Tag: Detroit Pistons

1.22.21 Hoop Tales: You’re on the Mark-kanen, Lauri Edition

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Lauri Markkanen Close to Returning - On Tap Sports Net

Wednesday: 1-4 (-3.25 units)

Season: 23-30 (-10.46 units)

Recap: Friendly reminder to you all + self: make sure to see if the player you pick is starting before selecting him for two props (i.e. Joe Harris).


First Pick: Lauri Markkanen O17.5 pts vs CHA (-125)

Fact #1: Markkanen has eclipsed 18+ points in two straight.

Fact #2: The Hornets are allowing an average of 24 PPG to the SF position over their last seven games.


Second Pick: Bulls 1st Quarter ML vs CHA (+105)

Fact #1: Due to a postponed game against Washington on Wednesday, the Hornets have had the past five days off, so I’d expect the tiniest bit of rust to be shaken off through the first 12 minutes.

Fact #2: The Bulls are 9-5 ATS in the 1st quarter this season.


Third and Fourth Picks: Mason Plumlee O8.5 pts (-110) and O7.5 rbs (-122) vs HOU

Fact #1: Christian Wood is out tonight. For you “casuals” out there like Shaq, that means there are a lot of rebounds up for grabs tonight.

Fact #2: With PJ Tucker playing the 5, I have to imagine he draws Plumlee and Blake is matched with Boogie Cousins on both sides. That’s a 5-6 inch advantage for Plums.

Fact #3: Plumlee has eclipsed 9+ points in three straight and has 8+ boards in three of his last five.


Fifth Pick: Malcolm Brogdon U22.5 pts vs ORL (+105)

Fact #1: Brogdon has yet to string together consecutive games over 23 points — that’s literally the logic behind this pick.


Sixth Pick: Kyrie Irving O26.5 pts vs CLE (-117)

Fact #1: Collin Sexton got the best of Irving, so it’s only fair for Kyrie to return the favor. Irving returned with 37 points on Wednesday and no Durant should mean he could get at least 30 this season.


Seventh Pick: James Harden O28.5 pts vs CLE (-110)

Fact #1: Harden’s point totals in three games with BRK are 32, 34 and 21. The 21 came with Durant on the floor. With him out tonight, that’s a lot of shots for him and Kyrie to have in their quest for 30 each.

1.18.21 Hoop Tales: Access (Jerami) Grant-ed Edition

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Jerami Grant Records First Double-Double with Detroit Pistons - Sports Illustrated Syracuse Orange News, Analysis and More
Courtesy: SI

Last Time Out: 1-2

Season: 18-25 (-9.56 units)



First Pick: D’Angelo Russell O23.5 Pts vs ATL (-114) – win

Fact #1: Hawks are allowing 28.3 PPG to the point guard position over their last seven games.

Fact #2: Russell has reached 24+ points in four of his last five.


Second Pick: Clint Capela O14.5 Pts vs MIN (-118) – win

Fact #1: T-Wolves are allowing a league-high 28.5 PPG to the center position over their last seven games.

Fact #2: Capela has eclipsed 15+ in two straight.


Third Pick: Jerami Grant O22.5 Pts vs MIA (-115)

Fact #1: The Heat without Jimmy Butler have struggled to guard the SF position and thus have allowed 25 PPG to that position over their last seven.

Fact #2: Grant has reached 23+ points in five of his last six.


Fourth Pick: Pascal Siakam O7.5 rebs vs DAL (-114)

Fact #1: The Mavs are allowing 12 rebounds/game to the PF position over their last seven.

Fact #2: Siakam has eclipsed 8 rebounds in four of his last six.


Fifth Pick: Kevin Durant O29.5 Pts vs MIL (-122)

Fact #1: Durant has eclipsed 30 points in three of his last four.

Fact #2: Seems like KD’s over hits just about every night + having Harden on the court should afford him the same room to operate that he enjoyed with Kyrie, if not more.

1.8.21 Hoop Tales: Build (Mikal) Bridges, Not Walls Edition

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Case Study: Mikal Bridges is one of the best defenders in the NBA - Bright Side Of The Sun

Thursday: 2-2 (-0.09 units)

Season: 15-21 (-8.14 units)


First Pick: Mikal Bridges O11.5 pts vs DET (-125)

Fact #1: The Pistons allow 25.9 PPG to the small forward position this season.

Fact #2: Bridges has totaled 12+ points in five of his last six contests.


Second Pick: Zion Williamson O22.5 pts vs CHA (-130)

Fact #1: Zion has outings of 24 and 29 over his past two contests.

Fact #2: The Hornets allow an average of 25 PPG to the power forward position.


Third Pick: Bucks -6 spread vs UTA (-110)

Fact #1: Third game in four nights for Utah and they have looked bad on this road trip.

Fact #2: The Bucks are averaging 127 points per game over their last three, meanwhile the Jazz have only cracked 110 once over their last five contests.


Fourth Pick: Cole Anthony O14.5 pts vs HOU (-110)

Fact #1: Markelle Fultz is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Fact #2: Anthony reportedly won’t play Fultz-like minutes, but he shouldn’t need to do so to hit this number.

Fact #3: The Rockets allow 27.8 PPG to point guards this season.

1.4.21 Hoop Tales: Chef Curry is Back, so Let’s Take Advantage Edition

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Sunday: 3-0… FINALLY! (+2.58 units)

Season: 11-15 (-5.66 units)

Recap: We hope Kevin Durant is okay and his over prop wins will be waiting when he gets back.


First Pick: 7:10 PM Sixers -2.5 1st quarter vs Hornets (-117)

The Logic: This is the third game in four nights for the Hornets. Yes, I know they played Philly on Saturday, but Philly ran them amuck in the first quarter and I’d expect another fast start given how the Sixers are playing right now.


Second Pick: 10:10 PM De’Aaron Fox O22.5 points vs Warriors (-134)

Fact #1: Fox has hit this mark in two of his last three and four and three of four overall.

Fact #2: Now that Chef Curry is back (62 points last night), he’ll be expending a lot of energy on offense to continue showing everyone that he takes the slander personally.

Fact #3: Most importantly, the Warriors are allowing the second-most points per game to the PG position at 31.1.


Third Pick: 8:10 PM Donte DiVincenzo O11.5 points vs Pistons (+100)

Fact #1: The Pistons allow an average of 27.1 points per contest to the 2-guard position this season.

Fact #2: Donte has 12+ points in four of six games this season. Said another way, he has hit this number in games where his team wasn’t involved in a blowout.

1.3.21 Hoop Tales: What Can (Jaylen) Brown Do For You Edition

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Saturday: 1-1 (-0.06 units)

Season: 8-15 (-8.24 units)

Recap: Richaun Holmes made us sweat to get to 9 rebs, but missed a couple of acrobatic layups late in the fourth quarter, so we missed that over by the hook.


First pick: Jaylen Brown O22.5 pts vs DET (-110) – winner

Fact #1: He has totaled 23+ points in four of six games, including 25 on New Year’s Day against these same Pistons.

Fact #2: Detroit allows 25.4 points per game to the 2-guard position, which I would expect Brown to occupy again if Teague comes off the bench rather than starting.


Second pick: Joe Harris O12.5 pts vs WAS (-120)

Fact #1: Harris has 13+ pts in three of his last four

Fact #2: The Wizards give up an average of 26.2 points to the 2-guard position this season

Fact #3: Assuming Russ takes Kyrie, that potential means Harris gets to run Beal around screens all night. We like!


Third pick: Kevin Durant O27.5 pts vs WAS (-120)

Fact #1: Durant has 28+ points four of his five games this season, so I’m going to keep playing this until it doesn’t hit.

1.1.21 Hoop Tales: So Many Games (10), It feels like a Holiday Buffet Edition

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Do the Cavaliers Hit a Midseason Wall? | Inside the NBA | NBA on TNT - YouTube
With so many tasty matchups on the slate, I felt compelled to sample a lot of the action.

Thursday: 1-2 (-1.17 units)

Season: 5-9 (-4.75 units)

Recap: JaVale McGee was unleashed to the tune of 1-for-9 shooting in the first quarter — that’s all you need to know about how Cavs +2.5 1st quarter went. Darius Garland came through on his point total, while I underestimated how not ready the Thunder are with their current roster.


First Pick: Hawks Team Total O119.5 vs BKN (-117)

Fact #1: The first meeting on Wednesday saw these two teams combine for 286, which went well over the closing O/U of 240.5.

Fact #2: The Hawks have eclipsed 120 points in every game following their season-opening total of 117.

Fact #3: Even with Brooklyn adjustments to the slip screens, the pace of this game should be very Big 12 football-like again.


Second Pick: Kevin Durant O27.5 points vs ATL (-110)

Fact #1: Durant has reached 28+ points three of his four games this season, including 33 against the Hawks on Wednesday.


Third Pick: Celtics -5 1st Half spread vs DET

Fact #1: Boston is 5-0 ATS in the first half this season, while Detroit is 2-2

Fact #2: Although it’s not in-his-prime Blake Griffin, he’s still a solid contributor, but he be out tonight as he continues to go through concussion protocol.


Fourth Pick: Clippers -1.5 1st Half spread vs UTA (-117)

Fact #1: The Clippers are 4-1 ATS in the first half this season compared to the Jazz who are 2-2

Fact #2: The lone loss ATS in the first half was that drubbing at the hands of the Mavs when Kawhi didn’t play

Fact #3: The Jazz played last night — granted at home — while the Clippers were resting in Utah. If PG13 and The Claw are playing, the Clippers should wear them down early.


Fifth Pick: Gordon Hayward O.18.5 points vs MEM (+101)

Fact #1: If you believe in trends like I do, then you’ll appreciate that Hayward’s point totals have been the following through four games: 28 — 12 — 28 — 11… which should the trend continue, indicates a good game on the horizon.

Fact #2: But let’s support that “outlandish claim” with supporting evidence: The Grizzlies are allowing a league-high 32.8 points per contest to the small forward position early on this season, including a 42-point thrashing at the hands Jaylen Brown just the other day.


Sixth and Seventh Picks: Donte DiVincenzo O11.5 points (-110) and O1.5 Made 3Pters (-134) vs CHI

Fact #1: DiVincenzo has hit at least three 3’s in four of five games and the fifth game featured two makes.

Fact #2: He has also scored 13+ points in four of five contests with the outlier game being a 10-point effort in Milwaukee’s uncharacteristic blowout at the hands of the Knicks (same game with only two made 3s.

Fact #3: The Bulls are allowing an average of 26 points per game to the 2-guard position early on this season.

Avery Bradley Becomes a Cap Casualty, Traded to Pistons

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So first things first, trading Avery Bradley sucks. Especially for pennies on the dollar. Marcus Morris is a decent player. He’s 6’9″, averaged 14 and 5 the past 2 years and is due less than $11M over the next 2 seasons.  Bradley is going to be a free agent after this season and he is going to make $20M+ per year on his next deal. That is going to happen. There was just no way the Celtics were going to pay Bradley that, not with Al Horford and Gordon Hayward on max contracts and Isaiah Thomas needing to get paid too.

Danny wasn’t about to let a guy walk for nothing, not for a team that is playing the long game. Plus the C’s had to trade one of Smart, Crowder or Bradley to clear enough cap space to even make room for Hayward’s contract so everyone knew something was coming. Sucks to see him go, Bradley has been a member of the Celtics since he was 19 when he was a first rounder in 2010. The guy grew to be a key cog and a defensive stud (who got screwed out of All-NBA this year).

Bradley was a defensive pillar when he was in the game, his offense was up and down, but the guy could hit a corner 3 with the best of them. Game winner buzzer beater 3 over Cleveland anybody? And most recently when he went off in the playoffs against the Wizards this year.

But thats when he was on the court as the guy played in more than 64 games only twice in his NBA career. For a player with an ankle and shoulder injury history, it was never a long term deal Danny Ainge was going to hand out.

But Bradley was the only holdover from the Pierce/Garnett/Allen days and I don’t think that can be overstated. He helped bridge the Celtics from being one of the best teams in the NBA to a lottery team in the basement of the league all the way back to the No. 1 seed and playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Gotta respect that, best of luck in Detroit man.

To steal a phrase from KG, Avery Bradley was all Grit and Balls.