Wolves! 76ers! KG vs. AI!
Um, ok. Each of these teams traded their franchise player since the start of last year. Neither team has much of a chance to make any noise this year, although the 76ers have gotten off to a better start than the Wolves and have won three straight.
The first two of those wins were a back-to-back home-and-home with the New York Knicks. The Sixers won by 11 in Philly and destroyed the Knicks in MSG the next night, 105-77, which prompted the normally content NY crowd to voice mild displeasure. Heh.
Last night's game in Washington was encouraging in some areas and a disappointment in others. Craig Smith threw in 36 points and Sebastian Telfair added a double-double. However, BigAlJefferson was largely quiet and the bench was just about non-existent. As a result, Washington got a relatively easy win and the Wolves fell to a franchise worst 3-16. Based on Greek House's prediction formula, the Wolves have a 15% chance to win this game.
I started this last night and wanted to add to it more, but I'm under the weather. The line is Philly -9 and the O/U is 187. I think the O/U is about the right spot, but I also think that the Wolves will play better tonight. Wolves and the points.
<GreekHouse>The Wizards did a great job on BAJ last night. From the start of the game, they were double teaming him–even without the ball. This left open a lot of other players and as a result, the Wolves got a lot of open jumpers. Unfortunately, the jumpers weren't dropping and the Wolves quickly fell into a hole. The only person who did seem to take advantage of the double teams on Big Al was Craig Smith who had a career night.
On the glass, it seemed like Brendan Haywood was always there to get in Al's way. Even if Haywood couldn't corral the rebound, he would get a hand on it and tip it so that Jefferson couldn't come away with it.
The combination of these two things is really a blueprint for beating the Wolves this season and it's not a particularly tricky one. By contrast, the Suns depended on Amare Stoudemire to guard Al one-on-one and he just couldn't handle him.
The line is Sixers -9? Wolves cover easily.</GreekHouse>
Looks like BAJ is having a pretty decent first half--12 points and 7 boards so far.
It wasn't too shabby. He seemed to be struggling with his shot a bit, but he seems to have gotten it back on track.
The Wolves keep cutting the lead down and the 76ers keep pushing it back. I have a lot more faith in the boys pull out a win in a game like this than I did at the beginning of the season.
89-86
Here we go baby!
Damn.
Once again the Woofs find a way to lose. That rug is gonna be thread-bare by the All-Star break, what with the rest of the league using it as a doormat.
On the bright side, the lottery odds are looking good these days!