required 8 players available to play this game. James Harden to be fined $50K for breaking protocol. The mess in Houston continues to get messier.
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Spurs +2 at Grizzlies Over 230
Lonnie Walker power dunk!
Ja scored a new career high 44 points, but it wasn’t enough.
Spurs 131, Grizzlies 119.
The Spurs look rejuvenated. Also, we have a bone to pick with ESPN’s depth chart for the Spurs.
To our grand surprise, Lonnie Walker and Keldon Johnson both got the start tonight. (Derrick White didn’t play, but still.) DeRozan played a lot at the 4. Here we go!!!
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Pistons at T-Wolves -5.5 Under 224.5
The Pistons roared out to an 8-0 start. Jerami Grant looked like a guy who bet on himself. He eventually faded and so did Detroit.
KAT with some power here.
T-Wolves 111, Pistons 101.
It was all about Minnesota in the 4th quarter, 31 to 16. The T-Wolves didn’t get their first lead until 3:30 to go.
Points in the paint: Pistons 66, T-Wolves 44.
Free throws: T-Wolves 24 of 28. Pistons 3 of 8.
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Kings +7.5 at Nuggets Over 227.5
“PACK ‘EM UP AND SEND ‘EM HOMEEEEE!!!!”
Kings 124, Nuggets 122. OT
We really enjoyed Mark Jones on the call tonight as well as the Sacramento broadcast having the rims really mic’ed up.
Fox, Hield and Barnes each scored 20+ and Haliburton played well in his NBA debut, even got some run in the crunch time lineup.
Jamal Murray had a forgettable game, 1 of 9 shooting from the field.
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Jazz +1.5 at Blazers Over 226
Don Mitch hits you with a misdirection and then zips right by you for a scoop lay in off the glass. A classic Don MItch go-to move.
And he always knows where Gobert is.
Jazz 120, Blazers 100.
The Jazz shot 19 of 50 from 3.
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Mavs at Suns -1.5 Under 232.5
Welp, after hitting the Hornets Over, we had to get some more action in, right? Right! So we took Luka and the Mavs +1.5 and we dismissed our own advice, taking the Over which never stood a chance. (We also broke one of our cardinal rules: Don’t bet the Over on National TV games.) It was an Anti-Lock.
The Mavs had a chance late thanks in large part to Jalen Brunson who brought them back.
But it was the Suns who burned us in the late game for the second straight year on Opening Night Round II.
Suns 106, Mavs 102.
Perhaps they will go on to become our Suns once again.
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Merry Christmas, everybody!
We love this game!