Chasing Pure Locks Review: Monday, November 8th, 2021
Honesty is the best policy.
We were as honest as possible in our preview today, letting you know that since last Monday when we started officially publishing 3 picks per day, our Chasing Pure Locks picks have gone a startling 7-14. So the numbers say you would be better off fading these picks.
But tonight, hopefully that’s not what you did.
Our 1st Pick: Knicks -2 at 76ers
This evening commenced in the City of Brotherly Love.
It sure started out looking like a Pure Lock as the Knicks controlled the 1st half against the undermanned Sixers missing their “Big 3.”
The Knicks led by as many as 19 points and were up by 14 at halftime. But the 3rd quarter was a problem for the Knicks for a second consecutive night. The Sixers won tonight’s third quarter 25-14 after the Knicks got whooped by the Cavs 33-18 last night.
That 19-point lead vanished. Poof. The Sixers were up by 2 late in the 3rd and early in the 4th. It was mostly Furkan Korkmaz and Georges Niang, the same two who gave us the business on Saturday night in Chicago when we had the Bulls.
Tied at 88 with 4 minutes left (the Under was a Pure Lock), that’s when the Knicks offense finally woke up from its lull thanks to Julius Randle who stepped up when we needed him most. Randle hit numerous bail-out late shot-clock 911 jumpers to save the day. He finished with 10 of his 31 points in the 4th quarter as the Knicks pulled away for good.
This was definitely a Solid Lock.
Knicks 103, 76ers 96.
Fastbreak points: Knicks 23, 76ers 5.
The Knicks and Sixers both shot an identical 13-for-40 from 3. That’s extremely rare to see.
Shoutout to Immanuel Quickley who had a great game off the bench, hitting three 3s in 16 minutes.
And shoutout to Big Drumm! Drummond hauled in 25 rebounds, including 8 offensive boards. (We used to always call him Big Penguin, but we heard him say in an interview last year that he prefers Big Drumm.)
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Our 2nd Pick: Kevin Durant Over 28.5 points
The second stop of the night was in Chicago for Nets-Bulls.
We knew that the Bulls didn’t have anybody to stand a chance at guarding KD. Sure enough, he was easy money sniping.
This one was a no doubt Pure Lock!
Durant had 9 points in the 1st. 15 at halftime. And 27 after the 3rd — finishing with 38 points in all.
But it was the Bulls who ran the Nets out of the gym in the 4th quarter! Chicago outscored Brooklyn 42-17 in the final frame to win 118-95. (Points in the paint: Bulls 54, Nets 24.)
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Our 3rd Pick: Timberwolves at Grizzlies Over 218.5
Our last stop of the night was down in Memphis, hoping for some points.
It took a few minutes to get the party started (especially the Grizz), but once the seal was broken, the floodgates were WIDE OPEN.
The scoreboard read 34-34 after a rip-roaring uptempo first quarter, and we were already at an 81 percent chance to hit according to our handy dandy Action Network app.
Things cooled down in the 2nd quarter considerably. After the 68 combined 1st quarter points, the 2nd quarter only saw 44. Thankfully that 1st quarter gave us quite the cushion, still sitting at 57 percent.
The T-Wolves went bonkers after halftime, lighting up the Grizz for 38 points in the 3rd quarter and pushing us back up to 74 percent. It was a little bit of everybody for Minnesota. They did a good job spreading the love around.
And then the 4th quarter was all about Memphis, storming back after trailing by 16 points with 7:30 left in the game. The Grizz also had a variety of scoring, but as always, Ja was the catalyst.
However, as the Grizz made their run to get back in it, things tightened up in the last couple of minutes as far as the scoring went. The T-Wolves offense became muddled. We never got too concerned, but we definitely kept a close eye on it.
Ja flew in a for a spring-loaded dunk to tie the game 108-108 with 56 seconds left. We only needed 3 points in the final minute, and OT could send us Over as well.
Right on cue, Ja drilled a 3 to cash our ticket!
Thirty seconds later this happened:
KAT sent it OT after all!
(The Grizz outscored the Wolves by 7 in OT.)
Grizzlies 125, Timberwolves 118. OT
Our Over 218.5 was another Pure Lock! Whoop whoop!!
Hey. Wanna see a Bad Beat that we very thankfully were not involved in?
Some people had T-Wolves +6 which would look even worse.
Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers.
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3-0 is a FANTASTIC way to start the week. (Again, hopefully you didn’t fade.)
Tonight was a masterclass in why you should stay the course. Some might have given up after a week of publishing some pretty terrible picks. But not us.
We love this game!
