Boy, the way Lonzo played
Cleveland wishes LeBron had stayed
Man, they really had it made
Those were the days
Dated All in the Family reference aside, the Lakers really abused the Hornets last night. Side note: The All in the Family theme song gets super inappropriate after the first verse talking about how freaks used to only be in the circus and that there’s too many people on welfare, but that’s Archie Bunker in a nutshell. Okay, back to B-Ball… Charlotte was coming off a back-to-back, so it was a perfect storm for the Lake-Show to put up some big lines. The Lakers had two players with double-doubles: LeBron James and Lonzo Ball. For LeBron, this was one of many, and for Ball, this was one of many to come, but for two players to get a trip-dub in one game is special. This feat has only been accomplished five other times, most recently when Jason Kidd and Vince Carter did it back in 2007, when the Nets played in New Jersey. Those were the days! Mark Wahlberg would have been proud, even though he’s a Celtics fan, because it was the Perfect Storm for the Lakers to have a historic night. Ball went 2-16-10-10-5-1-2 on 7-of-11 shooting making 1-of-2 FTs, while James went 2-24-12-11-1-0-3 on 7-of-15 shooting and 8-of-12 from the line. On another side note, George Clooney got a bunch of men killed in that movie over some damn fish… Anyway, here’s what else went down in the NBA on Saturday night:
JaVale McGee– 19-6-0-1-3-1 on 9-of-10 “shooting” and 1-of-2 from the line. The Shaqtin’ a Fool veteran came though in just 18 minutes. His numbers have been slightly down with the addition of Tyson Chandler, but he’s still a super-solid value, and was a steal of the draft.
Cody Zeller– 8-7-3-0-3-1 on 3-of-7 shooting and made both FTs in just 20 minutes. Zeller-Not-Stellar, but he’s always pretty solid. I like him as a low-end guy that won’t kill you.
Miles Bridges– 2-17-3-0-0-2-2 on 5-of-13 shooting and 5-of-6 FTs. I can’t recommend him as an add, but I think next year he could be a value pick. I’d just keep my eye on him for now.
Derrick Favors– 21-8-2-0-0-3 on 8-of-16 shooting and 5-of-6 FTs. Favors has been having a stretch of solid games minus a two-point performance on December 9th. I was a bit down on him in the preseason, as I thought his numbers got a tad inflated due to Rudy Gobert being out for stretches last season, but he’s been good alongside Gobert all year.
Donovan Mitchell– 2-24-1-1-1-0-0 on 8-of-21 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe. He’s in a bit a sophomore slump, but I could see him coming on at the end of the year.
Ricky Rubio– 15-4-4-2-0-2 on 3-of-14 shooting and 9-of-9 FTs. He’s only 28 years old, but I feel like his career is already going down hill.
Evan Fournier– 2-24-7-0-1-0-1 on 7-of-15 shooting and 8-of-10 FTs. He’s not having the year he had last year, but I think that correlates with the Magic’s improvement as a team.
Terrence Ross– 3-19-3-0-2-0-0 on 8-of-9 shooting. He had gone cold for two games, so this was a nice bounce-back.
Mohamed Bamba– 1-9-4-2-0-4-2 on 3-of-7 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. The man has a song that will immortalize him, but he’s gonna have to have more games like this to immortalize himself on the court. The potential is there though.
Aaron Gordon– 2-8-2-3-1-0-6 on 3-of-7 shooting. AG not All Good. He has the athleticism, but has yet to put it all together. His inefficiency is a culprit.
Kyrie Irving– 2-26-8-4-3-0-3 on 11-of-25 shooting and 2-for-3 FTs. Light Work. Okay, the C’s lost to Detroit, but this is about average for Kyrie.
Marcus Smart– 5-21-8-3-3-0-2 on 6-for-11 shooting and 4-of-6 FTs. You wicked Smart now huh? Definitely worth the add if he wasn’t already. The steals are off the charts.
Gordon Hayward– 6-2-2-1-0-1 on 3-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes off the bench. He’s either a buy-low or a sell-low. I’ll get back to you on that at the end of the year. I’m leaning towards this season being a lost cause for Hayward. Honestly, I can’t say if he’ll ever get back to what he was.
Blake Griffin-1-27-8-6-1-0-5 on 8-of-16 shooting and 10-of-13 FTs. Blake Griffin wooo… No D stats and not great efficiency. Do something that surprises me.
Andre Drummond– 19-20-1-3-5-1 on 6-of-14 shooting and 7-of-9 FTs. Drummo brought the D that Blake couldn’t.
Clint Capela– 26-10-0-0-2-2 on 10-of-17 shooting and 6-of-7 FTs. In like Clint! That’s my favorite movie! The FTs are nice, but obviously not the norm for him.
James Harden– 3-32-12-10-2-0-5 on 9-of-14 shooting and 11-of-13 FTs. Another trip-dub tonight. CP3, where you at? 14 points and 10 assists, not cutting it tonight.
Jaren Jackson Jr.– 1-9-7-3-1-3-1 on 4-of-7 shooting and missed both FTs. If he hit his FTs, the line would have looked a lot better, but even so, the blocks, threes, and FG% have all been boons to his value. I told a guy in the mock draft chat during the preseason, that I’d rather wait a few rounds later and take JJJ, than draft Jarrett Allen in the fourth round and he laughed at me. Well who’s laughing now scumbag?
Marc Gasol– 1-17-9-4-3-0-4 on 7-of-12 shooting and 2-for-2 from the line. Would have loved to see some blocks, but I’m just happy he’s back on the Marc!
Lauri Markkanen– 3-23-7-1-2-2-2 on 9-of-18 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. Speaking of on the Markk… He’s just about averaging what he did last year and the FG% has been down, so I’d expect the averages to increase soon.
Kris Dunn– 24-7-3-2-0-1 on 11-of-19 shooting and 2-of-2 FTs. Zach LaVine was out tonight so Dunn got the chance to shine. This was just his third game back from injury, so it looks like he’s shaken off the rust.
Bobby Portis– 9-4-0-0-1-1 on 4-of-12 shooting and 1-of-2 FTs. He and Dunn must have followed the same rehab schedule, as this was also his third game back, and just as the Bulls are fully healthy, LaVine needs a night off.
LaMarcus Aldridge– 20-12-1-0-1-0 on 10-of-16 shooting and 9-of-11 FTs. Is he a poor or rich man’s DeAndre Ayton? Or is he basically Deandre Ayton with a bit more points, but worse FG%?
Bryn Forbes– 0-6-3-0-1-2 on 0-of-4 shooting. I’ve Bryn off Forbes for a while now, but he’s really not much more than a high-end streamer in 12-ers.
Danilo Gallinari– 4-28-7-2-2-0-7 on 10-of-16 and 4-of-5 shooting. Alright, this is gonna be the year he stays healthy? Now that he’s 30 years old… Honestly, it feels like he should be older.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander– 2-2-2-1-1-2 on 1-of-4 shooting and 0-for-2 FTs. Shai-guy was extra timid tonight, but chipped in a steal and a block to salvage the line.
Avery Bradley– 2-10-7-4-1-1-6 on 4-of-9 shooting in 34 minutes as a starter. He’s been getting minutes, but hasn’t been doing much with them. Minutes are key, though, so could be worth a look until you find something better.
Montrezl Harrell– 1-21-6-3-0-1-3 on 8-of-14 shooting and 4-of-7 FTs. After three quiet nights in a row Montrezl snuck onto the box score. Just like he sneaks that ‘l’ in his first name. Just like the Clippers snuck in an L against OKC last night. See it all comes full circle.
Paul George– 5-33-7-6-1-1-0 on 11-of-19 shooting and 6-of-8 FTs. PG or Lillard? I think I’m taking PG for fantasy basketball purposes.
Jerami Grant– 1-18-4-1-2-3-2 on 8-of-11 shooting and 1-of-3 shooting. Having a career year. His improving 3-point shot definitely is helping him into fantasy relevancy.
Russell Westbrook– 3-13-9-12-6-0-4 on 4-of-17 shooting and 2-of-3 FTs. The near triple-double is nice, but I’m impressed with the 14 steals over his last three games. Also, I’m not sure what’s up with his FT shooting; 61.6% on 5.6 attempts per game is a drag.
Dario Saric– 2-15-11-2-1-0-1 on 6-of-12 shooting and made his only FT. Okay, I’m back in on Dario. Three nice games in a row is a trend. Taj Gibson was out, but maybe he’s proved enough to earn more minutes. Okay, the Wolves have lost their last three, so this is looking unlikely.
Karl-Anthony Towns– 1-28-12-4-2-2-0 on 11-of-26 shooting and 5-of-6 FTs. Does anyone actually address him as Karl-Anthony? KAT is just so much cooler. I think the ‘rents knew what they were doing. My fantasy basketball analysis: he’s really good.
Derrick Rose– 2-25-1-1-2-0-2 on 11-of-16 shooting and made his only free throw. Crazy thing is, he was putting up very similar numbers when he was on the Knicks. The main improvement is the 3-point percentage: 48.3% on the year is ridiculous.
Mikal Bridges– 2-12-5-2-2-3-1 on 4-of-12 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. The rainbow line! I like him as an add with Trevor Ariza now on the Wizards. He’s a nice source of steals and threes.
TJ Warren– 3-21-5-1-1-1-0 on 8-of-19 shooting and 2-for-2 FTs. He’s another guy who made big improvements in his 3-point shooting. Why did I drop this guy? The only concern is injuries, as he has yet to play more than 66 games in a season through his first four plus years in the league.
Deandre Ayton– 18-12-2-0-1-0 on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-5 FTs. He’s a walking double-double, and if it wasn’t for Luka, he could be the lead candidate for ROY.
De’Anthony Melton– 1-9-3-5-2-0-3 on 4-of-6 shooting. Started, but only got 21 minutes. Devin Booker returned from his seven-game absence so it’s unclear how this situation will play out, but Melton deserves minutes on a tanking Suns team. I’d look to hold to see how this plays out.
Devin Booker– 3-28-7-7-0-0-2 on 10-of-16 shooting 5-of-6 FTs. If he could keep the turnovers under control like last night, he’d be a stud.
Josh Jackson– 6-6-2-1-2-4 on 2-of-10 shooting and made his only FT. I’m with Son, this guy is just not that good of a player. JJ needs to work on his *pinky to mouth* J…
