12-29-20 NBA Blog Train Tuesday
Ten games on the Tuesday night menu! But first, we have to tell you about our how our Monday night went.
Folks, it did not go well.
We did hit our first game of the night, Grizzlies +4 (we got in before the line changed due to Kyrie sitting out in addition to KD), but the night still got off to the most ominous start possible with Ja’s brutal ankle sprain, wheeled off to the locker room in a wheelchair. (Classified as a Grade 2 sprain, Ja is expected to miss 3-5 weeks.)
That’s the point at which we should have called it a night from a betting perspective, however, the Jazz were playing the Thunder, so you already know that we had to take the Jazz Under. The JUNDER!
The Junder was looking good in the first half. Real good. The score was Thunder 52, Jazz 49 at halftime — on pace for 202 points with our Over/Under at 218.5. But then the third quarter was flat out awful. The Thunder and Jazz scored 35 points apiece! So heading into the 4th, they were now on pace for 228 points. Not good. Yet hardly any points were scored over the last 3 minutes, the points came to a screeching halt. With 14.5 seconds left, the score read 108-109 and all we needed was a Jazz game-winning shot to miss to hit this Junder in miraculous comeback fashion. Except we knew. We knew that Donovan Mitchell would not do what we have seen too much of recently and really loathe: The super long step-back contested 3 when the game is within 1 or 2 points! And what did Don Mitch do? He drove to the hoop and got his runner off the glass to go. Our Under busted, but Don Mitch still made us proud.
So the Grizz +4 was a Solid Lock (even though it took OT for the Ja-less Grizz to defeat the KD-less, Kyrie-less, Dinwiddie-less Nets) as the Grizz mostly led throughout, and the Junder was a Slippery Lock that slipped away. You know what was an Anti-Lock? The Under on the Rockets at Nuggets. It never stood a fucking chance. Every time we looked up, it looked like a track meet, both teams running and gunning and jacking 3’s and easy peasy uncontested lay ups.
Surely we would cut our losses and stay away from the Lakers in the late game right? Wrongo! We took the Lakers -6 and we felt great when the Lakers took an early 10-point lead in the first quarter. And then we proceeded to watch Gary Trent Jr. drain 7 of 11 threes en route to 28 points off the bench which included 11 straight Blazers points in the 4th. “The Man Possessed” wants us to know that he is not a one-hit bubble wonder. The Lakers -6 was another Slippery Lock and really, it was mostly another Anti-Lock.
Yep, it was a rough Monday and start to the week.
Would our Tuesday night of action be any better? Guess you’ll have to find out.
Let’s get it!
Knicks +3.5 at Cavs UNDER 216
Our first action of the night was taking the Cavs -3.5 with the thought that the Cavs would be out for revenge after the Knicks embarrassed them in the preseason, winning by 36 points and leading by as many as 49. The Cavs have also looked quite good in their 3-0 start, and the Knicks might still be riding high from their win over the Bucks on Sunday night.
From the jump, the Knicks were the aggressors and the Cavs were off. Reggie Bullock and Julius Randle both made a pair of 3’s in the first quarter. Kevin Knox even knocked one down! Julius Randle had 5 assists in the 1st quarter! Meanwhile, the Cavs opened the game by missing their first 10 threes…
The largest Cavs lead was 2 points and the Knicks never looked back after taking the lead with 9:10 to go in the 1st, so we started off tonight with an Anti-Lock. *big sigh*
Knicks 95, Cavs 86.
The Knicks won despite a whopping 27 turnovers. That’s what happens when you hit your 3’s, ladies and gentlemen.
Julius Randle triple-double: 28 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Randle also tallied 9 turnovers, so he almost had a quadruple-double!
Kevin Love will miss at least 3 weeks with a calf strain. K-Love continues to be unable to stay on the court and is still set to be paid $90 million over the next 3 years. NINETY!
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Warriors -4.5 at Pistons Under 227
The Warriors let us down by not covering -3.5 on Sunday night against the Bulls. We didn’t even get to fully enjoy Damion Lee’s game-winning 3. Naturally, they owed us one and we took them again tonight against another inferior Eastern Conference opponent.
Kelly Oubre FINALLY making a 3 in the first quarter was a good sign, but the Warriors missing 3 of their first 6 free throws was not. Steph was swarmed everywhere, double teamed every time the Pistons got a chance. He was running around like crazy, playing his ass off, and making insane passes to wide open teammates who… played a lot better than they did on Sunday night in Chicago! None played better than one Andrew Wiggins who scored 27 points, 5 of 8 from three (!!) which included two huge back-to-back triples in the fourth when Steph was on the bench.
Per usual, we got a Kelly Oubre power dunk! First thought is in the 3.4 to 3.5 range. Not much attack on the rim, but still a lot of force and a great reaction. Jackson was late late.
Warriors 116, Pistons 106.
The Pistons led by as many as 12 points and Derrick Rose was taking over the game after Killian Hayes left with an ankle injury and didn’t return. So we have to chalk this one up as a Squeaky Comeback Lock.
Can we just take a second to appreciate how great it is to have Wardell Stephen Curry II back in our lives?
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Celtics +1.5 at Pacers Over 219
Even when this spread was Celtics -1, we thought the Celtics were a Lock in this potential Baseball Series Revenge Game after the Pacers edged out the C’s on Sunday night. We stayed away because we're still scared of the Pesky Pacers.
We felt like geniuses for staying away in the third quarter when the Pacers outscored the Celtics by 12.
The fourth quarter, on the other hand, was all Celtics, outscoring the Pacers by 16!
Celtics 116, Pacers 111.
Baseball Series Revenge complete!
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points on 17 shots and finished with a +19 net rating.
One thing about the Pacers, though, that is super encouraging: Oladipo looks like he has his bounce back!
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Raptors at 76ers -1.5 UNDER 219.5
We did not get in on the action here, but the Under would have been a PURE Lock.
You know, we were really worried that one of our favorite segments, Coaches in Despair, was going to be completely negated by masks this season. Nick Nurse has something to say about that!
Sixers 100, Raptors 93.
Who was there for the Sixers in the clutch again? Seth Curry, baby! Seth hit the dagger above the break 3 to ultimately seal it.
Embiid was Philly’s rock all night: 29 points (14 of 16 free throws!), 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
The Sixers bench had a forgettable game: Only 10 bench points total between Mike Scott and Shake Milton.
The last 30 seconds of this game took several years.
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Bulls +6 at Wizards UNDER 238
We got in on this Over/Under at 237.5 which seemed like a lot, but then we remembered this was the Wizards, the team with 0 defense and and a torrid Pace, playing a Bulls team who had given up over 120 points in each of their first three games to start the season.
What we failed to realize was that there was going to be lid on the basket in the second quarter.
Combined points by quarter:
1st: 57 points
2nd: 41 points
3rd: 58 points
4th: 66 points
Yeah, the second quarter really fucked us. This was another Under Anti-Lock!
There is some power here. Nothing too substantial. Deni made a very wise business decision no doubt.
Bulls 115, Wizards 107.
Westbrook has achieved a triple-double in each of the first three games he has played this season, however, the Wizards are 0-4.
The Bulls first win of the season was backed behind some pretty good team ball, 7 Bulls players with double-digit points.
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Bucks -6 at Heat OVER 227
The Bucks -6 and this OVER would have been the Purest Locks of the night. Of course! The Bucks Revenge Game on the Heat for the playoffs last year and vengeance from Sunday night’s embarrassment in MSG.
The Bucks set an NBA record with 29 made three-pointers. Sam Merrill (WHO HE!?) was the record breaker. Merrill is a rookie from Utah State.
Another NBA record was having 12 players make a 3, however, Giannis was the only Buck to not make a 3 tonight…
Bucks 144, Heat 97.
No Jimmy Butler in this one and it got out of hand early. WAY out of hand. So much so that the TNT broadcast opted for Live look-ins at the Warriors-Pistons and Magic-Thunder games instead of showing this absolute obliteration.
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Magic -6.5 at Thunder Over 219
No action for us on this one, just another solid Magic win.
Magic 118, Thunder 107.
The Magic are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history!
Points in the paint: Magic: 72. Thunder: 58.
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Pelicans at Suns -2 Under 221.5
The Pelicans and Suns had both gone Under in each of their first three games with the highest total between them at 216 points. Seeing this Over/Under set at 221.5, we HAD to take the Under! After botching three straight Unders, we figured we were due. And we really liked those numbers!
Right on cue, the points were flying out of the gate. Jae Crowder hit three 3’s in the first quarter! Brandon Ingram was hitting difficult shots in traffic. Zion even hit a jumper!
The Suns led 31 to 29 after the first quarter (on pace for 240… gulp), but we still had a good feeling about this one. Because for as many shots that were falling, it didn’t look sustainable. Sure enough, the Pelicans laid eggs in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters, scoring 15 and 17 points, and this turned into another good ole fashion national TV game blowout. So much so that TNT changed to end of the Nuggets-Kings game!
Suns 111, Pelicans 86.
If it wasn’t a Pure Lock then it was at least a Solid Lock!
Chris Paul and Devin Booker combined to score 17 points and the Suns still won by 25.
The Pelicans defense was bad bad. SVG is going to be mad mad.
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Timberwolves at Clippers -10.5 Under 225.5
We thought about it and realized that the Clippers would be out for some revenge of their own. Not against the T-Wolves specifically, but for their own pride after the worst loss in franchise history to the Mavs on Sunday. So we pulled the trigger on Clippers -10.5.
The T-Wolves actually held a quick lead, up 16-7, and we felt a little bit uneasy, especially after PG air balled a 3, but then we saw the look on the Clippers faces — they still looked locked in.
The game was tied 39-39 and then the Clippers went on a 12-0 run highlighted by:
Terance Mann and Luke “Money” Kennard!
Clippers 124, T-Wolves 101.
That 12-0 run turned into a 25-5 run which turned into a 55-25 run which turned into Clippers -10.5 being a Pure Lock! Over 222.5 would have been a bad beat!
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Nuggets at Kings -1 OVER 226
Following the theme of revenge games, Nuggets -2 was one of our original Locks entering today, having lost to the Kings on Buddy’s tip-in buzzer-beater in the first game of the season last week. Then we got the notification that Jamal Murray wasn’t playing about 10 minutes before the game. We elected to take a flyer on the Kings MoneyLine. It certainly was not a big one at +110 by any means, but we pictured the Nuggets struggling without Murray on the second night of a back-to-back. The Nuggets are usually the kings of the second night of a back-to-back, but usually they have their second best player.
This game was a quarter-by-quarter rollercoaster!
1st quarter: Nuggets 34, Kings 32.
2nd quarter: Kings 42, Nuggets 28.
3rd quarter: Nuggets 38, Kings 22.
4th quarter: Kings 29, Nuggets 15.
The Kangz bench was flexin’ on ‘em.
Kings 125, Nuggets 115.
The Kings pulled out an extremely nice come-from-behind win. Seven Kings scored in double figures and Tyrese Haliburton finished with a +20 net rating in 25 minutes. We see you, rook!
Jokic (26/12/11 trip-dub) and MPJ (30 points, 4 of 7 from 3) both played valiantly in the loss. The Nuggs just ran out of gas in the 4th. Who could have seen that coming?
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Six games on the menu tomorrow night:
Grizzlies at Celtics -4.5 O/U 216.5 — The Ja-less Grizz against the C’s on the second night of back-to-back.
Hawks at Nets -5.5 O/U 239.5 — 239.5 is a LOT, but two high octane offenses and flimsy defenses.
Bucks -6.5 at Heat O/U 226.5 — The second night of the back-to-back baseball series, the Heat gotta be pissed.
Hornets at Mavs -8 O/U 224.5 — Our beloved Hornets against The Don. This Over is soo tempting and we’ll likely be locking it in.
Lakers -6 at Spurs O/U 228.5 — Lakers at Spurs reminds us of when we had the Over last year and Danny Green hit the corner 3 at the buzzer to sent it to OT and to bail us out.
Blazers at Clippers -3.5. O/U 226 — Dame’s Revenge, right!?
We love this game!
