Chasing Pure Locks Review: Friday, November 5th, 2021
We did, in fact, fire up the ole Blog Train tonight, so you can check out game capsules for all nine games over there.
Figured we might as well keep the Chasing Pure Locks Reviews going here.
(Chasing Pure Locks is basically an extension of the Blog Train, just with our picks officially posted and published ahead of the games.)
Our Pick: Nets -10 at Pistons
The Result: This was not a Pure Lock. This was a Rollercoaster Slippery Lock that slipped away.
Just like last night, our evening began in the 313 at Little Caesars Arena.
While we still prefer the court from last night with 313 in the center, we do enjoy the teal lightning bolt here. (Under Detroit at center court in case you weren’t sure where to look.)
We rolled with the Nets -10 tonight — as highlighted in Chasing Pure Locks — on the basis that the Nets offense has finally shown signs of life, and because the Pistons would be on the second night of a back-to-back along with their historically bad shooting.
The Nets scored 7 points before the Pistons were able to get on the board, and we thought we might just have a Pure Lock on our hands. But then Detroit scored 7 of their own to tie it up early.
Cade Cunningham had a very solid first quarter, scoring 9 points in 10 minutes. He even drove down the lane and scored on KD. George and Special K remarked that you can see his confidence growing right before our eyes.
Cade was the only highlight of the first half which saw a halftime score of 39-39. We were debating for most of the day on whether or not to take the Nets -10 or just take Under 210.5 here. We stayed away from the Under since the Nets offense has been better, but we were sure kicking ourselves at halftime. This Under 210.5 was a Pure Lock.
Steve Nash’s speech at halftime apparently motivated the troops, because the Nets came out hot in the 3rd quarter, an 8-0 run to start and by the end of the 3rd, Brooklyn was up by 16. We were feeling pretty good!
But we did NOT feel good about watching this:
What. The. Fuck. Disgusting and unacceptable.
Just like seeing the Nets lead slip away in the 4th quarter.
Hats off to the Pistons who fought all the way back. The spark was Cory Joseph? Yup. But Cade hit some big shots as well, including two 3s. It was nice to actually hear a legit roar from Little Caesars Arena even if it meant our Nets -10 ship was sinking and sinking fast.
The Pistons got it down to within one point after Cade’s second 4th quarter 3 with two minutes left, but the Nets held on to win.
They did not cover.
It was a Rollercoaster Slippery Lock that slipped away.
Nets 96, Pistons 90.
The Pistons outscored the Nets by 10 in the fourth quarter.
The Nets starters all had positive net ratings in double-digits while the Nets bench players all had negative net ratings in double-digits.
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Our Pick: Knicks 4 at Bucks
The Result: This was not quite a Pure Lock. This was a huge Comeback Lock!
The Knicks owed us one from both Monday night and Wednesday night when they didn’t pull through against the Raptors and Pacers.
But just like Wednesday night in Indiana, things got off to another ominous Knicksy start.
Before we knew it, the Bucks were up 24-9. Milwaukee’s lead would grow to 21. The Knicks needed a spark/boost/jolt — take your pick.
And as he often has been since rejoining the Knicks, Derrick Rose was the catalyst they needed tonight so baldy. This game turned ALL the way around when D-Rose attacked the paint in the 2nd quarter.
The Knicks didn’t stop there, continuing to hum in harmonious fashion.
Randle had his best game in a while with 32 points and 12 rebounds.
R.J. Barrett scored 20 points again.
Even Immanuel Quickley played really well off the bench.
It was the Knicks who flipped the script and were winning by more than 20!
What once looked like an Anti-Lock, turned into a huge Comeback Lock.
BING BONG!!! The Knicks are baaaaaaaack!
Knicks 113, Bucks 98.
Points in the paint: Knicks 54, Bucks 28.
D-Rose finished with a net rating of +31.
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Our Pick: Pacers at Blazers -5
The Result: This was not a Pure Lock. This was another Roller Coaster Slippery Lock that slipped away.
We stated: “Sure, the Pesky Pacers always seem to find a way to bone us and bone us hard, but we ain’t scared!”
(We have a LONG running history of never being able to bet a Pacers game correctly.)
It looked like maybe tonight was the night that we would be able to break that streak/curse as Portland opened on a 6-0 run on the way to securing an early 16-point lead.
But here came the Pesky Pacers, cutting the lead to 6 by halftime and taking a 1-point lead of their own going into the 4th.
Even worse, the Pacers got up by 9 in the 4th quarter with 5 minutes left. It looked like we were toast.
It also continued to look like Dame is toast. He couldn’t hit a 3, missed layups and even missed an open dunk! It was appalling. (He finished with four points in the entire game.)
But Robert Covington had our back tonight! (As did Simons who it looks like Dame gave his powers to.)
RoCo hit not one, not two, but three 3s in the final 4 minutes, the last one giving the Blazers a 4-point lead with 14 seconds left. All we needed was a stop and some free throws for the Blazers to cover -5!
The Blazers got the stop! LeVert missed a 3 and Dame eventually corralled the miss and was fouled!!!
Problem: The Blazers were not yet in the Bonus. No free throws yet.
The ball was inbounded with 2 seconds left and the Pacers did not foul.
No free throws.
No Blazers cover.
Blazers 110, Pacers 106.
It was another Roller Coaster Slippery Lock that slipped away.
But either way, RoCo hitting those 3s and doing a little skip after the last one as Moda ignited was pure bliss.
Also: THE PACERS ARE STILL PESKY!!!!!!!
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So another 1-2 night brings our total record to an ugly 5-10. This has gotten out of hand fast!
Start publishing your picks ahead of time they said. It will be fun they said.
Ha! It is fun. It’s not really about the winning for us here. It’s about the chase. It’s about being being a part of all this. It’s about being in the game. Cause…
We love this game!
