Recap: The Sixers look great and continue to be a strong 1st quarter spread play. The Bucks scored 125 points and it felt like Giannis scored all of them instead of DiVincenzo. Fox finished 5 points shy of his over and the Kings getting blown out early did us no favors.
First Pick: Kyle Anderson O13.5 pts vs LAK (-118)
Fact #1: Anderson is averaging 18.6 PPG over his last five contests, including 18+ in four of those outings.
Fact #2: In the first game of this series, he totaled 18 on a season-high 19 shots, despite going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Fact #3: The Lakers allow an average of 26 PPG to the small forward position.
Second Pick:Kyrie Irving O27.5 pts vs UTA (-132)
Fact #1: Durant (health and safety protocols) is out tonight, missing his second game of the young season.
Fact #2: There’s an average of 17.5 shots per game up for grabs this evening.
Fact #3: In his first 10 games in BK last season without Durant, Irving averaged 28 PPG and I would expect a similar full-game effort tonight.
That 2nd pick was TLC until I saw he wasn’t starting tonight.
Third Pick: Nikola JokićU24.5pts vs MIN (-120)
Fact #1: Joker is leading the league in assists per game at 12.8, which shows he’s focused more on doing more in the offense than just scoring.
Fact #2: Joker has scored 25+ against the Kings twice this season and is 0-4 at that number against everyone else, including a 19-point triple-double effort in the first game of this 2-game series.
FourthPick: Clippers -2.5 1st quarter spread vs SAS (-118)
Fifth and Sixth Picks: Paul George O3.5 Made 3Pters (-134)and O24.5 points (-110) vs SAS
PG has been ruled out tonight with an ankle injury, so I’m not playing Clippers -3 1dt quarter spread anymore.
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.
Breaking news animation: Jimmy Lips aka Big Game James knows hoops as well!
Normally, I’d wait to a few games in order to be able to draw from a sample size bigger than two preseason games, but these two picks seem too good to pass up.
First Pick: Joe Harris O11.5 points (-121) vs GSW
Fact #1: In the bubble, which seems like ages ago, Joe Harris averaged 19.1 points per game?.
“But James, that was without Kyrie, KD and Dinwiddie!”
I know, it’s called making a point that he can get buckets.
Fact #2: In the limited two-game sample size, the second of which the Nets treated like a real game, Harris went for 4 and 14 respectively. The 14 matters because the Nets treated the Celtics game like a regular-season tuneup.
Fact #3: There’s no Draymond and no Klay, which rids Joe Harris of potentially be guarded by two of the league’s best on the perimeter.
Fact #4: Harris averaged career bests in FGs Made (5.5) and attempted (11.4). With Kyrie and KD on the floor, he should rarely face a contested jumper/3-pointer.
Second pick: Kawhi Leonard O26.5 points (+112) vs LAK
Fact #1: There’s no convincing me that Kawhi and PG13 aren’t pissed off that A) Their arena mates won the title and B) All those questionable leadership and behavioral traits leaked to the public.
Fact #2: In 4 games against the Lakers last season, Leonard notched totals of 30 (opening night), 35, 27 and 28 — an average of 30 flat per contest.
Fact #3: There’s no way Bron guards Kawhi all game and when that duty is left to the combination of Matthews and KCP, the Board Man will have an easier time reaching his over points total.
Bleacher Report – The Los Angeles Clippers announced Monday they’re establishing an expansion team in the NBA D-League. The Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario will begin play at the start of the 2017-18 season in Ontario, Calif. “This is another exciting day for the NBA D-League as we add a record 26th team and continue to move closer to our 30-team vision,” league president Malcolm Turner said in a statement.
Maybe I’m just a moron, but I had no idea that not every NBA team has a D-League team? How is that even possible? Are the other NBA teams just drafting guys to either start Day 1 or stash overseas and if you don’t fit into one of those two plans? Well, right to hell with you. Its called the D-League for a reason. Its the Developmental League. Theres a reason it exists. To develop players. And apparently a bunch of teams are just punting on having a minor league team?
So NBA teams are just trusting other organizations with their draft picks like a loan system out of the Premiere League? I don’t even trust my coworkers to borrow a pen without fucking it up.
The Clippers had been one of the few teams without an official affiliate in the D-League. Upon being sent to the D-League, rookie forward Brice Johnson played for the Salt Lake City Stars, a Utah Jazz affiliate. Rookie center Diamond Stone split his time between the Stars and the Santa Cruz Warriors, who are under the Golden State Warriors’ umbrella.
This would be like the Red Sox wanting to groom a player, but not having a minor league team so just saying eh, fuck it go play for the Yankees Triple-A team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for a few months. Bananas.
Its not like the D League (apologies, the Gatorade League) is a place where players go to die like some sort of exile. There’s been some pretty legit NBA players that have come out of or been optioned to the D League in their first couple of years:
Avery Bradley
JJ Barea
Marcin Gortat
Jeremy Lin
Chris Birdman Anderson
It seems like more of the league is starting to figure out its probably not a bad idea to have a place to develop talent without having to throw guys into the fire in the NBA.
Right now the only teams without a D League squad are the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and Washington Wizards.
How many championships have teams that place zero interest on developing talent won? Well, that would be two titles. Between four teams. In the entire HISTORY of the NBA. Two. The last one coming in 1978 when the Wizards were the Bullets. So hey, don’t fix what ain’t broke boys.
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The 300s 