How do you follow up a perfect 3-0 Monday?

By Chasing Pure Locks!

Our 1st Pick: Bucks -6.5 at 76ers

For a second straight night, our journey began in Philly.

There was somebody who didn’t care too much for the fact that we have been fading the shorthanded Sixers. His name is Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey came out GUNS BLAZING for the home Philly crowd, scoring 17 points and ripping three 3s in the first quarter. The shorthanded Sixers were beating the Bucks 39-30 after the 1st. That’s right, the shorthanded Sixers scored 39 points in the 1st quarter!!!

This really wasn’t what we had in mind.

In the 2nd quarter, the Sixers led by as many as 13 (!!) before the Bucks got their shit together. Milwaukee went on a 10-0 run to get right back in it and actually took a 3-point lead into halftime. At that point, we were not too worried. And honestly, even down 13, it always seemed like there was no way the Sixers would be able to prevent the inevitable, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

But these Sixers — the others — they fought tooth and nail, giving the Bucks everything they had.

Usual Suspect Goerges Niang made five 3s en route to 21 points. (Other Usual Suspect Korkmaz struggled tonight, a brutal 2-of-18 from the field.)
Big Drumm snatched 20 boards (with 8 offensive) for a second straight night.
Danny Green drilled three 3s. (He was trending on Twitter, per usual.)
Shake Milton put in 20 points in *checks notes* 42 minutes of work.

But most of all, it was Tyrese Maxey. He stayed gunnin’ and scored 31 points in all and dished out 4 assists.

The Sixers held the lead by 1 with five minutes left in the 4th. It was getting pretty late for Bucks -6.5.

Right on cue, here came the Bucks! Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton made back-to-back 3s and we were right back in business!

The Sixers still. did. not. go. away. A tip-in from Drummond with 1 minute left cut the Bucks lead to 5… Before we could start getting truly concerned, Jrue Holiday lobbed an alley-oop to Giannis to put the Bucks back up by 7.

Covering with a minute to go, we just needed two stops to cash our ticket!

Korkmaz launched a 3 that did not fall. (He was 1-of-12 from 3.)
The Sixers fouled. Grayson Allen knocked down both freebies.

Bucks up by 9 now, only a 3 could undo this glorious Comeback.

Danny Green hoisted a deep 3… and honestly, it felt like it was going to go in because it was Danny Green, but he missed!
Yet it was Maxey once again, grabbing the offensive board and kicking it over to… Charles Bassey (WHO HE!?) who fired up a 3… that we fell well short.

Bucks 118, 76ers 109.

This was a Comeback Lock with the sneaky backdoor cover. (Love a good Comeback Lock.)

Giannis was Giannis: 31 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. It’s just expected at this point. That’s greatness.
Grayson Allen was the Bucks second-leading scorer, putting in 25 points and five 3s.
Shoutout Bobby Portis who made four 3s of his own. And shoutout Semi Ojeleye who knocked down three 3s! (Somewhere Zach Lowe was screaming, “SEMI!!!”)

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Our 2nd Pick: Hawks at Jazz Under 222.5

Out in Utah hoping for some Junder — this one didn’t get off to a good start either.

Under 222.5 was not really on pace at all in the first half, but it wasn’t too out of hand. Until the 3rd quarter.

3rd quarter: Jazz 33, Hawks 30.

Three-balls were flying and dropping in left and right. One after another. Both teams, back and forth. It was outrageous!

According to our handy dandy Action Network app, we were sitting at a low 30 percent chance to hit going into the 4th: Jazz 95, Hawks 80.

One thing we had going for us was the fact that the Jazz were up by 15. We had a feeling it might get out of hand, but we really needed to put a lid on the bucket.

That’s precisely what happened in the 4th quarter! The 3-balls had gone out of style while turnovers and long shitty offensive possessions were IN.

There was a BEAUTIFUL stretch where the Jazz got five consecutive defensive stops followed by the Jazz coming up empty on 7 straight possessions themselves. *chef’s kiss*
Trae Young and Kevin Huerter both went scoreless in the 4th after carving up the Jazz for a combined 55 points and 11 threes in the first 3 quarters.

4th quarter: Hawks 18, Jazz 15.

Another Comeback Lock! The JUNDER!!!

Jazz 110, Hawks 98.

The Jazz are undefeated at home, 4-0.
The Hawks are nosediving, now 4-8 and losers of 5 in a row and 7 out of 8. (Last season the Hawks started 5-7.)

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Our 3rd Pick: Terance Mann Over 11.5 points

Our last stop of the night, as it so often is, was back out in LA.

Terance Mann first checked into the game at the 5:31 mark in the 1st quarter. Portland led 22-20. Dame and Reggie Jackson had both already made two 3s.

Terance Mann missed the first 3 that he took, but a lay up off a nice dime from PG was followed up with a Terance Mann three-pointer on the very next Clippers possession.

5 points in the 1st quarter sure had this one looking like a Pure Lock! (*Narrator voice* it was not a Pure Lock.)

Two made free throws from our boy Terance with over 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter still had us thinking there was no way this one wouldn’t hit…

But those were somehow the last points Terance Mann scored in the entire game.

He just wasn’t a part of the Clippers offense, standing in the corner while PG went to work and Batum drilled 6 threes against his former team.

What’s even crazier about Terance Mann not scoring in the entire second half is the fact that he played the entirety of the 4th quarter. He literally didn’t come out of the game, playing all 12 minutes of the 4th.

And he was still playing well! Terance Mann is a man who can contribute to winning in other ways. He hauled in 3 rebounds, dished an assist to Eric Bledsoe who knocked down a 3, and he brought high-energy to the defensive end. Terance Mann played 33 total minutes off the bench. The same amount of minutes as Paul George.

Paul George Revenge Tour II continued tonight, but even more so: This really was very much a Nic Batum Revenge Game. Batum’s 22 points were the most he’s scored since the 2017-18 season. (He still owes the Hornets about $100 million dollars.)

Clippers 117, Blazers 109.

This was a Mirage Lock. Thought we had a Pure Lock, turned out that we didn’t even have a winner, and it wasn’t particularly close.

The Clippers have now won 5 games in a row.
The Blazers have yet to win a road game this season after they won the second most away games of any team last season.

And so, it was a night where the only pick that looked like it was going to be a Pure Lock turned out to be the only pick that didn’t hit. (We need to come up with a name for this scenario. Flop Night was the first thing that came to mind, but that sounds too capricious.)

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2-1 tonight + 3-0 last night = 5-1 to start the week! This is a great week to have a great week.

13 games back on the menu tomorrow night.

We love this game!