It was another massive night in the association, with monster lines and a monster game late in the Bruski Bowl, where the Kings and Warriors decided to play a game without defense. Let’s get right to it.
To follow me on Twitter for real-time news and information, click here.
The Washington Shuffle
The Wizards trudged into Orlando last night after losing an overtime game to the Hawks the night before, and without Bradley Beal (back) they lost their fifth game in a row while Randy Wittman continued to play musical chairs with his lineups. Earl Barron (two points, five boards, one steal, 1-of-6 FGs, 20 minutes) started over Chris Singleton (16 minutes), while Wittman rode Emeka Okafor (27 minutes, eight points, 12 rebounds, one block) and Nene (25 minutes, 20 points, 8-of-10 FGs, two rebounds, one block) in the frontcourt.
Kevin Seraphin continued to annoy owners with just 23 minutes of action, scoring six points on 3-of-9 shooting with two rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. I spent a lot of time talking about Seraphin yesterday, but the idea is still essentially the same. He’s getting toyed with now, but projects to be a much better second-half of the year player as the injury prone frontcourt wears down and Wittman is either fired or relents. Feel free to drop Seraphin if you’re fed up, but his upside and chance of bouncing back makes him a pretty good stash, nonetheless. As for Nene, he reported that he’s still feeling pain in his foot and that’s enough for me to stay away. Okafor and Barron aren’t worth the time outside of very deep leagues.
I took a flier on Cartier Martin (11 points, three treys, five rebounds) in a deeper 12-team big money league, and he has more or less held onto his late-round value over the past week. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much as it was a throwaway add with the hopes of catching lightning in a bottle, but on a bad team with plenty of injuries he has an outside shot at holding some value. Jordan Crawford (19 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, three treys, seven turnovers) isn’t very efficient, but he’s a must-start player until further notice. Beal sounds like he could return soon, so owners should be holding in most circumstances.
Big Baby Goes Down
Glen Davis (12 points, nine boards, two blocks) went down at the end of last night’s game with a serious looking left shoulder injury, and he will get an MRI today to determine his fate. A separated shoulder could cost him weeks, while a torn labrum could end his season. If Baby misses time, it will be a boon to the value of J.J. Redick (17 points, four threes, three assists, 26 minutes), Jameer Nelson (eight points, five assists, three steals, 31 minutes), and Arron Afflalo (15 points, three boards, three assists, two steals). Davis is averaging 14.8 field goal attempts per game, and those three guys will be the first to pick those up.
The question for owners looking for beneficiaries is going to be which fringe player picks up the slack, with candidates in Moe Harkless (nine points, seven rebounds, two steals, 18 minutes), E’Twaun Moore (15 points, 6-of-10 FGs, three treys, two assists, two steals), or Andrew Nicholson (zero points, six minutes). Moore was productive earlier in the season when Nelson was out, and even held some very low-end value at times when Nelson was in. Harkless has shown flashes but has been very inconsistent, and Nicholson has been productive recently but is shaky himself as evidenced by last night’s outing. The Magic could very well start Josh McRoberts in Baby’s place, but he is usually an empty calorie guy despite having a somewhat versatile fantasy game. Gustavo Ayon (three points, eight boards, three assists, one steal, 16 minutes) has been an interesting name in the past, but has been invisible all season.
Add in the nearing return of Hedo Turkoglu, who profiles as the most likely to do damage in fantasy leagues but also has plenty of injury risk, and Al Harrington’s return further down the line and it’s a muddy situation to say the least. Owners may want to just keep their finger near the add button on Friday when the Magic head into Toronto.
Monroe’s Monster Night
It was Greg Monroe night in Toronto despite the Pistons’ loss, as he scored a career-high 35 points on 14-of-22 shooting (7-of-8 FTs) with 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He’s going to disappear every once in a while but these types of nights will even things out for the mid-round value. He’ll need to start bringing it every night to meet his lofty ADP. Brandon Knight hit just 1-of-10 shots for two points, four rebounds, and six assists, and I’m simply not as high as others about a guy with ninth and 15th round value in 8- and 9-cat leagues, respectively. Owners definitely have to punt in his deficient areas to get their money’s worth. Rodney Stuckey (back spasms) played and resumed his resurgence with a serviceable 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, four assists and one three in 29 minutes off the bench. He has crept back into the top-100 over the past two weeks.
Sifting for Gold
As predicted yesterday, the two beneficiaries of Andrea Bargnani’s absence had another see-saw moment, as Amir Johnson’s ankle injury appeared to put Ed Davis (11 points, nine boards, two blocks, 28 minutes) in the driver seat. Johnson eventually returned to the game to keep the situation muddled, and finished with five points, nine rebounds, two steals, and one block in 21 minutes. Dwane Casey said that Johnson probably shouldn’t have returned and he was seen limping in the locker room afterwards, so don’t be surprised if the ankle swells up overnight and he is questionable for Friday’s game. I’d view both players as low-end guys better suited for 14-team leagues until one can emerge as a clear winner in the position battle.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with five rebounds, one assist, and one block in his 27 minutes, and is still just a stash for the hopes that he can take the next step. Those close to the team are still happy with the player, but he needs to show owners something in the next two weeks before the inscription on this season’s tombstone gets carved out.
Jose Calderon hit a wall offensively with just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting (including two threes), but he handed out 17 assists to keep the theoretic talk of him stealing Kyle Lowry’s job on the back burner. It seems unlikely that this will happen, but it will be contingent upon Lowry’s attitude, health, shot selection, and willingness to play defense – and not just his offensive ability.
Alan Anderson paid off owners that added him after he burst onto the scene this week, scoring 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting with three rebounds, two steals, and three treys in 26 minutes. He didn’t see much time during the first half, which was somewhat strange given his recent strong play, but he played the game’s final 18 minutes and continued to draw positive marks from opposing beat writers. I think he’s a must-own player in 12-team formats even with the wing corps in Toronto getting healthier.
The Jeffersonian Institute
The Jazz got throttled last night by the Pacers in a 20-point loss, and while I’m not optimistic they’ll figure it out they need to find some stability outside of dumping the ball into Al Jefferson so much. Jefferson hit just 1-of-8 shots for four points, six boards, and one block in 22 minutes before the game was over, and if the Jazz are going to be one-dimensional they’re going to take losses like this when he’s off his game.
Owners can probably throw the box score out in terms of long-term analysis, but Gordon Hayward owners (including yours truly) are smarting after this one. In his return to Indiana, he played just 13 minutes in front of friends and family and posted an ugly five turnovers to go with eight points, two boards, one assist, and one steal. I’m not going to sit here and tell folks to hold him indiscriminately, but he’s a guy that the Jazz have to get going if they have any designs on the playoffs this season. I’m also seeing more talk in Jazz land about his lack of minutes, with equal parts complaining about both the coach and the player, but as I’ve said a million times he profiles as a better second half play for a somewhat injury-prone team that might trade away players at the deadline.
Derrick Favors made noise with 16 points, nine rebounds, one steal, and three blocks in 28 minutes off the bench, which is a bit misleading because of the garbage time, but Ty Corbin was forced to say after the game that he’d be sticking with Favors off the bench. Also in the broken record category, he is a nice low-end play right now that doubles as a walking lottery ticket. His foot issues appear to be behind him for the most part, too.
Pacemaker George
Paul George kept his foot on the gas with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds, one steal, four blocks, and two threes. Those struggles seem like eons ago. Roy Hibbert didn’t truly take advantage, but owners will take a 12-point, four-rebound, four-assist effort with a steal and two blocks with open arms nowadays as long as he hits 50 percent of his shots like he did last night. George Hill cruised with 20 points, five boards, and five assists while hitting 8-of-13 shots with two threes in the win.
Because of the blowout win, we saw an appearance from none other than Gerald Green, who scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four threes and one assist over 23 minutes in a mostly hollow line. Maybe this will be the game that gets his confidence back, but his body of work has been atrocious and the Pacers offense has major consistency issues. I’m holding off until he can back it up at least once, and probably twice or three times.
The Brooklyn Debts
The Nets lost but Deron Williams got back on track in Round 3 of the battle of New York, scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, 10 assists, and two threes. It’s progress, but I don’t think any of us are truly comfortable with him right now. Joe Johnson cooled off with 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting, two rebounds, three assists, and a steal, but hitting three treys he operated within his sweet spot as a 3-point reliant fantasy producer. As usual, I’m all about selling him somewhat high.
Brook Lopez appears to be getting back on track after his foot injury with 16 points, 10 boards, one steal, and one block, and owners might want to consider long-term plans to move him after a solid stretch. It’s just hard to trust that foot. Kris Humphries (zero points, nine rebounds, 18 minutes) showed his true colors yet again, and Andray Blatche can be thrown back to the scrap heap after a seven-point, two-rebound effort in 16 minutes even if he did tally a steal and block. Gerald Wallace scuffled with six points, five boards, and one three in 38 minutes. His consistency has been a problem this season and it’s not just because he plays with ball-dominant players on a somewhat deep team. Crash is still well worth owning, but he’s not going to be the fantasy force that some owners probably thought they were buying into on draft day.
Hello Melo
Carmelo Anthony (ankle) returned and wasted no time getting the Knicks back on track, scoring 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting with four threes, three boards, two steals, and one block. J.R. Smith has smoothed out some small speed bumps and had another nice night with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, one three, five boards, three assists, and one block. Raymond Felton struggled and it’s probably fairly safe to assume the bone bruises on his hands are at least part of it. He hit just 4-of-15 shots and has been ice cold in that department for a while now, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Owners shouldn’t be looking to sell-low here, and if anything it’s a buy-low moment as he’ll eventually get those hands healed up and start hitting at a more palatable clip.
Tyson Chandler’s comeback in fantasy leagues has been complete for a bit, but he added another 16 points, 12 rebounds, one steal, and three blocks to his resume last night. Jason Kidd hit just 2-of-9 shots (all threes) but continued to put up versatile numbers with seven points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals as the dream season continues. It’s certainly a sell-high moment with Iman Shumpert eventually set to return and give the old man a bit of a break.
It was another massive night in the association, with monster lines and a monster game late in the Bruski Bowl, where the Kings and Warriors decided to play a game without defense. Let’s get right to it.
To follow me on Twitter for real-time news and information, click here.
The Washington Shuffle
The Wizards trudged into Orlando last night after losing an overtime game to the Hawks the night before, and without Bradley Beal (back) they lost their fifth game in a row while Randy Wittman continued to play musical chairs with his lineups. Earl Barron (two points, five boards, one steal, 1-of-6 FGs, 20 minutes) started over Chris Singleton (16 minutes), while Wittman rode Emeka Okafor (27 minutes, eight points, 12 rebounds, one block) and Nene (25 minutes, 20 points, 8-of-10 FGs, two rebounds, one block) in the frontcourt.
Kevin Seraphin continued to annoy owners with just 23 minutes of action, scoring six points on 3-of-9 shooting with two rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. I spent a lot of time talking about Seraphin yesterday, but the idea is still essentially the same. He’s getting toyed with now, but projects to be a much better second-half of the year player as the injury prone frontcourt wears down and Wittman is either fired or relents. Feel free to drop Seraphin if you’re fed up, but his upside and chance of bouncing back makes him a pretty good stash, nonetheless. As for Nene, he reported that he’s still feeling pain in his foot and that’s enough for me to stay away. Okafor and Barron aren’t worth the time outside of very deep leagues.
I took a flier on Cartier Martin (11 points, three treys, five rebounds) in a deeper 12-team big money league, and he has more or less held onto his late-round value over the past week. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much as it was a throwaway add with the hopes of catching lightning in a bottle, but on a bad team with plenty of injuries he has an outside shot at holding some value. Jordan Crawford (19 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, three treys, seven turnovers) isn’t very efficient, but he’s a must-start player until further notice. Beal sounds like he could return soon, so owners should be holding in most circumstances.
Big Baby Goes Down
Glen Davis (12 points, nine boards, two blocks) went down at the end of last night’s game with a serious looking left shoulder injury, and he will get an MRI today to determine his fate. A separated shoulder could cost him weeks, while a torn labrum could end his season. If Baby misses time, it will be a boon to the value of J.J. Redick (17 points, four threes, three assists, 26 minutes), Jameer Nelson (eight points, five assists, three steals, 31 minutes), and Arron Afflalo (15 points, three boards, three assists, two steals). Davis is averaging 14.8 field goal attempts per game, and those three guys will be the first to pick those up.
The question for owners looking for beneficiaries is going to be which fringe player picks up the slack, with candidates in Moe Harkless (nine points, seven rebounds, two steals, 18 minutes), E’Twaun Moore (15 points, 6-of-10 FGs, three treys, two assists, two steals), or Andrew Nicholson (zero points, six minutes). Moore was productive earlier in the season when Nelson was out, and even held some very low-end value at times when Nelson was in. Harkless has shown flashes but has been very inconsistent, and Nicholson has been productive recently but is shaky himself as evidenced by last night’s outing. The Magic could very well start Josh McRoberts in Baby’s place, but he is usually an empty calorie guy despite having a somewhat versatile fantasy game. Gustavo Ayon (three points, eight boards, three assists, one steal, 16 minutes) has been an interesting name in the past, but has been invisible all season.
Add in the nearing return of Hedo Turkoglu, who profiles as the most likely to do damage in fantasy leagues but also has plenty of injury risk, and Al Harrington’s return further down the line and it’s a muddy situation to say the least. Owners may want to just keep their finger near the add button on Friday when the Magic head into Toronto.
Monroe’s Monster Night
It was Greg Monroe night in Toronto despite the Pistons’ loss, as he scored a career-high 35 points on 14-of-22 shooting (7-of-8 FTs) with 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. He’s going to disappear every once in a while but these types of nights will even things out for the mid-round value. He’ll need to start bringing it every night to meet his lofty ADP. Brandon Knight hit just 1-of-10 shots for two points, four rebounds, and six assists, and I’m simply not as high as others about a guy with ninth and 15th round value in 8- and 9-cat leagues, respectively. Owners definitely have to punt in his deficient areas to get their money’s worth. Rodney Stuckey (back spasms) played and resumed his resurgence with a serviceable 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, four assists and one three in 29 minutes off the bench. He has crept back into the top-100 over the past two weeks.
Sifting for Gold
As predicted yesterday, the two beneficiaries of Andrea Bargnani’s absence had another see-saw moment, as Amir Johnson’s ankle injury appeared to put Ed Davis (11 points, nine boards, two blocks, 28 minutes) in the driver seat. Johnson eventually returned to the game to keep the situation muddled, and finished with five points, nine rebounds, two steals, and one block in 21 minutes. Dwane Casey said that Johnson probably shouldn’t have returned and he was seen limping in the locker room afterwards, so don’t be surprised if the ankle swells up overnight and he is questionable for Friday’s game. I’d view both players as low-end guys better suited for 14-team leagues until one can emerge as a clear winner in the position battle.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with five rebounds, one assist, and one block in his 27 minutes, and is still just a stash for the hopes that he can take the next step. Those close to the team are still happy with the player, but he needs to show owners something in the next two weeks before the inscription on this season’s tombstone gets carved out.
Jose Calderon hit a wall offensively with just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting (including two threes), but he handed out 17 assists to keep the theoretic talk of him stealing Kyle Lowry’s job on the back burner. It seems unlikely that this will happen, but it will be contingent upon Lowry’s attitude, health, shot selection, and willingness to play defense – and not just his offensive ability.
Alan Anderson paid off owners that added him after he burst onto the scene this week, scoring 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting with three rebounds, two steals, and three treys in 26 minutes. He didn’t see much time during the first half, which was somewhat strange given his recent strong play, but he played the game’s final 18 minutes and continued to draw positive marks from opposing beat writers. I think he’s a must-own player in 12-team formats even with the wing corps in Toronto getting healthier.
The Jeffersonian Institute
The Jazz got throttled last night by the Pacers in a 20-point loss, and while I’m not optimistic they’ll figure it out they need to find some stability outside of dumping the ball into Al Jefferson so much. Jefferson hit just 1-of-8 shots for four points, six boards, and one block in 22 minutes before the game was over, and if the Jazz are going to be one-dimensional they’re going to take losses like this when he’s off his game.
Owners can probably throw the box score out in terms of long-term analysis, but Gordon Hayward owners (including yours truly) are smarting after this one. In his return to Indiana, he played just 13 minutes in front of friends and family and posted an ugly five turnovers to go with eight points, two boards, one assist, and one steal. I’m not going to sit here and tell folks to hold him indiscriminately, but he’s a guy that the Jazz have to get going if they have any designs on the playoffs this season. I’m also seeing more talk in Jazz land about his lack of minutes, with equal parts complaining about both the coach and the player, but as I’ve said a million times he profiles as a better second half play for a somewhat injury-prone team that might trade away players at the deadline.
Derrick Favors made noise with 16 points, nine rebounds, one steal, and three blocks in 28 minutes off the bench, which is a bit misleading because of the garbage time, but Ty Corbin was forced to say after the game that he’d be sticking with Favors off the bench. Also in the broken record category, he is a nice low-end play right now that doubles as a walking lottery ticket. His foot issues appear to be behind him for the most part, too.
Pacemaker George
Paul George kept his foot on the gas with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds, one steal, four blocks, and two threes. Those struggles seem like eons ago. Roy Hibbert didn’t truly take advantage, but owners will take a 12-point, four-rebound, four-assist effort with a steal and two blocks with open arms nowadays as long as he hits 50 percent of his shots like he did last night. George Hill cruised with 20 points, five boards, and five assists while hitting 8-of-13 shots with two threes in the win.
Because of the blowout win, we saw an appearance from none other than Gerald Green, who scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting with four threes and one assist over 23 minutes in a mostly hollow line. Maybe this will be the game that gets his confidence back, but his body of work has been atrocious and the Pacers offense has major consistency issues. I’m holding off until he can back it up at least once, and probably twice or three times.
The Brooklyn Debts
The Nets lost but Deron Williams got back on track in Round 3 of the battle of New York, scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, 10 assists, and two threes. It’s progress, but I don’t think any of us are truly comfortable with him right now. Joe Johnson cooled off with 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting, two rebounds, three assists, and a steal, but hitting three treys he operated within his sweet spot as a 3-point reliant fantasy producer. As usual, I’m all about selling him somewhat high.
Brook Lopez appears to be getting back on track after his foot injury with 16 points, 10 boards, one steal, and one block, and owners might want to consider long-term plans to move him after a solid stretch. It’s just hard to trust that foot. Kris Humphries (zero points, nine rebounds, 18 minutes) showed his true colors yet again, and Andray Blatche can be thrown back to the scrap heap after a seven-point, two-rebound effort in 16 minutes even if he did tally a steal and block. Gerald Wallace scuffled with six points, five boards, and one three in 38 minutes. His consistency has been a problem this season and it’s not just because he plays with ball-dominant players on a somewhat deep team. Crash is still well worth owning, but he’s not going to be the fantasy force that some owners probably thought they were buying into on draft day.
Hello Melo
Carmelo Anthony (ankle) returned and wasted no time getting the Knicks back on track, scoring 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting with four threes, three boards, two steals, and one block. J.R. Smith has smoothed out some small speed bumps and had another nice night with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, one three, five boards, three assists, and one block. Raymond Felton struggled and it’s probably fairly safe to assume the bone bruises on his hands are at least part of it. He hit just 4-of-15 shots and has been ice cold in that department for a while now, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Owners shouldn’t be looking to sell-low here, and if anything it’s a buy-low moment as he’ll eventually get those hands healed up and start hitting at a more palatable clip.
Tyson Chandler’s comeback in fantasy leagues has been complete for a bit, but he added another 16 points, 12 rebounds, one steal, and three blocks to his resume last night. Jason Kidd hit just 2-of-9 shots (all threes) but continued to put up versatile numbers with seven points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals as the dream season continues. It’s certainly a sell-high moment with Iman Shumpert eventually set to return and give the old man a bit of a break.
The Zeller Dwellers
Anderson Varejao’s knee knock from Tuesday night ended up knocking him out of last night’s contest, and the fact that the Celtics only won by 12 points should be a blemish on Boston’s record. Dion Waiters hit just 6-of-15 shots for 13 points with four rebounds, four assists, and one steal, and he’ll need to improve his shot selection to take the proverbial step forward. He’s still a big part of the Cavs’ plans and I like him as a must-own player in 12-team formats, but a 36.3 percent field goal percentage has kept his value at a borderline level in 12-14 team leagues. Unlike a guy like Kemba Walker who can’t go up and over guys, I like Waiters’ chances to improve in that area a bit more if we’re comparing athletically gifted rookies from two different seasons.
Tyler Zeller gave those owners stashing him a gift last night in his start for Varejao, scoring a career-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, but he managed just three rebounds with two assists and a steal in his 36 minutes. I guess we’ll call it a win because Zeller has been an empty calorie guy on most nights, and needs to show he can put up numbers and he did that in at least one category. Tristan Thompson double-doubled with 11 points, 12 boards, two steals, and two blocks, but hit just 2-of-10 shots and will struggle when Varejao returns so I’m not biting as readers probably already know. C.J. Miles finally crapped out, scoring three points on 1-of-5 shooting and not much else in his 17 minutes. No surprise there.
Paul Ball
Jason Terry was moved into the starting lineup because Doc Rivers “likes him with Rondo,” and he bounced back from a two-point outing to score 15 points with three treys, three boards, and four assists. Avery Bradley (shoulders) is targeting a return on January 2, but owners should just hang onto Terry and see where this heads as he could easily hold late-round value and has some slight upside if things start to gel.
The big story for the Celtics was Paul Pierce’s 40 points on 13-of-16 shooting, though. He added eight rebounds, five assists, three steals, one block, and hit 6-of-7 threes and 8-of-8 freebies. Don’t look now but the old man has top-20 value, which should serve as yet another reminder to owners to not rule out proven players in their golden years. Brandon Bass was moved to the bench for Jason Collins (one point, two boards, one block, 23 minutes) and scored four points with three rebounds in his 27 minutes. Drop him for a player with more upside. Jeff Green (14 minutes) has fallen back off the map, which has been a theme throughout his Boston career.
A Thunder’s Dozen
The Thunder have been a pleasant surprise to cover this season, simply because Scott Brooks isn’t messing with Serge Ibaka anymore (he now does that in mild fashion to Kevin Martin). They have won 12 straight and Brooks is the only thing that stands between them and an NBA title. I said last season that if they didn’t win three of the next five titles that it would be a disappointment, though the swapping of James Harden for Martin might have shifted that prediction to 2-of-5 titles. Thunder fans need to keep an eye on Kendrick Perkins’ minutes, and stay vocal when Brooks refuses to pull his big man when the situation calls for it (which is most of the time).
Fantasy-wise, it was more of the same. Russell Westbrook beasted for 27 points and 11 assists, and Kevin Durant scored a season-high 41 points with 13 boards, three assists, two blocks, a 4-of-8 mark from deep, and a 9-of-10 mark from the line. Martin scored just six points on 3-of-9 shooting with two rebounds and one steal in 26 minutes, but he’ll bounce back. He’s just the odd man out at times and Brooks doesn’t go out of his way to make sure he gets the ball. Ibaka hit just 2-of-9 shots for four points, but had 14 rebounds and three blocks in 34 minutes as the season he should have had last year carries on.
Teague Time
Jeff Teague was fired up to play in the battle of freakishly athletic point guards, and finished with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting, nine assists, one block, and one three. He has been a top-70 player this season, which is a mild disappointment compared to his ADP but if you recall ankle concerns gave him a small discount. Josh Smith started slow but picked it up late to finish with 17 points, 12 boards, three assists, two blocks, and a three while hitting 8-of-19 shots. With just fourth and sixth round value in 8- and 9-cat formats on the year, he’s going to have to post a massive comeback to pay back owners for his putrid start. I railed about our lack of hype for Kyle Korver yesterday and he paid me off with nine points on 3-of-10 shooting, three treys, five rebounds, three assists, four steals, and three blocks. He is central to what the Hawks do every night and he is a must-start player as long as he is healthy. Congrats to those that picked him up.
Fishing in Philly
The banged up Sixers lost to the Rockets in Houston by 22 points in a high-scoring game. Jrue Holiday (foot) did not play last night and while it sounds like he could play on Friday, the Sixers aren’t going to take any chances like they said earlier in the day. Evan Turner, who has benefited greatly from Holiday’s absence, was also added to the injury report last night after suffering a left ankle injury. He returned to the game but left once again, ending his night after 21 minutes of action. He said that he’s going to be okay, and while he still needs to be evaluated for Friday’s game owners can breathe a sigh of relief.
Dorell Wright wasted no time backing up his seven-trey game from Tuesday with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, three 3-pointers, six rebounds, and six assists in 40 minutes off the bench. This was the type of form he showed early in the year, and it’s unclear whether it was an injury or lack of confidence that caused him to be put in the corner all season. With all the injuries and playing behind injury-prone Jason Richardson, there is definitely a short-term window with some slight upside in the event everything breaks the right way for Wright. Richardson wasn’t great last night, but he scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting with three rebounds, one steal, and one three in 31 minutes. Yes, Wright is hot and things could get crowded, but with a body of work that has been a mid-round value all season, I can’t see passing him up in most 8- and 9-cat formats even with his injury risk.
Thaddeus Young scored 17 points with six rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block, and he should be primed for a big week with the way things are shaping up. Nick Young took all of my talk about McDonald’s fish fillets yesterday and made me eat every single one of them with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block, and two threes. Yes, he’s worth a look, but I’ll eat another 10 fish fillets if he keeps up with the versatile production. Spencer Hawes scored 14 points with six rebounds and four turnovers in 24 foul-plagued minutes, but if that qualifies as a bad night for the recent low-end value then it’s a win. Give him a hard look if you need a big man in standard formats.
Rocket Fuel
With 125 points on their side of the ledger, there were some beefy fantasy lines for the Rockets last night. James Harden scored 33 points with two threes and seven assists, but as usual the most impressive part was his 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 17-of-18 mark from the line. Efficiency monster. Jeremy Lin joined the party with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and six assists, Omer Asik bounced back from some tough outings with 17 points and 15 rebounds but he did not have a block. He did manage 7-of-9 makes from the charity stripe, and owners will gladly take that swap if it can lead to improvement.
Chandler Parsons had a slow night with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one three. He has hit just 12-of-33 shots over his last three games, and shooting is still a slight concern for his owners, but after the year he has had I’d call this a small buy low moment. Marcus Morris finally took advantage of Patrick Patterson’s (foot) absence, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two threes, five rebounds, five assists, and one block in 31 minutes. There is still no timetable for Patterson’s return, and he’s worth strong consideration for owners looking for a short-term boost. Toney Douglas hit five threes last night and had 17 points with three rebounds and four assists, but most of that production came in a high-scoring game that was all but decided. He needs an injury in front of him before owners should buy a ticket.
Mullens Mania
Stop for a second and check out what J.E. Skeets called “the best piece of NBA art you’ll see all night/day/week/forever.” It was a gift to friend of the show and one-time Metta World Peace art curator Steve Manale, and not only is it hilariously stoic when you look at it close up it truly is a piece of work. Doc and I were joking last night that we just don’t know what to make of Byron Mullens in fantasy or real life, as he fits the description with both an exclamation point and a question mark. After turning in a 26.3 percent shooting mark over his last three contests, while racking up big counting stats against the Lakers on Tuesday, he managed a fairly normal looking 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds, one assist, and two threes. After all the ups and downs I know I for one am happy to see Mullens much less manic.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had his best game of the year with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one block. There was a lot of bust talk surrounding him early in the season, which I never really understood as he held his late-round value, and this is the upside that he’s capable of playing for a bad team that will be in plenty of garbage-fests like tonight’s 17-point loss to the Suns. Kemba Walker joined the party with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, four rebounds, six assists, two threes, and a steal, while Gerald Henderson struggled to the tune of four points on 2-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Maybe that missed layup on Tuesday against the Lakers at the end of the game got into his head. Bismack Biyombo had a stinker with just two points, two rebounds, and one block, but he had been running pretty well by his standards so owners relying on him should give him at least one game’s worth of slack and probably more. Ramon Sessions came crashing down to earth with two points and four assists in 18 minutes, which illustrates the problem with owning him in such a crowded guard situation. Off-nights are going to be particularly painful.
From the Ashes
Don’t look now but the Suns have won four straight and Marcin Gortat played 40 minutes last night, so maybe he and Alvin Gentry sipped some chamomile tea at some point last week. Gortat’s line wasn’t a blockbuster, but eight points, nine rebounds, one steal, and three blocks plus the workload are a really good look considering the prior troubles.
Shannon Brown’s hot streak continued with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, five threes, four rebounds, one steal, and one block, and while he’s always worth a look while he’s hot the key here is that he and Jared Dudley aren’t splitting minutes now that Michael Beasley is parked in the doghouse. I said Dudley was one-game away from being a must-own player while simultaneously calling him a must-own player yesterday, and he cooperated with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, four threes, four rebounds, five assists, and three treys. I think he’s playing a bit over his head, but he’s justifying my faith in him early in the season now that the dummies are off the court.
Luis Scola is worth a look once again after putting up 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes. He’ll have the risk of being pulled for his defense on any given night, but it sure looks like the Suns have found a lineup combination that works with him in it. Goran Dragic has been a consistent third round value for most of the year, but he stepped it up with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting with four threes and 11 assists in the easy win.
Twelve’s a Crowd
One has to wonder if Scott Skiles will grow tired of his two guards dominating touches every single night, especially when they combine for 10-of-40 shooting as Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis did in the Bucks’ loss to the Grizzlies. Jennings salvaged his night with 26 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and three treys, but Ellis fell flat on his face with four points on 1-of-14 shooting, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block. I’m not concerned with Jennings’ top-20 value and I’m only moderately concerned about Ellis’ value, as he’s likely to get his field goal percentage north of 40 and that’ll likely bring his 3-pointers made up to 1.0 per game where it needs to be.
Larry Sanders did what Larry Sanders does with eight points, nine boards, three steals, and two blocks in just 21 minutes, and he’s a must-start player as long as Skiles cooperates. The Grizzlies play excellent defense so I’m not going to dig in too heavily on Ersan Ilyasova’s five points and four rebounds in 22 minutes, as we’ve already established that he’s an upside guy that has about one week on his timer in my book. Mike Dunleavy wasn’t much better with seven points, three rebounds, and three assists in his 26 minutes, and owners of both guys should hope that the Marquis Daniels (22 minutes) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moutes (22 minutes) of the world take a backseat sooner rather than later.
Grizzly Efforts
There were no surprises on the Grizzlies’ side last night. Zach Randolph paced the winning effort with 15 points and 17 boards, Rudy Gay posted a typically inefficient 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals, Mike Conley was quiet with 11 points, six assists, and two steals, Marc Gasol went for 12 and 12 with three blocks, Tony Allen made some noise with eight points, four steals, and a block, and Jerryd Bayless had one of his bench specials with eight points, five rebounds, and five assists. If Allen and Bayless can continue building on those efforts, we’ll let you know but they’re still waiver wire guys in 12-14 team formats.
Defenseless
The Warriors were supposed to start struggling in the upcoming stretch of 16 games against teams winning at about a 60 percent clip starting with the Lakers on Saturday. Instead, they started early in a close win over the Hornets earlier this week and then last night’s embarrassing loss to the Kings. Nobody for the Warriors played well, no matter what the pinball box score said. David Lee (29 points, eight rebounds, five assists, 12-of-17 FGs) might have given up more points than his offensive production entailed, which is impressive considering those gaudy numbers.
Stephen Curry was torched repeatedly by Kings guards, too, but he scored 32 points with seven threes, six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block because Aaron Brooks’ defense is among the league’s worst. Jarrett Jack took advantage of the Kings’ non-existent defense, too, scoring 28 points with seven rebounds, three assists, and three treys in a game the Warriors lost 127-131. Carl Landry scored 14 points with five rebounds and one block, and while he will provide defense the Warriors desperately need in the next few weeks – he didn’t have any tonight. Owners of the aforementioned big producers should take the big numbers and run, while national writers sucking up to my favorite team should watch some film before declaring this defensively deficient group and coaching question mark a playoff lock.
Kings Court
Getting some quick business out of the way first, Tyreke Evans (knee) did not play and Francisco Garcia left the game mid-way after taking a hard fall trying to block a shot. Evans’ return is entirely up to him and I wouldn’t expect there to be an overwhelming amount of reporting on it. He’ll return when he’ll return and my gut says it will be sooner rather than later, but who knows at this point. There have been trade rumors that could conceivably be at play, but it would mark a MAJOR shift in planning by Kings management, who I’ve heard were interested in re-signing him.
Now, onto the game. I reported yesterday to you guys first and later yesterday to PBT readers that Isaiah Thomas’ teammates want him to start, among other issues, and yesterday’s offensive blowout against a Warriors team that disgusted its beat writers will buy Keith Smart and Geoff Petrie at least a week to keep plugging away with the Aaron Brooks/John Salmons/Travis Outlaw/Francisco Garcia plan which will be followed up by the Tyreke Evans plan whenever he gets healthy. As for the numbers in this game, they should all be taken with a grain of salt. The Kings had scored 99 points by the end of the third quarter, and hadn’t crossed that mark in 17-of-24 games off the top of my head. Aaron Brooks scored 23 points with three treys and five assists, DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block, and a 14-of-18 mark from the foul line, John Salmons scored 17 points with six rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block, Jason Thompson went for 10 and 15 with three blocks, Marcus Thornton jumped back on the scene as predicted with 19 points and five threes, Thomas had 11 electrifying points with three assists before being inexplicably benched while going heads up with Curry, and Jimmer Fredette scored 15 points with a perfect eight attempts from the foul line to complete the longest run-on sentence of all-time.
Sports Illustrated’s Zach Lowe spent the morning bemoaning Brooks’ defensive ineptitude, but nobody in Sacramento really understands how bad he played so it’s anybody’s guess if there will be any hand-wringing over my report. At least for now. Thornton should be owned in all leagues, Thomas is still a unique stash for the iron-stomachs out there, Fredette is worth watching from a far, Thompson should be owned, Salmons is probably worth passing, and so is Brooks. That’s your Kings update, from what was a really fun game that set Twitter on fire last night.
Pelicans Get Clipped
The Hornets weren’t able to back up their competitive effort against the Warriors with anything resembling NBA basketball last night, as the Clippers made easy work of them at Staples center. Greivis Vasquez hit just 1-of-7 shots for five points but he did have five boards and 10 assists to go with his six turnovers. Austin Rivers crawled back into the hole he has been living in all season with as many points (3) as he had turnovers (3) with nothing else to show in the box score. Any hype there was severely misplaced. Robin Lopez showed up with 22 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, and should be picked up if you need a big man. Ryan Anderson actually grabbed a rebound last night after getting shut out by the Warriors the night before, but he hit just 2-of-13 shots for seven points to go with those five boards. I worry more about sticky-fingered guys like Rivers and Eric Gordon getting him the ball on his timing plays more than I worry about Anderson. Gordon will join the team this weekend but there is still no timetable for his return, and he should be owned in all formats that don’t penalize a lack of heart or knee cartilage. Al-Farouq Aminu was a DNP-CD last night. Ouch. Anthony Davis played 42 minutes on his way to 16 points, five boards, and one block and should be in all lineups.
The Clippers’ box score had no surprises, with Chris Paul scoring 10 points with five boards and 12 assists, DeAndre Jordan scoring 12 points with five boards and two blocks, Blake Griffin scoring 18 points, Jamal Crawford putting up 17 points with five assists and three steals, and Matt Barnes continuing to hold value with 11 points, five boards, one steal, one block, and one three. Eric Bledsoe had just four points and four assists, but posted two steals and two blocks to keep up his low-end value off the bench. He will explode if there is a major injury to the backcourt. Chauncey Billups (foot) is still without a timetable to return, which isn’t a great sign for a guy in his position.
News and Notes
Kawhi Leonard (quad) was sent to the D-League which is good news because he was waiting on practice to get his sea legs back underneath him. He’ll be evaluated today to see if he can play on Friday, and should not be on waivers in the vast majority of normal formats.
Pau Gasol made his first comments about Mike D’Antoni’s spread offense, and they weren’t over the top or anything but he’s definitely not happy. I mentioned that owners would want to chop their steps and take things day-to-day in terms of buying low on Gasol, as a few days ago most of America (including Kobe) was talking about the need to get him involved down low, while D’Antoni pushed back after Tuesday’s win by changing his lineup to lock Metta World Peace into significant minutes at power forward.
This sounds like a tug of war in the making and the ultimate judge of who wins might be with the win/loss record. With each loss the walls will close in on D’Antoni, as long as it’s not Pau’s fault (for real), and with each win he’ll get a bit more leash. I get the sense that Jim Buss will do anything to support his coaching hire until things get really bad, and in that case he’ll turn around and blame the whole thing on Mike D. It’s a fluid situation – make your bets accordingly. For what it’s worth I don’t think the Lakers can win without slowing down, which would favor Pau, but nobody is accusing Buss of being smart these days.
Steve Nash (leg) went through a 40-minute workout and if he can’t go Saturday against the Warriors he’ll be targeting Christmas Day against the Knicks.
Thursday Night Lights
OKC @ MIN: It will be fun to watch Ricky Rubio and Co. go heads up with the Thunder in a rematch of last season’s monster game. The Wolves’ backcourt will be worth watching as well as Kevin Love’s minor ailments and shooting percentage.
MIA @ DAL: Derek Fisher (knee) will not play tonight, and as I mentioned yesterday owners shouldn’t get too high or low with news about Fisher when assessing Darren Collison. Even if he has a best case scenario and reproduces his quick start, Dirk Nowitzki’s (knee) return will come out of his pocket before his teammates. As for Dirk, he went through his first contact practice yesterday, and beat writer Eddie Sefko made a guess of December 28 for his return. Everybody will take a slight hit in value when Dirk returns, but I wouldn’t run out to sell O.J. Mayo, who will probably be the last guy to give up touches in the rotation. Elton Brand (groin) rode the bike at practice yesterday, but he and Brandon Wright (ankle) are both game-time calls. Wright’s injury isn’t thought to be serious, and the beneficiaries will be Jae Crowder and Dahntay Jones if those guys can’t go. There are no surprises on the Miami side, though an absence for Mario Chalmers could open things up for the Miami studs a bit more.
DEN @ POR: LaMarcus Aldridge (ankle) will not play tonight, and owners will have to look toward back-to-back games this weekend for relief. J.J. Hickson is a must-start player in 12-team formats with Aldridge out. Wesley Matthews (hip) practiced yesterday but was immediately checked out by doctors, and he’ll be dicey for tonight until the next report. Sasha Pavlovic (butt strain) would be nice for the Blazers to have around, but he was “less than 100 percent” in practice yesterday and is going to be a tough guy to spot-start in deeper formats. We’ll want to watch and see if Ty Lawson and Andre Iguodala continue to see-saw, as it could impact their season-long outlooks. We’ll see if the Manimal pukes on the bench again, but there’s not a whole lot of concern there.
I’ll be chatting later tonight at 9 PM ET. See all of you guys there!