Blowout Games

As if the playoffs are not yet weird enough for Drive To The Finals, now we have two blowout games in Day Two of the Conference Semis. Nobody likes blowout games -- the players in the losing team we picked have low PRAs, and the players get benched early. The Spurs schooled the newcomers Blazers on how it should be done in the playoffs, and LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard were shooting poorly early on -- much to the dismay of those who picked them and hoping for a better showing. The Heat put some stomping on the Nets, and the Nets continue to force us into a guessing game with their PRAs.


Assuming both the Spurs and the Heat advance, these are your options for Thursday, Game 2, sorted according to average PRA:

  • LaMarcus Aldridge (43 PRA). He was the only reliable Blazer in Game 1. And even if he was slow to turn it up, Game 2 should be a better game for him. Remember what I told you, he loves playing in Texas. Pick him now or in Game 5.
  • Damian Lillard (38 PRA). He was humbled in Game 1 by Tony Parker. Lillard is a proud guy, just take a look at his facial expressions during games. He will be looking to bounce back hard in Game 2. Pick him now, or wait for Game 3 at Portland.
  • Joe Johnson (28 PRA). He is a hot pick for Thursday, and he remains the Nets' go-to guy. Yes you may get 30 PRA somewhere else, but if you are destined to pick Joe Johnson later in this round anyway, then might as well pick him now. Or wait for an elim game. He gets my pick.

  • Nicolas Batum (27 PRA). That 40 and 37 PRAs he got playing in his first two playoff games in Portland were no fluke. I still listed him here just in case you already used Aldridge and Lillard, and doesn't want to risk picking a Net. If not, pick him in Game 3 at home.
  • Deron Williams (25 PRA). Looking at his game logs, it seems he likes it more playing at home. I don't recommend picking him in Game 2, but he is the hottest pick of Thursday at 20%. And I can't argue with that ;)
There are other options like Paul Pierce and Robin Lopez, but I would recommend picking your best player early, or at least keep your daily targets at or above 25 PRA this round.

Truthfully, I think for me the better pick is Lillard, but my guts tell me it's Johnson. I'll take Lillard in Game 4, maybe.

And hey, listen to what your guts tell you. And I love hearing about yours in the comments section. You may even change my mind.




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Comments

  1. I was thinking about Damian Lillard, but I'm going with LaMarcus Aldridge. I'm not sure if I'm ready to write the Blazers off yet (the way the came back in the second half made me feel good about them making noise in this series), picking one of their players is a no brainer. I'm hoping I get as much out of him as he's been getting. I look forward to my Durant pick tomorrow too after his epic MVP speech. The next two days should hopefully be a PRA bonanza for me!

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    Replies
    1. *should say "but picking one of their players is a no brainer"

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    2. Bold move picking Durant though. I salute you.

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    3. Yeah, I've picked Paul George and no Thunder, so I'd rather a Thunder than a Pacer. I'm being very careful with the Eastern Conference. If the Pacers advance and I'm down 2 Pacers, I'm in serious trouble. I want the Wizards to show me even further that they will in fact win this series before I drop two Pacers.

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  2. Tomorrow it's Stephenson. Saving George for elimination game. The day after im leaning towards lillard. I did expect Portland to win and I still think they can but the possible explosion from lillard is looking too good to pass up. Aldridge highest PRA today I'm happy with that.

    Btw you said Brook Lopez as a possible pick. I'm pretty sure that's an error ;)

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    Replies
    1. HAHAHAHA! That should be Robin. Thanks Luminosity!
      Don't want people changing their picks to Brook, LOL!

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  3. LOW PRA's....
    ......................Only THREE players got over 30 today...wow

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    Replies
    1. Look on the bright side... only 15% of DTTF got 30 or more PRA. And 5% of those took Tony Parker (and 1% LeBron) which will cause them a loss in the Finals (or Con Finals). So that means only those 9% picked Aldridge have the real upperhand. And only for 1 day.

      Most only got around 10 more PRA than you, but it's easy to get that 10 back later on. Or you can say your better picks before have already offset the loss.

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    2. OHhhhh there was nothing DIM about my post... I LOVED it lol Thre is only ONE way to look at it lol

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  4. Matt Barns for me tonight
    .... Wooooohooooooooooooooo I'll be happy with 25pra :)

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  5. Well...... I've changed my player to George Hill.....
    ...I believe that WAS will win ..

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    Replies
    1. Ok good for you. I was about to make you think against that Barnes pick

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    2. I jumped my guns..... But I feel the Wizards will win this series.. so I took a chance

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  6. Uh oh Pacers feeding Hibbert early. Smelling a Pacer win

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    Replies
    1. Hibbert out of control, other Pacers nothing!! :(

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    2. It's as if the Pacers are going out of their way to mess with DTTF players...unreal

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    3. Meantime, WAS bigs scoring at will too. Pacers need Hibbert more at defense.

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  7. Mad props to those who picked Hibbert for tonight....
    .....oh wait, that would be no one here :)

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  8. Gortot putting on a show too !!!

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  9. Last night I got 24 pra from Dillian Lillard which looked great as he had 4 at the half but now that I see his average was 38 that is a bad showing thanks to the invisible first half, going 14 below average which is a very bad deal.

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    Replies
    1. most got around 10 below expected that date anyway so you're still good (except vs the low % owned Aldridge pick).

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    2. Tonight turned into it's own horror as David West became the invisible man. He had the worst PRA of the 5 Pacer starters.

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    3. The worst was that the Pacers evened the series at 1-1 and if the Clippers/Thunder which is the hardest series for me to predict goes 1-1, I will have a very tough time making picks on Friday and Sunday.

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    4. im in the same boat as you. david west just had to disappear today.. greattttt

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  10. OKC returning the favor to the Clippers. Game 3 is huge but it looks like the Thunder will advance. Jamal hasn't been himself, and they don't have anyone that can stop Westbrook or Durant. CP3 will have to have performances like game 1 if they want to win. OKC in 6.

    Now onto Spurs and Blazers. I believe in the Blazers and as much as I want to pick a Blazer it's too early to tell. If I pick Lillard and Blazers win I'll have used Lillard and Aldridge. So if Spurs win tomorrow and even sweep the Blazers I'll be able to pick Lillard and Batum and only miss out on Matthews who I expect will have a bad series just because the Spurs are too good shutting down catch and shoot shooters. Tomorrow I'm leaning towards either joe or dwill as pierce and kg don't look like they can produce. Looking at Dwill's game logs against Miami scares me so I'm going with Joe Johnson as well.

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  11. 50+pra from two players on the same team....
    .........Thunder UP !!!

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