Chasing Pure Locks Review: Thursday, November 11th, 2021
How did our 3 picks on the 3-game Friday eve slate turn out?
Our 1st Pick: Raptors +4 at 76ers
There were two stretches where the shorthanded Sixers extended a bit of a lead, but they were both short lived, making our first pick of the night a Pure Lock.
The only thing you really need to know is that Fred VanVleet did the Sam Cassell big balls dance to Sam Cassell!
Raptors 115, Sixers 109.
Third time was the charm for us to hit on the Raptors, and tonight was the night they were due for some 3s to drop:
Sunday vs. Brooklyn: 7-for-30.
Last night in Boston: 6-of-25.
Tonight in Philly: 14-of-33.
The shorthanded Sixers have now lost 3 straight. (And we’ve cashed in on fading them each time.)
Next up for Philly: Saturday night in Indianapolis to face the Pesky Pacers. Gulp.
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Our 2nd Pick: Pacers at Jazz Under 215.5
Speaking of the devil that is the Pesky Pacers, we felt compelled to bet their game since it was a lite 3-game slate. Otherwise we wouldn’t have sought them out, ya know, considering that we haven’t won a Pesky Pacers bet in two years.
But it really just seemed meant to be that they would be playing the Jazz tonight when Jazz Unders (the Junder!) were our absolute favorite at the beginning of 2019-20 when the Jazz went Under 8 out of the first 9 games to start the season, and we bet the Junder almost every time.
This particular Junder tonight got off to an unideal start, just like the Hawks-Jazz game that we hit the Under on Tuesday night.
Donovan Mitchell and Malcolm Brogdon were the main culprits, deadeyes from the opening tip. Not even six minutes into the 1st quarter, 32 combined points were scored, and a 29% chance to hit stared back at us from our handy dandy Action Network app.
The seas evened out over the rest of the first half, and the beginning of the 3rd quarter was simply glorious. There was a 3-minute stretch of gameplay that saw a made technical free throw as the only point. The Junder was back in business!
However, things started to get away from us in the 4th quarter as the Jazz tried their damndest to get back in the game, and the Pacers just wouldn’t let them, matching all of their points to keep their 10-point lead.
Then the Myles Turner — Rudy Gobert kerfuffle happened.
It was at that moment that we realized that the worst time to be listening to a game on the radio while you’re in the shower is when there is a skirmish occurring and nobody knows what the hell is going on. (Do you also listen to games while you’re in the shower, or are you just a casual?)
So who got ejected?
Myles Turner
Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles
Needless to say, we took that as a W for our Under. (Although Turner and Gobert got rid of the rim protection…)
The Jazz were down 102-92 at the time of the ejections, so we hoped the Pacers would extend their lead and run out the clock. That’s precisely what happened!
The Pacers got up by 15 and the game was a wrap, just a little bit of garbage-time window dressing to get through…
A missed Jordan Clarkson open 3 was followed by a Pacers shot-clock violation! It was a that moment that we realized that rooting for Unders can be a helluva lot of fun. We still prefer Overs, but sometimes it’s a good time to celebrate turnovers, missed free throws, travels and shot-clock violations.
Pacers 111, Jazz 100.
This was a Comeback Lock, and we couldn’t be prouder to announce with glee: We have defeated the Pesky Pacers at long last!
Thanks to the JUNDER!!!
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Our 3rd Pick: Heat at Clippers -5.5
No Jimmy Beans, but Bam and Herro both played and started after being game-time decisions.
The Heat jumped out to an early 17-point lead, but the Clippers carried a 22-6 crescendo into halftime to only trail by 2. And in the 3rd quarter, Reggie Jackson scored 15 points!
Reggie Jackson 1st half: 0 points.
Reggie Jackson 3rd quarter: 15 points.
The Clippers led by as many as 11 points in the 4th quarter, a 28-point turnaround, and we were looking good. But Kyle Lowry had something to say about that.
Lowry scored the most points in one quarter of his 16-year career tonight in the 4th. His 22 points brought the Heat right back in it, but Reggie Jackson made his free throws.
Clippers up 3 with 3.9 seconds left…
Thank gawd we didn’t have Clippers -5!
Clippers 112, Heat 109.
Clippers -5.5 was a rollercoaster almost comeback Slippery Lock that slipped away.
PG (27), Reggie Jackson (22) and Eric Bledsoe (21) combined for 70 points. It was Bledsoe’s best game of the season.
The Heat have lost 3 in a row while the Clippers extend their winning streak to 6 games.
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2-1 tonight brings our record this week to 8-4! Gotta strike while the iron is hot!!
11 games await tomorrow on the Friday night menu.
We love this game!
