Chasing Pure Locks Review: Sunday, November 7th, 2021
You can’t say that we didn’t give you a heads up.
The first line in our preview for today’s picks was quite literally: “Warning: Proceed with caution!”
(We might need to move to all caps soon.)
Chasing Pure Locks is really not for the faint of heart.
Our 1st Pick: Nets at Raptors +3.5
Our Sunday afternoon began with a matinee up in The 6 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
It was a delightful early-November fall day. 60 degrees flat. But winter is coming.
Raptors +3.5 really started out as a Pure Lock. It was unfolding just like we thought it would.
The Raptors defense was working its voodoo and leading to easy transition buckets. Siakam looked pretty good in his first action of the season. Spicy P even hit an above-the-break 3 in the first quarter to get Scotiabank going. The first half was filled with plenty of eruptions from a raucous crowd still so happy to just be able to watch basketball in person.
The Raptors were winning by 7 at halftime, but Steve Nash rallied his troops again.
Brooklyn’s 3rd quarter at Detroit on Friday night: Nets 39, Pistons 23.
Brooklyn’s 3rd quarter at Toronto on Sunday afternoon: Nets 35, Raptors 17.
(We should probably start betting Nets 3rd quarters…)
The Raptors were having a helluva time getting the 3-ball to drop. The Nets were not having such issues. There was a point in the game where the Raptors were 4-of-21 from 3 while Blake Griffin had already made four 3s of his own for Brooklyn.
Not to mention KD was cashing in his unguardable pull-up jumpers, easy money sniping.
It was KD early, and it was Harden late. The Beard found his groove in the 4th quarter, scoring 16 points in the 4th which included the nail in the coffin.
Nets 116, Raptors 103.
Three-pointers: Nets 17-for-38, 44.7%. Raptors 7-for-30, 23.3%.
Needless to say, this was not a Pure Lock, even though it once looked like it.
We were sitting pretty with a 75% chance to cover at halftime according to our handy dandy Action Network app. By the time the 4th quarter started, those odds had dropped own to 11%.
This was a Mirage Lock. Thought we had it, but we sure didn’t.
____________________________________
Our 2nd Pick: Cavs at Knicks Over 207
Our next stop was to New York, New York for a good ole fashion Pure Lock! Holy shit, it only took us an entire week to get a true one. But we got one!
The first few possessions were actually a very ominous start. You don’t want to hear Clyde say that the Knicks are “stumbling and bumbling” with early turnovers when you have the Over.
But then Dean Wade drilled a 3 and we were OFF and running. The pace was glorious and filled with points, points, points!
Things you do want to hear Clyde say when you have the Over:
“The pace is vacillating!”
“Relentless pace in this one, back and forth!”
“We have seen perpetual motion, folks. Moving and grooving!”
Evan Fournier was red-hot for the Knicks early while Evan Mobley had his midrange floater game going for the Cavs. But there was somebody else who had our backs even more than the two Evans’.
Ricky Rubio!
It was the RUBIOSHOW. No seriously, Ricky Rubio had an incredible game, scoring 37 points and shooting 8-for-9 from 3!!! He started 8-for-8 which ties him for the record for most made 3s to start a game without missing one. He almost had the record! (Rubio dished out 10 assists as well. He’s still the backup point guard after all.)
Not even two minutes into the 2nd quarter and we were already at a 72% chance to hit according to our handy dandy Action Network app.
There were a couple of lulls but each was followed by a dash of points.
Cavs 126, Knicks 109.
This bad boy went Over by 28 points! That’s a Pure Lock, babe.
As for our Bing Bong Knicks? Well, they got whooped 33-18 in the 3rd quarter.
The next Knicks home game at MSG is Wednesday night vs… Milwaukee. Gulp.
____________________________________
Our 3rd Pick: Hornets +6 at Clippers
Our last stop of the night was out in La La Land on the corner of 11th and South Figueroa.
Gordon Hayward splashed in a bucket to draw first blood for our beloved Hornets. (Always love it when we draw first blood.)
Back near his hometown of Chino Hills, LaMelo scored a baker’s dozen in a splendid 1st quarter that also saw the Hornets lead by as many as 13. But a Luke Kennard buzzer-beater at the 1st quarter horn trimmed the Hornets lead to 8. (No matter, getting 6 points meant a 14-point cushion.)
The 2nd quarter went to the Clippers who pulled the score even before a Terance Mann 30-footer at the end of the half gave the Clips a 3-point halftime lead. (All good, still covering, but two buzzer-beaters felt sinister.)
Back-to-back 3s from Terance Mann and Paul George in the 3rd quarter gave the Clippers a 7-point lead, and we were no longer covering at that point. But the Hornets weathered the storm, trailing by just 2 going into the 4th.
Now, this 4th quarter was a roller coaster of the most intense variety.
It was a good sign that the first points were from a slick alley-oop from Rozier to Bridges who slipped out of a pick-and-roll for the open lob. It was an even better sign when Cody Martin hit a 3. Rozier drilled a triple as well, and the Hornets all of a sudden had a 9-point lead with 7 minutes left. (We were already chalking this one up as a dub, putting a frozen pizza in the oven to celebrate.)
However, dear friends, that was precisely the point at which everything changed.
The Hornets went BONE DRY. Dryer than the turkey in Christmas Vacation.
Meanwhile, the Clippers were raining 3-bombs from every direction. (We were of course watching the Hornets’ broadcast with Eric and Dell, but we could still hear Brian Sieman cackling the night away.)
Luke Kennard hit a 3.
Reggie Jackson hit a 3.
Reggie Jackson hit another 3.
Terrance Mann hanging dunk.
PG jumper.
Reggie Jackson 2 free throws.
Luke Kennard hit another 3.
Luke Kennard hit another 3.
The Clippers went on a 22-0 run. The Hornets went exactly 6 minutes of actual gameplay, from 7:09 to 1:09, without scoring a single point.
Clippers 120, Hornets 106.
This was another Mirage Lock, but of the surprise nut-punch variety.
____________________________________
So a fourth straight night of going 1-2 leaves our overall record at 7-14 after one week of officially Chasing Pure Locks.
Out of those 7 winners:
1 Pure Lock.
3 Solid Locks.
2 Comeback Locks.
1 Squeaky Lock.
Out of the 14 losers:
7 Anti-Locks.
3 Mirage Locks.
2 Pseudo Locks.
2 Slippery Locks.
The 7 Anti-Locks is obviously no bueno and has to get cleaned up.
The surprising part is that our overall record has stayed pretty solid. It’s just these officially published picks that are having the most trouble. We might have to publish more picks, but either way, we’re not going to stop Chasing Pure Locks.
Eight games tomorrow on Monday night, and we’ll be there!
We love this game!
