Dirk Nowitzki earned his second double-double of the season. So that’s nice. It was his first game back in more than a week. So that’s nice, too. What’s a little less nice is was how belabored the victory was in just about every way for both Dallas and Dirk. It came down to a last-second shot in overtime by San Antonio’s eighth man for Dallas to pull out the victory and Nowitzki was sucking down water in between free throws by the end. No matter how bad his conditioning was before, one has to figure it’s a little better this morning. All-in-all, the Mavericks are finding all sorts of fun ways to piece together wins. Jason Kidd missed last night, giving Rodrigue Beaubois another start despite Del-Tone West returning from a couple games off. RoboBobo has been absolutely nails for the Mavs. How nails? Pretty darn nails. Also, am I using “nails” correctly here? Doesn’t matter, I’m moving on as is. He’s averaging 1.3 3ptm/15.7 pts/4 rbd/6.3 ast, and here’s the kicker, 3.3 blk in each of his last three games. This is Beaubois we’ve been waiting for since the summer of 2010. Word on the street is that Kidd will miss a week or more, that Dirk’s not suddenly conditioned to perfection and that West is healthy enough to take over at the point. On a team with a ton of good and bad x-factors, Rowdy Roddy’s piping hot and worth a pickup in all leagues. Okay. More words about fantasy basketball for your eyes starting in about 1.5 centimeters.
Gary Neal -19/4/7, with a triplet of treys. This was an awesome way to end your week if you took a chance on … really anyone on San Antonio’s bench yesterday, but it won’t happen a lot. If nothing else, you can hope that Popp saw something in Neal that compels him to toss Neal in the starting five instead of Leonard.
Danny Green – “Sumbitch. I finally get to the starting five and Popp starts burnin’ the bench.” – Kawhi Leonard
Richard Hamilton – Returned. 11/2/1, with a steal in the first half. 11/5/2, with 3 stl by game’s end. Yawn.
C.J. Watson – Sat out with a wrist injury. S’okay. He was only averaging 7/1/2 in his last three since Rose returned to the lineup. Put him back on the shelf next to your 10-season-set of “Friends” and your Jurassic 5 vinyls.
Dwyane Wade – Shot 1-for-9 in the first half, then tripled his production in the second! (… by shooting 3-for-7.) Wade was off, yesterday was more of a “Bosh” day.
Eddy Curry – DNP-CD against the Knicks on Friday. Two fouls in two minutes yesterday against Chicago. Way to exact revenge on your exes, Ed.
Jeff Teague – 24/1/4 against the Hornets. Also known as the “Rip Hamilton Classic.”
Chris Kaman – The organization has decided to ground Cave Man until they can find a team interested in his services. You should do the same, or drop him outright if you’re impatient.
Roy Hibbert – 7/6 in 22 minutes shortened by foul trouble. The Hack-a-Howard turned into Harm-a-Hibbert.
George Hill – 16/6/4, despite a quiet second half. Actually, considering this was Hill’s best game of the season, maybe his second half was normal and his first half was just very loud.
Ryan Anderson – Returned after a 1-game furlough to drop 11 points (3 3ptm), all in the first half. Apparently, Hill and Anderson were too busy playing Words with Friends with each other on the bench to involve themselves much in the game after Q2.
Jameer Nelson – Concussed Friday and will miss at least two games because of it, meaning you also can cuss if you want to. Especially, when you consider that Chris Duhon (14/3/5 last night) is the vulture pick.
Jerryd Bayless – Before you continue reading, go pick up Bayless. I’ll explain why when you get back. For now, just go do it. … … Back? Firstly, Dwane Casey has decided to jimmy (technical term) with his lineup, which has resulted in Bayless playing the two, DeRozan playing the three and Aaron Gray not playing at all. Secondly, the Raptors have said they’d be willing to part ways with Jose Calderon, possibly putting Bayless in the starting position at the point. And thirdly, dude went 17/3/6, with a steal last night and you’re not too good to ignore free agent lines like that.
Kris Humphries – Hump’s had five double-doubles in his last nine games. Yesterday was not one of those double-doubles. Yesterday was a sloppy ol’ pail of 3/8 and 5 tovs. Also, it just dawned on me that for almost three months Kim Kardashian’s husband and mother shared the same first name, spelled the same way. That’s almost as weird as my wife and father both being named Frank. Jrue story!
Marshon Brooks – Started this game on the bench, and did very little in 22 minutes. Anthony Morrow started in his place and scored 14 points in 27 minutes. I’m beginning to think these Nets aren’t destined to do great things. No one tell Sundiata Gaines. I hear he’s a crier. Anyway, I expect Brooks to find his way back into the starting lineup later this week.
Anderson Varejao – Varejao scored a season-high 18 points, whilst also grabbing nine boards. So, we’re really at a place right now where I’m going to suggest you automatically start any fantasy big on your team if they’re playing Boston. It’s an uncomfortable place.
Alonzo Gee – Geezits dropped 14/6, with 4 steals against the Celtics last night in 29 reserve minutes. In his last six, he’s averaging .484/.722/7.6 pts/6.2 rbd/1.8 stl. Not stunning, but neither is Anthony Parker. Nor are the Cleveland Cavaliers, for that matter.
Nikola Pekovic – Had at least 13/7 in each of his last three. He’s taken Darko’s spot at starting center in Minny’s last two and is worth a stream if you need a big for a short spell.
