Ahhh! It’s been a long offseason, but your favorite Daily Notes guy is back. Son gave me the big promotion from the Friday night recap guy to the Saturday Night Daily Notes Lead Writer. Some may consider this a lateral move or even a slight demotion, but I’m going to prove that this move is a slam dunk! I’m going to adjust to this role almost as well as Melo is adjusting to his new bench-role! Okay enough bloviating, let’s get into the first daily notes of my second year writing for Razzball Basketball. Hopefully, I don’t hit the sophomore slump. Fingers crossed…
I would be remiss if I didn’t make Nikola Jokic the lede. They’re calling his performance against the Suns the perfect game. 3/35/12/11/4/1/0 on 11-for-11 shooting and 10-of-11 free throws is pretty damn perfect. Nikola Ain’t no Joke! He’s going to get Paid in Full pretty much every year for the rest of his career. He told the Suns “Don’t Sweat the Technique” last night, as the Nuggets steamrolled the Suns 119-91.
It was a busy night in the NBA on the first Saturday night of the season and there were some monster lines, so let’s dive on in!
*Side note* the stat lines are in the format of 3’s-Points-Rebounds-Assists-Steals-Blocks-TOs
Jamal Murray– 3-26-3-5-2-1-3 on 50% FGs and 5-for-5 FTs. Played the Penguin to Nikola’s Joker. Gotta love the FG%, but the Suns are usually one of the best teams to play offense against.
Devin Booker– 1-25-2-7-1-0-6 on 33% shooting and 14-of-17 FTs. The efficiency is when I was not going to spend a 3rd-rounder on him. He’ll get his numbers and is always a possibility for a 40-burger on a given night, but you’ll also have to swallow the turnovers, and FG% drain.
Deandre Ayton– 5-8-1-0-0-2 in only 23 minutes. That’s a bucket of cold water being dumped on his owners who were pumped after his first game. I wouldn’t be worried though. This was a blowout.
TJ Warren– The Regulator only got 22 minutes, but still went 2-16-3-1-0-1-1 on 7-12 shooting. With the new additions in Phoenix, Warren’s minutes look like they’re taking a hit. At least his free throw volume will go down! Yes, I’m looking at the positives because I own him.
Blake Griffin– 5-33-12-5-0-1-0 on 12-of-23 shooting and 4-of-6 FTs. Big Bad Blake really went out of his comfort zone getting that one block. He should continue to put up big numbers in Detroit, while the team will battle for a playoff spot all season. He’s in a great fantasy situation. The Pistons had five other players in double figures, so for fantasy purposes, a pretty boring game for Detroit.
Wendell Carter Jr.– 8-2-1-0-2-2 on 4-of-6 shooting. He’s teeming with blocks upside.
Zach LaVine– 2-33-3-3-0-0-3 on 12-of-21 shooting and 7-of-9 from the line. Do it for LaVine! Remember Vines? Joel does. Zach has been crushing it so far and the FG% is something to keep an eye on. If he can keep it up he’s in for a monster season, but no matter what, his scoring will float his value.
Justin Holiday– 2-19-6-2-2-0-0. Most importantly, he got 37 minutes minutes and he could be a sneaky back-end fantasy option.
Kemba Walker– 7-39-5-7-0-0-2 on 14-of-31(!) shooting and 4-of-7 FTs. This was Walker Gold Label Reserve. Could have been the lede on most nights, but Jokic kind of dumped on everyone else’s stat line tonight.
Malik Monk– 3-15-1-1-1-0-0 on 5-of-11 shooting in 25 minutes. The Monk broke his vows of silence from last season and is letting his game do the talking so far this year. Three solid performances in a row. He should probably be rostered in most leagues.
Josh Richardson– Only scored seven points and not too much else. He had a strong first two games, but he’s something of a volume shooter.
Rodney McGruder– I’m never not going to think of McGruber when I see this guys name. I love Will Forte. I also love McGruder… when the Heat are shorthanded. 4-19-10-2-2-1-3 on 7-of-11 shooting. Ripping throats out there so far this year.
Dwyane Wade– 2-21-3-3-0-2-3 Ahh! It’s 2006. I’m gonna fire up my Playstation 2 and play some NBA Live with cover-boy Dwyane Wade. Yeah, twelve years later he’s still got something left in the tank. BTW, that game really went downhill after that year.
Aaron Gordon– 20-12-3-1-3-4 on 7-of-12 FTs and 6-of-9 from the line. If you can stomach the FTs, he’s a beast. Too up and down for my liking though.
Nikola Vucevic– 4-27-13-12-2-0-2 on 7-of-12 shooting and made all three free throws. Jokic laughs at this pathetic line.
Evan Fournier– 6-31-4-3-1-0-1. Yeah, get used to guys hitting a stupid number of 3’s this year. Nice bounce back after a rough first two games.
Mohamed Bamba– Had five points and three rejections in only 14 minutes. I need Mo’ Bamba! Seriously, once he gets some more minutes, the blocks will flow like wine.
Ben Simmons– Left with back tightness after only seven minutes. Philly still got the close win over a weak Magic squad.
JJ Redick– 8-31-4-4-1-0-0 The quintessential Dukie. He gets under drafted nearly every year and I’m guilty of passing on him.
Jayson Tatum– 2-24-14-0-2-0-4 on 8-of-15 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. He shares a name with Jayson Werth, who was a solid fantasy baseball player. So for that reason, I believe in him, and you should too.
Enes Kanter– 1-17-15-2-2-0-3 on 8-of-15 shooting. If Kristaps misses as many games this year as I think, (most to all of them) Kanter should be a beast.
Trey Burke– 11-3-9-2-0-1 on 5-of-12 shooting and 1-of-3 FTs. To be fair one of those free throws was one where he was trying to bounce it off the rim because the Knicks were down by 2 with only a few seconds left. I wasted a lot of effort defending that free throw percentage, but I did it for you guys. Burke is an interesting piece for fantasy, I’d add/hold him for the upside and opportunity.
Tim Hardaway Jr.– 5-24-3-3-1-0-3 on 8-of-21 shooting, but made 3-of-3 FTs. Got five 3’s the Hard-a-way! But wait there’s more!
Joe Harris– Average Joe went 2-19-4-3-2-1-4 on 6-of-11 shooting. He got 32 minutes and I’m definitely guilty of having slept on Joe Harris. His name is just so boring, I didn’t consider him.
Caris LeVert– 2-19-4-3-2-1-4 on 8-of-9 shooting. This was his worst game of the season… Or third best depending on how you look at it. Young Caris is having a breakout year before our very eyes. I always kind of joked his game reminds me of Michael Jordan. Obviously, he’s not going to reach that level, but maybe Bobcats MJ level.
Jarret Allen– Scored just eight points and only got one block, but I’d chalk this one up to the Nets being blown out by the Pacers on the second half of a back to back on the road.
Victor Oladipo– 3-25-7-3-4-0-3 on 50% shooting with an uncharacteristic 2-for-6 from the line. He was a pest last night and he lead the league in steals last year, so we can expect more of the same in the future.
Darren Collison– 2-13-2-3-1-0-0 in only 23 minutes. The minutes are a bit concerning as he hasn’t played 30 yet this year. I’d still hold, but the addition of Tyreke Evans will cut into his usage.
Kawhi Leonard– DNP Rest. Yeah, suck it to all of you who were bragging about how smart you were getting Leonard in the second round. “It’s like having two first rounders!” Wrong! Wrong! Eat crow.
Kyle Lowry– 4-28-3-12-1-1-4 on 10-of-21 shooting and 4-for-4 from the line. When Leonard is away the Bad Boy will play. Lowry should benefit all year from this situation. So good on you if you drafted him.
Danny Green– Man, third game’s a charm for a lot of these first two game ‘studs’. Danny Green showed his true colors (no pun intended) last night going 1-5-3-0-1-0-0 on a putrid 1-of-9 shooting. Baby Puke Green.
Fred VanVleet– 1-13-4-5-0-0-1 and got 27 minutes. He looks to have carved himself out a nice little role in Toronto and could see owning him in most leagues.
John Wall– 25-4-6-4-1-4 on 7-of-16 shooting and 11-of-13 FTs. I think his FT% from last year was a bit of a fluke, so if you got him in the third round, pat yourself. You know where.
Bradley Beal– 6-32-3-6-1-1-1 on 12-of-21 shooting. The Beal Parmesan came with extra assists and 3’s tonight!
Karl Anthony-Towns– 4-31-5-2-1-1-0 on 9-of-16 shooting and 9-of-10 FTs. To me, he’s a notch above someone like, say Giannis. He doesn’t hurt you in any categories. Giannis might be more fun to watch, but to me, it’s more fun to win.
Jeff Teague– 2-22-2-9-1-0-4 on 6-of-14 shooting and and 8-of-8 from the line. Remember when his brother was in the league? Barely.
Derrick Rose– 2-28-5-5-2-1-3 He Rose from the dead, out of the ashes of his kneecaps! Now averaging 29 minutes per game, and am I really considering picking him up? Mulling it over, that’s for sure. You can be more gung-ho about that if you want.
Deandre Jordan– 22-10-1-2-5-1 on 8-of-10 “shooting” and a magical 6-of-7 FTs. He hasn’t tanked your FTs yet but he will. Count on it.
Luka Doncic– 4-26-6-3-2-1-6 on 50% shooting, but 6-of-9 FTs in 36 minutes. Slightly reminiscent of another Mavericks PG…
Dennis Smith Jr.– 1-19-3-6-0-0-1 on 50% FGs and 4-of-5 from the stripe. Not super exciting, but sometimes you have to be patient with the Dennis System. He won’t be this efficient most of the time, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction. Man, I definitely said that a lot last year…
Wesley Matthews– 4-19-4-2-0-0-2 on 7-for-19 shooting and 1-for-3 from the line. His FG% is what really holds him back from being really useful, but his FT% should be much better.
DeMar DeRozan– 28-3-9-2-0-2 on 50% shooting and 6-of-6 FTs. Son faded him hard in the preseason. I was a little less bearish, but his lack of treys holds him back. He should be the leading scorer on the Spurs though.
Damian Lillard– 3-29-2-9-0-0-0 on 9-of-15 shooting and a sparkling 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. You know what Damian calls a game like this? Light Work.
CJ McCollum– 4-24-2-2-0-0-2 on 9-of-15 shooting. This is going to be the Dame and CJ show all year as per usual.
Now to get to the fun stuff. As most of you know, a late-game brawl broke out towards the end of the Lakers-Rockets game, which ended with Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and Brandon Ingram getting ejected. Rondo and CP were having a very chippy game, and long story short, punches were thrown. These were some of the nicest shots I’ve seen landed in the NBA in recent memory. However, I gotta call out Ingram for being a little bitch (can I say that Son?) and throwing a complete cheap shot at Chris Paul. I always thought he’d be a disappointment of a draft pick, but now you’ve disappointed your family dawg. There’s just a lot of storylines coming out of this. CP had spent time training with Ingram in the past, LeBron James is good friends with Paul, who has always had beef with Rondo, Duke-haters get vindication. The strings on the bulletin board are getting all crossed up. I’m speechless after that game. As much as the league is going to reprimand all these guys, I think it’s great to see athletes that genuinely don’t like each other competing against one another. That doesn’t excuse Ingram’s behavior. Just completely pathetic.
Anyway, here are the big stat lines:
Chris Paul– 3-28-7-10-1-0-3 on 9-of-17 shooting. He’s probably looking at a suspension…
James Harden– 5-36-7-5-2-1-6 on 10-of-19 shooting and 11-of-15 FTs.
Carmelo Anthony– 1-7-10-1-1-0-2 on 3-of-10 shooting. My theory is that Melo is going to purposely play badly off the bench, to try and prove that he’s better as a starter. Is that crazy? I’m not sure, but Melo’s kind of a head case that way.
Brandon Ingram– *Spits on the ground at mention of his name* 12-4-0-1-1-3 on 5-of-8 shooting and made both free throws. I hate this guy right now… Hope he gets the maximum suspension they allow.
Rajon Rondo– 1-13-7-10-2-0-2 A very nice game despite the antics. Also looking at a multi-game suspension. Just watch the video if you haven’t yet.
Definitely an interesting start to the season… Don’t be afraid to drop a comment!
