January 13, 2021 Results:
What we got right:
College Basketball:
Notre Dame at #18 Virginia - This game had more offensive output than we expected, but the 80-68 victory for the Cavaliers had the exact point differential we thought it would. Virginia did put the clamps on Notre Dame from beyond the arc, hold the Fighting Irish to 5-22 from behind the three point line. Virginia went 12-24 from long range in the win.
Northwestern at #21 Ohio State - The bright spot for Northwestern is they only had four turnovers in this game. That was about it in the 71-61 loss to the Buckeyes. Northwestern has now lost four games in a row by double digits, granted all of them were to ranked opponents. There next two games are against #5 Iowa and #9 Wisconsin. Ouch.
#16 Louisville at Wake Forest - Very quietly the Cardinal are 9-1. They are undefeated in conference play and their only loss is to Wisconsin. Wake Forest is in the middle of four straight games against ranked opponents. They have lost the first three. We don’t like their chances against Virginia Tech on Sunday.
NBA:
Milwaukee at Detroit - Giannis Atntetokounmpo had a triple double for the Bucks, leading the way in the 110-101 win over the Pistons. Milwaukee shot 19-43 from the three point line in the win. This team is averaging 40 three pointers a game this season. They don’t even lead the league in that category. The way the NBA has changed in the last 20 years is insane.
Memphis at Minnesota - The Grizzlies were down by ten points going into the fourth quarter. They outscored the Timberwolves 38-17 in the last frame in the 118-107 win. Jonas Valanciunas had 24 points and 16 rebounds in the victory for Memphis. Malik Beasley led Minnesota with 28 points, which dropped to 3-8 with this loss.
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City - The Los Angeles Lakers won their seventh straight road game to start the season, a franchise record, in beating the Thunder 128-99 in Oklahoma City. The Thunder need some offensive fire power. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a good player and he led the team with 17 points, but no one else scored more than 11.
New Orleans at Los Angeles Clippers - We were right on the point spread but wrong on who was going to win this game. Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson both missed this game due to Covid converns, which means the Clippers should have ran the Pelicans out of the building. They won 11-106, further proving our point that it doesn’t seem like the Clippers take every game seriously.
Portland at Sacramento - This was another game where we needed a big fourth quarter to get the win. Fortunately for us the Blazers have Damian Lillard. Lillard scored 40 points, including 8 in the final four minutes in the 132-126 win. Portland tied a franchise record with 23 made three pointers in this game.
What we got wrong:
College Basketball:
Nothing
NBA:
Dallas at Charlotte - The winning streak had to end for the Hornets eventually. Dallas made sure this was the game it was going to happen, beating them 104-93. Kristaps Porzingis made his season debut for Dallas, scoring 16 points in 21 minutes. The Mavericks need him to be a consistent second option after Doncic, and he looked the part in this one.
Brooklyn at New York - The big news in the NBA yesterday was that James Harden got traded to the Nets in a four team blockbuster trade that saw Houston get Victor Oladipo and four first round picks. In the trade the Nets also traded Caris Levert and Jarrett Allen. Brooklyn was short handed in this one, but it didn’t matter because Kevin Durant wasn’t going to let the Nets lose. He played 30 minutes in the second game of a back to back, and scored 26 points in the victory.
What we pushed on:
#15 Texas Tech at #4 Texas - Texas Tech got a three point shot from Mac McClung with three seconds left in the game, leading the Red Raiders to a 79-77 win over the Longhorns. Texas lost their first conference game, but they proved a lot to us in this loss. We said this would be the best game of the day and we were not disappointed.