Monday NBA Blog Train: 11 Games
11 games on Monday night and the Blog Train is rolling full steam ahead!
Pacers (0-2) at Pistons (1-2)
Still no Blake Griffin for Detroit. No Reggie Jackson tonight either.
It didn’t matter as the Pistons led the entire way until the Pacers grabbed their first lead in the 4th quarter with just under 3 minutes left to make things “interesting.”
Malcolm Brogdon missed two WIDE open three-pointers in the last minute. D-Rose hit the go-ahead driving lay up off the glass. (D-Rose wanted an And-1 but didn’t get it.) T.J. Warren missed what would have been the game-winning three at the buzzer.
Pistons 96, Pacers 94.
Drummond not only got his 15 points and 15 boards, Big Penguin got 18 and 18. Christian Wood was the Pistons leading scorer with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. C-Wood should get some more minutes. We are betting Dwane Casey will make it happen.
Remember when we wrote in the Pacers season preview that Indiana’s bench looks about as exciting as an actual wooden bench?
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Bulls (1-2) at Knicks (0-3)
The Bulls got off to a fast start in the first quarter, but the Knicks were chipping away and hanging in all night.
Chicago still led by 19 in the 3rd and pushed the lead back to 10 in the 4th, but these Knickerbockers are a gritty and resilient bunch.
Turns out that this was a Bobby “Crazy Eyes” Portis revenge game! 28 points, 11 rebounds and 4 for 4 from downtown. Portis was clutch and MSG was delighted.
Knicks 105, Bulls 98.
The Knicks outscored the Bulls by 15 in the 4th quarter. The Knicks out rebounded the Bulls 63 to 38.
Lauri Markkanen still hasn’t got going yet.
R.J. Parrot is the first rookie since Bill Walton in 1974 to have a game with 15 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in the first five games of his career.
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Magic (1-1) at Raptors (2-1)
An interesting crunch time lineup for Orlando: Fultz, Ross, Fournier, Gordon and Isaac. Marc Gasol continues to torture Vooch who was only 1 of 13 from the field. Aaron Gordon also had a dud with just 2 points.
Siakam and Lowry combined for 50 points and made the big shots late as Toronto closed the game on a 14-4 run to hold off the Magic.
Raptors 104, Magic 95.
The Lanky Jonathan Isaac made 5 of 7 threes. [Insert eyeball emoji]
Eight of the Magic’s next ten games will be home at Amway.
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76ers (2-0) at Hawks (2-0)
Atlanta got off to a rollicking start. Eastern Conference Player of the Week Trae Young and the Hawks shredded the Philly D in the 1st quarter for 40 points! It was a tale of two halves as Atlanta scored 38 points in the entire second half.
Joel Embiid power dunk on John Collins!
The Hawks were down 3 with 9.5 seconds left when Ice Trae made his first free throw, missed the second, but John Collins was there to tap it in. Tie game with 7.4 remaining. (Lloyd Pierce subbed in Vince Carter for Trae Young for defense.)
Joel Embiid was fouled after a nice seal and entry pass. JoJo knocked down the game-winning free throws with Vince Carter missing what would have been an iconic game-winning running three-pointer at the buzzer.
76ers 105, Hawks 103.
Embiid was a beast and filled out the stat sheet: 36 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, but he did also have 7 turnovers which he was (of course) frustrated about in the immediate on court post-game interview.
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Cavaliers (1-1) at Bucks (1-1)
The Cavs didn’t win this one, but they also didn’t give up, and played hard defense until the final buzzer.
The same can be said for the Bucks who made 17 of 38 threes and feasted on 24 fast break points.
Giannis threw down a Jordan logo dunk.
Bucks 129, Cavaliers 112.
Giannis didn’t have his best game (5 of 15 shooting) but he still almost had a triple-double: 14p/10r/7a and 2 blocks.
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Warriors (0-2) at Pelicans (0-3)
Warriors bounce back game? Warriors bounce back game!
We seriously regretted not taking the Warriors +2.5 about 2 minutes into the game. The Warriors were up 7-0, sure, but you could just tell they were going to roll. Keep in mind the Pelicans were without Jrue Holiday and Derrick Favors in addition to Zion.
Warriors 134, Pelicans 123.
Free money left on the table.
The Warriors were PUMPED after their first win of the season.
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Thunder (1-2) at Rockets (1-1)
That sound you heard last night about 9pm Central time was the Thunder roaring back in the 4th quarter after giving up their 13-point 1st quarter advantage.
A Chris Paul (he used to play for the Rockets!!) short jumper cut the Houston lead to just 3 points with 1:23 left in the game. That’s when the play of the game happened. Harden missed a step-back three, but Russ was there to coral the offensive board and bring the ball back to the top of the key. Brodie then drove downhill straight at SGA causing the defense to collapse. Russ barreled toward SGA, Rooster and Nerlens and was falling out of bounds as he slung a pass to P.J. Tucker for a dagger corner three.
Rockets 116, Thunder 112.
This was NOT a Chris Paul revenge game. (But OKC covered +10.)
Russ did NOT get a triple-double: 21 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds.
Harden was Harden: 40 points with 21 free throws.
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Trail Blazers (2-1) at Spurs (2-0)
If you suggested taking Over 223 here (definitely not something that we did…) then you were feeling like a chump for most of this game. After 3 quarters, the score was Spurs 82, Blazers 71 and Over 223 points was a long shot.
Then it was Spurs 105, Blazers 86 with less than 6 minutes left and we were looking for a pen to write in Spurs -6 and UNDER 223.
But do you know what time it was late in the 4th? Yup. Dame Time. Lillard led the Blazers back from the wilderness, headlined by a 15-0 Blazers run.
Then all of a sudden, it’s Spurs 113, Blazers 110 with 7.8 seconds left. DeRozan is at the line and the OVER 223 points was a Lock after all!
Except it wasn’t. DeRozan missed BOTH free throws. And then at the buzzer, Dame missed a fadeaway falling out of bounds corner three that was halfway down and out.
Spurs 113, Blazers 110.
That’s a motherfuckin’ silly PUSH.
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Nuggets (2-0) at Kings (0-3)
Denver -5 was one of those Locks where it didn’t look great (Kings ended the 1st quarter on a 25 to 9 run), then it looked really good (Nuggets with an 11-point lead in the 4th) and then we sweated our asses off in a nail biter.
Gary Harris went to the free throw line with 24.6 seconds left. The Nuggets were up 3 points. GH nailed both free throws!!! Would we get another PUSH!?
Nope! Barnes missed a three and then Jamal Murray knocked down another pair of free throws!!! Denver covered! But WAIT. There are 13.1 seconds left and here come the Kings…
Fox missed the 3, Bjelica grabbed the board and missed a jumper and then at the buzzer.. Richuan Holmes… missed a tip-in!!!!!
Nuggets 101, Kings 94.
It. Was. A. LOCK. (A Squeaky Lock.)
”88 problems, but a bucket ain’t one.” That’s what Doug Christie said during the Kings broadcast Monday night about Bjelica in the 3rd quarter. You really missed out.
Buddy Hield just had one of those games where it wasn’t falling, 2 of 13 from the floor. But the Kings played their best game of the season. That’s not saying much, but progress is progress. Richaun Holmes was the catalyst with 24 points and 13 rebounds off the bench and this power dunk.
Some said this wasn’t a power dunk. They are wrong. BIG comprehensive power dunk post coming soon! (Also, this happened when the Nuggets were winning by 5, so it was like Richaun Holmes was power dunking on us.)
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Jazz (2-1) at Suns (2-1)
We took the UNDER 213.5 points, so we were sitting pretty at Halftime: Jazz 46, Suns 39. It was looking like Lock City — a Pure Lock.
But then at the end, the game had a chance to go into overtime! (Any time you take the UNDER, you do not want those bastards at B-Dubs sending the game to OT.) It was tied 95-95 with Donovan Mitchell at the line for two free throws with 0.4 seconds left……….
Don Mitch knocked down the first, missed the second, time expired, game over in regulation!
Jazz 96, Suns 95.
This SOB might have gone UNDER 213.5 points even with OT!
Almost a Rick Rubio Revenge Game but not quite.
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Hornets (1-2) at Clippers (2-1)
Louisville vs. Louisville: Trez vs. Rozier. They played together for 2 years.
Kawhi went for 30 and did this MJ like baseline up-and-under.
Clippers 111, Hornets 96.
Hornets covered +15.5. There was never a doubt!
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Only three games tomorrow night:
Tuesday, October 29th
Hawks (2-1) at Heat (2-1) -8 — O/U 224
Mavs (2-1) at Nuggets (3-0) -6 — O/U 216
Grizzlies (1-2) at Lakers (2-1) -12 — O/U 219.5
The first reaction likes the road dogs, which is out of the ordinary for us so far this season. Although last Thursday, all 3 road teams won and covered.
Gonna have to sleep on it. We love this game!