When I used to drink back in high school, it’d be a lot of 40 ounces of Olde English 800. Too many 40’s of OE. Way too many 40’s of OE. I was/am a stupid, stupid man. But they were so cheap and it was nice to just have to carry around one bottle. I had repressed all those memories until I saw Kemba’s line last night:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 40 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6/6 | 14/20 | 6/7 |
In 40 minutes! And that was without Cody Zeller (knee), who helps Kemba post positive numbers when he’s on the court. Anyways, the matchup last night against the Rockets was a great one, as Houston is the 6th-worst at defending the pick-and-roll, a play that Kemba is a master at running. With that said, he has been hot recently regardless, as he’s been a top 25 player over the past seven games. The usage rate is above 30 and he’s been jacking up 20 shots per game. Kemba does contribute across the board, even chipping in 0.4 blocks. Yo, Blake Griffin. You seeing this? It all comes down to the shooting efficiency for Kemba. During his current heater, he’s converting 46% of his shots from the field. There were stretches during the season when he was sub-40%. Hopefully he continues his hot streak for the duration of the fantasy playoffs and entices you to seek out a bottle of Olde English.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
Kawhi Leonard
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3/8 | 11/19 | 0/3 |
Since the beginning of Februrary, Kawhi has played two games, then rested one. Played two, then rested one. Played two, rested one. Played two, rested one. Played two, rested one. If the SATs taught me anything, it’s that Kawhi will play the next game then rest one. The Raptors call it “load management.” I call it “software updates.” When asked about that, Kawhi responded, “Ha. Ha. That. Is. Funny. Ha. Ha.”
Marc Gasol
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0/2 | 1/6 | 0/1 |
Got the start and played 22 minutes. He and Serge Ibaka were alternating starts, but Gasol could be in line for heavy minutes soon, as Ibaka went Ichokea on Marquese Chriss during last night’s game and will likely be suspended. Do I smell a Tonya Harding here? I know Gasol is a nice guy and all, but he may have been frustrated by the spotty playing time. Always investigate the one who has the most to gain. All those hours watching Forensic Files with the wifey actually came in handy.
I’m thinking if Ibaka does get suspended, then OG Anunoby and Norman Powell would get the biggest bumps in playing time. Pascal Siakam will play more center to give Gasol a rest, Kawhi would slide down and play some power forward, with OG and Powell handling most of the small forward minutes.
The Cavs defeated the Raptors, 126-101. W. T. F. With the Raptors comfortably situated in second place in the Eastern Conference, Masai Ujiri and Nick Nurse wanted to see how badly the Cavs wanted Zion Williamson. You have any better theories?
Kevin Love
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 16 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3/7 | 4/11 | 5/6 |
Played 29 minutes. Sometimes Love hurts. In this instance, Love go hurt, but has returned and put a smile on the faces of many fantasy managers. Top 15 player over the past five games.
Cedi Osman
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2/6 | 6/16 | 5/5 |
Across-the-board production. Osman! Back to tanking the percentages, though. Not so Osman.
Collin Sexton
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 28 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4/7 | 10/18 | 4/4 |
Played a team-high 36 minutes. A scoring-first point guard who doesn’t contribute much outside of points and treys. I like the name. Not a fan of the game.
De’Aaron Fox
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 23 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2/3 | 8/16 | 5/8 |
Played a team-high 38 minutes. Top 80 player over the past six games. Fox provides points, boards, dimes, and steals. The treys are light but he does provide a pinch. His main bugaboo is the 69% free throw shooting on 6 attempts per game.
Buddy Hield
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1/9 | 6/21 | 2/3 |
Just a case of the Monday blues. Hey, NBA players are people too.
Nemanja Bjelica
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3/5 | 5/10 | 2/2 |
Played 36 minutes off the bench. The Nemanja has been potent lately, as he’s been the main beneficiary of the Marvin Bagley III injury. Bagley has resumed basketball activities and is listed day-to-day, so the cipher may be done.
Bobby Portis
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1/2 | 6/12 | 4/5 |
Continues to start at center and played 33 minutes. Playing against the Kings was a pristine matchup, but he’s been a top 60 player over the prior four games. Portis provides points, treys, boards, and some D stats. The last four games, Portis has played 33, 31, 25, and 22 minutes, so there’s still some question as to his playing time. With that said, he’s been playing well so the minutes should be there, but something to monitor and don’t be surprised if he does play in the low-to-mid 20s.
Bradley Beal
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3/9 | 9/20 | 6/8 |
Played a team-high 38 minutes. Beal is going to lead many of teams to a chip this season.
Tomas Satoransky
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3/6 | 5/9 | 4/5 |
Played 37 minutes. Over the past four games, Sato has been a top 50 player. He’s been averaging 39 minutes, 12.8 points, 1 trey, 6.5 boards, 8.8 dimes, 1 steal, and 0.8 blocks. It feels weird to write this, but he’s always a threat to mess around on any given night.
Jabari Parker
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3/5 | 7/13 | 1/2 |
Played 24 minutes off the bench. Jabari has the widest range of outcomes for any player in the league. He’s either a Jabroni or Peter Parker Spiderman. There is no in between.
Andre Drummond
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5/14 | 3/4 |
Dre had himself a day, as the Pistons shot 27.8% from the field. Hmmm, in that context, not so impressive. He should’ve pulled down at least 40 boards!
Blake Griffin
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1/5 | 1/10 | 7/8 |
No way to spin this atrocious performance from _lake. _hit happens.
The Pistons lost, 75-103 in Brooklyn. No more blurbs for them! No other player besides Drummond and Griffin scored in double figures.
Every Nets starter scored in double figures, yet no starter eclipsed 14 points.
Allen Crabbe
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4/6 | 5/8 | 0/1 |
Got the start and played a team-high 35 minutes, the only player to eclipse the 30-minutes mark. I’ve had a couple of pom pom crabs in my aquarium. I love those things, but they do hide often and I’ll rarely see them weeks on end. So, it’s appropriate that Allen is named Crabbe because he will also disappear for weeks on end, then reappear and do what he did last night.
Spencer Dinwiddie
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2/7 | 5/11 | 7/7 |
Played 25 minutes off the bench and led the Nets in scoring. Dinwiddie has been a top 50 player over the past three games. The usage rate has been 29.9 and he’s averaged 28.4 minutes, 23.3 points, 3 treys, 4 boards, and 4.7 dimes. He’s back and has slid right back into the role pre-injury. It helps that Caris LeVert has not returned to pre-injury form.
Willy Hernangomez
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1/3 | 0 |
Got the start because Zeller was out and played 24 minutes. He’s just too much of a liability on defense to get significant run.
Dwayne Bacon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1/4 | 5/11 | 2/2 |
Received the spot start because Nicolas Batum (eye) was a last minute scratch.
Frank Kaminsky
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/6 | 5/12 | 3/3 |
Played 22 minutes off the bench. With all the injuries, Kaminsky just can’t get the minutes, as he’s averaging around 22 minutes per game. He’s a stretch big who can shoot from downtown, but that’s about all he delivers.
Malik Monk
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2/9 | 3/12 | 2/2 |
He lives! Played 26 minutes, as the Hornets were short handed last night. He had played a total of 22 minutes the past eight games.
Clint Capela
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8/12 | 3/3 |
Feasted on the Hornets front court for 31 minutes. He’s healthy now and primed for a playoff run.
James Harden
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 28 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3/9 | 7/21 | 11/12 |
I can no longer get Harden excited, as I’ve become numb to his production. If it’s not over a 50-burger, it means nothing to me.
Eric Gordon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5/12 | 7/14 | 3/4 |
Continues to start and played 33 minutes. A 3-without-the-D player, Gordon has averaged 4.3 treys over the past six games. He’s been a top 65 player!
Kenneth Faried
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 16 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 5/10 | 6/6 |
Played 20 minutes off the bench in his return after missing five games. D’Antoni runs a pretty tight rotation, so Faried should be expected to receive playing time in the low-20s going forward.
Paul George
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 083 | 2/8 | 10/12 |
It’s been four games since George returned from injury. He’s probably still banged up, so I’d temper expectations in the short term.
Russell Westbrook
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 23 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2/4 | 9/19 | 3/6 |
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallmost messed around. The counting stats are amazing, but over the past eight games, he’s been a top 125 player due to the 4.5 turnovers and 59% shooting from the line on 7.1 attempts.
Dennis Schroder
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/5 | 10/18 | 2/3 |
Dennis has been a menace for fantasy managers, as he’s been playing a ton of minutes and providing plenty of counting stats, but the shooting efficiency has been putrid. Like 35% from the field putrid. With that said, he does have the ability to deliver performances like last night. Have fun trying to figure out when.
Royce O’Neale
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5/10 | 6/13 | 0 |
Got the start for Ricky Rubio (hip) and played a team-high 40 minutes. He’s normally a low-usage player who will provide boards, steals, and treys. For perspective, he received 40 minutes of run five games ago and contributed 4 points, 6 boards, 2 dimes, and 1 block in that one.
Rudy Gobert
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5/8 | 5/7 |
Points, boards, blocks, and excellent field goal percentage are what Gobert provide. His per-game value has dropped recently to the 52% shooting from the free throw line on 7.6 attempts. He had been above 64% for the season.
Donovan Mitchell
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3/8 | 8/22 | 6/8 |
When Rubio is out, DM comes out to play. Mitchell has been a top 30 player over the past three games, posting a usage rate of 34, jacking up over 21 shots per game, and contributing across the board.
Kyrie Irving
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2/7 | 8/17 | 0 |
Played a team-high 34 minutes. The Celtics got creamed, 115-140 in Los Angeles. LA nightlife undefeated?
Jaylen Brown
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 22 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3/5 | 9/13 | 1/2 |
Got the start for Jayson Tatum (shoulder) and played 31 minutes. The only thing Brown doesn’t do for you is deliver dimes. Other than that, he contributes a little something something everywhere else. The main issue for Brown is the shooting efficiency, as he often languishes in the low-40% range.
Terry Rozier
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6/9 | 10/14 | 0 |
Played 26 minutes off the bench. Most of it being blowout run.
Danilo Gallinari
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4/5 | 9/12 | 3/3 |
It’s been 13 games since returning from a 10-game absence due to injury. Tick. Tock. When will the clock stop? Gallinari has been a top 60 player over that span, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Montrezl Harrell
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8/12 | 4/5 |
In 21 minutes off the bench. He’s come down from the lofty levels, but Montrezl is still providing points, boards, and a smidgen of D stats. While the field goal percentage is a healthy 51%, that number was at 61% before. As always, the free throw shooting is the primary bugaboo. 56% on 3.2 attempts is no bueno.
Lou Williams
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 34 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2/6 | 14/21 | 4/4 |
In 23 minutes! Sweet! Dude is a straight baller and perfect sixth man. The modern day microwave. With that said, there’s volatility in his game, as he relies on the J, which often produces sub-40% shooting from the field. That ceiling, though! Sweet!
