When you have the initials JC, you’ve already got a lot to live up to. John Collins is definitely on his way. Okay, not going to get into the religious stuff, but 3-30-12-5-0-1-1 on 12-of-20 shooting and 3-for-4 FTs in a win against a good Nuggets team is pretty Godly. I seriously underestimated the jump Collins would take from year one to year two. Especially, with the injury setback. He’s already averaging nearly eight points more than last year. The blocks should come up as well as he averaged 1.1 last season in four fewer minutes. I expect his FG% to come down a bit from 62.2%, especially since he’s attempting 2.5 3-pointers at a 25.9% clip, up from his 0.6 attempts last year. Enjoy him if you drafted him, but I doubt you’ll be able to pry him from his owners’ icy grip in your league.
Here’s what else went down in the NBA on Saturday night:
DeAndre’ Bembry– 3-18-3-5-1-3-1 on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-for-5 FTs. This was in only 19 minutes off the bench. He’s mostly a steals specialist, but with Taurean Prince out for the next few weeks, he should see some extra run.
Juan Hernangomez– 3-17-10-1-0-1-0 on 5-of-12 shooting and 4-for-5 FTs. 10+ boards in three of his last five. Paul Millsap is going to be out for a while with a broken toe, so go grab Juancho if he was dropped.
Malik Beasley- 3-19-1-0-2-0-0 on 7-of-16 shooting and made both his FTs. Gary Harris is going to miss 3-4 weeks with a hip injury, so you know what to do. The Little Nuggets are going to run wild for a while.
John Wall– 1-4-6-0-0-1 on 0-of-5 shooting and 1-of-2 FTs in just 26 minutes. Maybe physically being in Cleveland just made him depressed…
Tristan Thompson– 23-19-5-0-2-0 on 11-of-18 shooting and 1-for-2 FTs. LeBron leaves and TT starts to ball. He’s on his way to a career year. Always a good idea to draft 27 year olds.
Collin Sexton– 3-29-3-6-2-0-4 on 12-of-23 shooting with nary a free throw. He’s going to average close to 20 for the rest of the year with Hill out of the picture.
Alec Burks– 3-14-7-4-1-0-1 on 5-of-11 shooting and 1-of-2 FTs. Looking like a viable option in most leagues.
Larry Nance Jr.– 2-13-7-7-1-1-1 on 4-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 FTs. Nance in your pants! Cleveland players looking like they’re going to get a ton of minutes, for the time being. They only used eight players last night.
Terry Rozier– 3-15-8-2-3-0-1 on 6-of-11 shooting. 133-77 was the final score, so take from this what you will. I don’t want to talk about this game honestly. No Al Horford and Zach LaVine played only 19 minutes, what a ripoff… This new Bulls head coach better pull his head out of his ass. This is what I would say to him for only giveing LaVine 19 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-FP5TaoW-U
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson– 2-20-6-2-2-1-1 on 7-of-14 shooting and 4-of-7 FTs. Only his second 20-point game of the season. I’d consider him a buy.
Jarrett Allen– 14-12-0-0-2-1 on 5-of-9 shooting and made all four FTs. He fouled out in 26 minutes. He may have been a bit overhyped in fantasy circles, but he’s a consistent source of boards, FG%, and blocks so you can’t say he’s disappointed. The 3’s we were expecting just haven’t been there.
Spencer Dinwiddie– 1-25-3-6-1-0-3 on 10-of-17 shooting and an uncharacteristic- 4-of-8 FTs. The Nets won their first back-to-back game on the road since 2015 in Chicago. Yes, I come with the random Nets stats because they are my team for better or worse. (Worse).
Enes Kanter– 23-14-3-1-0-0-3 on 4-of-10 shooting and 3-of-5 FTs. I just traded him too, so this will be my last game owning Kanter. Like John Lennon said, “I just had to let it go.”
Tim Hardaway Jr.– 7-1-1-1-1-1-1 on 2-of-12 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. So he wasn’t hitting his shots, and because of that he decided to not do anything else… He’s usually over 20 PPG, but he’ll toss in a clunker about once a week.
Trey Lyles– 1-9-10-2-1-1-1 on 2-of-13 FGs and 4-for-4 FTs. Lived up to his namesake by hitting only one Trey. He’s gonna be one of the guys that gets added and dropped the most times in your leagues.
Nemanja Bjelica– 6-12-2-1-0-1 on 2-of-6 shooting and made both FTs. It’s like I’m looking for reasons to drop him, but he keeps reeling me back in.
Buddy Hield– 4-20-4-0-0-0-1 on 8-of-20 shooting. Buddy be shooting. Buddy be shooting very good. (47.4% FG on the year.) One steal in his last nine games is a little sad though.
Bogdan Bogdanovic– 1-11-3-6-3-1-2 on 4-of-11 shooting and 2-for-3 from the line. He actually got the start and played 33 minutes so, you’d expect better from him, but it wasn’t the Kings’ night.
Thaddeus Young– 1-20-9-0-0-1-4 on 7-of-13 shooting and 5-of-6 FTs. Another guy I just traded and it looks like he’s finally hitting his stride after a rough start to the season. Yes, this is all about me!
Bojan Bogdanovic– 1-18-4-2-0-0-1 on 5-of-13 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 from the line. Interesting stat: He has not blocked one solitary shot on the season. I wonder what the record is on that, but stick your damn hand up once in a while Bojan!
Myles Turner– 9-13-2-0-4-4 on 4-of-11 shooting. This is who he is, and that’s fine.
James Harden– 6-35-4-8-1-1-6 on 11-of-22 shooting and 7-for-7 FTs. I always find the hardest blurbs to write are for the superstars, because there’s not much to say, but damn.
Chris Paul– 3-23-2-8-1-0-2 on 10-of-20 shooting and 0-for-2 FTs. He has not been quite himself this year. I’m hoping he can turn it around, but it’s looking like a down year for him.
Luka Doncic– 3-21-7-1-3-0-3 on 7-of-17 shooting and 4-of-5 FTs. Don-Cic Fil-a’ed the Rockets. ROY or nah?
Jalen Brunson– 14-0-3-3-0-2 on 7-of-9 shooting in 30 starter’s minutes. Action Brunson got the start and made the most of it.
Wesley Matthews– 4-21-3-3-0-0-2 on 6-of-13 shooting and 5-of-7 FTs. He’s having his best year as a Maverick. I’m not sure why it took him so long to re-become what he was in Portland.
DeAndre Jordan– 12-20-2-2-1-3- on 6-of-9 shooting. Maybe foul him Houston? He’s still at 75.8% FTs on the year somehow.
Kyle Kuzma– 4-20-9-6-1-2-1 on 8-of-16 shooting. Finally, I can say it… Kuzma Daddy!
Josh Hart– 4-16-4-2-3-2-0 on 5-of-10 shooting and 2-for-2 fro the line. Immaculate Hart.
Tyson Chandler– 4-14-1-1-0-0 on 1-of-2 shooting and made both his FTs in 22 minutes off the bench. He continues to be a source of rebounds. I’m seriously thinking about adding him.
Marc Gasol– 1-11-6-3-1-2-4 on 5-of-9 shooting in 28 minutes. He’s had a bad week, but I wouldn’t panic. He’s just off the Marc. Had to do it.
Andrew Wiggins– 20-6-2-1-1-2 on 8-of-18 shooting and 4-of-6 FTs. If your team has only extremely efficient guys, then you can handle Wiggins and his wack percentages. One positive I can say about him: He’s only missed one game in his entire career. That’s pretty rare nowadays.
Derrick Rose– 18-3-9-3-1-2 on 9-of-25 shooting. Not a great shooing night, but the near dime bag and career-high (?) three steals make up for it.
Jusuf Nurkic– 22-11-4-3-4-6 on 7-of-10 shooting and 8-of-9 FTs. Jus’ got loose on the Wolves. Hit ‘em with the Au Jus. Splash!
Damian Lillard– 4-28-8-6-1-0-3 on 8-of-16 shooting ad 8-for-9 from the line. He is the Omen. Read the Harden blurb.
James Johnson– 1-18-8-3-1-1-1 on 7-of-11 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. Where has this guy been all year?
Justise Winslow– 1-21-6-9-2-0-1 on 7-of-16 shooting and 6-for-8 from the line. No Justise, no peas! Let me know if that was funny at all to you, because I slay me. On the reals, go add him. If he could develop a jumpshot and/or make his free throws, he’d be something special.
Kelly Olynyk– 2-15-10-4-1-1-1 on 2-of-13 shooting and 9-for-11 FTs. 13+ in his last five games. Kelly could be the Missing ‘Lynyk for your team. Pick him up if you need a big. Okay, I’m starting to think the Heat just played a West Coast-style game because they were in LA.
Dwyane Wade- 5-25-6-6-1-1-3 on 8-for-21 shooting and 4-of-8 from the line. He’s just having fun to be there, and saying damn the free throws.
Tobias Harris– 2-20-6-1-2-0-2 on 8-of-19 shooting and made both FTs. Toby Harry ‘bout to get payaade. Remember him on the Bucks? They really did not recognize his talent…
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander– 8-3-2-1-0-1 on 3-of-9 shooting and made both his FTs. Shai Guy lived up to his monicker. If he gets a little more aggro, he could be something special. Yeah, I’m bringing aggro back. He’s a hold for me because of the upside, but he’s low-volume.
