John Wall went from hero to zero back to hero in Washington this season. Nobody will argue that John Wall is the most talented player on the Wizards, but when he went down with a knee injury and the team started playing its best basketball of the season, people started questioning Wall’s value to the team. His selfish play was viewed as holding the team back in the day-and-age of the Hoosier method of at least three passes before a shot. The team’s hot streak wore off, however, and everyone started clamoring for Wall’s return. Now the Wizards are battling for a playoff spot and John Wall stepped up for one of his best games of the season: 4/29/7/13/3/3. I mean, wow, nice game and nice timing. Anyone still playing in fantasy who has John Wall is as excited about the timing of this as the city of Washington D.C.
Anyway, here is what else I saw last night as teams battle for the last playoff spot and just plain old last place:
Wizards over the Celtics: 113 – 101
Bradley Beal: 3/19/4/3/0/0 – Beal doing exactly what is needed next to the ball-dominant Wall. Beal deserves a lot of credit for how he has handled this crazy season and all that has been required of him.
Markieff Morris: 2/13/4/2/1/0 – Watch these next bunch of lines, perfect role player slashes next to their star.
Otto Porter: 2/12/5/2/1/0 – The Wizards lucked out that Porter is healthy and ready to go if they make the playoffs.
Mike Scott: 0/12/8/3/0/0 – No three is odd, but right in line with the other guys.
Kelly Oubre: 3/11/6/2/1/0 – Consistent right?
Tomas Satoransky: 1/7/5/5/1/0 – To-Sat was hit hardest by the return of Wall, but remains consistent off the bench.
Jaylen Brown: 6/27/2/2/2/0 – Yes Son, I see this line. But what I didn’t see is Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. When Brown is doing this with other stars on the floor, then I will buy into the hype.
Jayson Tatum: 2/12/3/2/4/0 – So well-rounded and poised. I can’t wait to see what Tatum and C’s do next season. It could be special.
Al Horford: 0/10/13/3/1/1 – Horford decided to be a center tonight instead of a wing who assists and hit threes.
Suns over the Mavericks: 124 – 97
Alec Peters: 8/36/9/2/1/0 – Seriously, who? 36 points is no joke and it is actually the 5th highest scoring game by a Suns’ rookie, ever! Peters came into the game with just 46 CAREER points. Nice game rook and I feel happy for a guy who has had to live his whole life with a name that sounds like “I lick peters.”. The Suns have no shortage of talented young guys.
Shaquille Harrison: 0/18/4/10/2/0 – Mini-Shaq got the surprise start over Tyler Ulis (1/14/0/8/2/1 – who still had a nice game) because TU was playing a little too good for the tanking Suns, but the plan backfired as Shaq-Too went nutty droppin’ dimes.
Alex Len: 0/18/5/6/0/1 – Len produces when healthy, but he fits the category of player that is being phased out of the NBA. It is only a matter of time before the classic center doesn’t even get the start anymore and they are relegated to just knocking the ball out when it gets stuck between the rim and the backboard.
Danuel House: 1/16/8/3/0/0 – What a great story. House has played himself into a home with the Suns.
Dragan Bender: 3/15/13/2/0/2 – Well, Bender was the sleeper we all thought he could be. It is just too bad he realized it with 5 games to go.
Johnathan Motley: 0/21/6/1/0/0 – Motley decided that he likes Home Sweet Home Dallas and has played well there. He must Dr. Feelgood after the end of the season because he will make enough money to Shout at the Devil. Let’s see if he can Kickstart my Heart next season and impress some Girls Girls Girls.
Aaron Harrison: 2/16/4/1/2/0 – The other Harrison exists!
Dorian Finney-Smith: 1/14/7/4/1/0 – Mark Cuban must be so proud of his team for tanking like this. Awesome job fellas!
Kyle Collinsworth: 0/10/11/8/1/0 – Took a break from calling Monday Night Football to get a double-double. Nice! (when nobody is reading your articles you can repeat jokes)
76ers over the Hawks: 121 – 113
JJ Redick: 6/28/4/5/0/0 – Redick is playing himself into a nice pay day. What a signing for the Sixers. He’s gonna get so much money he will have to rename himself JJ Greendick.
Ersan Ilyasova: 4/26/8/2/1/2 – Another guy who is loving Philly. Ersan has become the player fantasy owners always hoped he could be with Embiid out. What a great signing. The 76ers front office and Coach Brett Brown deserve a ton of credit.
Amir Johnson: 1/15/8/5/1/0 – Something about playing Atlanta brings out the best in everyone, even when it isn’t revenge like with Ersan and the Italian JJ Redick, umm, I mean this next guy:
Marco Belinelli: 5/20/4/0/1/1 – He has been on fire and the 76ers are the team I am most excited about watching (other than my Warriors…yes I grew up in the Bay Area and lived through the bad times, *cough* Latrell Sprewell *cough*). Their combination of outside shooting and Embiid inside and this next handling the rock, dang:
Ben Simmons: 0/14/10/6/2/1 – The Sixers are playing so well as a team that people almost don’t even notice that Markelle Fultz (0/4/5/3/1/0) is back.
Robert Covington: 1/6/8/4/1/3 – RoCo, you can do better than this. But his defense is still off the chain.
Taurean Prince: 6/27/4/6/1/0 – Prince has played himself into a third round pick, maybe even better.
DeWayne Dedmon: 0/14/7/2/0/3 – Dedmon Walkin’ had a quietly nice season.
John Collins: 1/13/9/5/1/0 – Collins has shown flashes of his capability this season, but was never able to put it together consistently. Next season he is going to break out in a big way, mark it.
Hornets over the Pacers: 119 – 93
Kemba Walker: 3/15/2/5/0/0 – Free Kemba!
Marvin Williams: 5/15/4/3/1/2 – Where ya been Marvin?
Nicolas Batum: 2/14/4/6/0/0 – My pick, along with Zach Lavine and Buddy Hield, for out-of-nowhere All-Stars next season. You’ll see!
Dwight Howard: 0/14/17/0/0/1 – Look who decided to show up.
Frank Kaminsky: 3/24/7/1/0/1 – If only Frank’s big games were predictable he would totally be worth owning and streaming. But unfortunately there is no rhyme or reason to his outbursts.
Darren Collison: 3/13/3/4/0/0 – Victor Oladipo is getting the full-on star treatment and was rested for the playoffs. Leaving the door open for a few guys who in no way took advantage of it.
Glenn Robinson III: 3/13/8/1/0/0 – Not bad, but could have been better with no VO.
Lance Stephenson: 1/9/13/4/2/1 – Not bad if you streamed him, but only 3-10 from the floor. Blah.
Myles Turner: 0/2/3/1/0/2 – He is going to be a great value in drafts, right?
Domantas Sabonis: 0/10/10/1/0/1 – What, you were expecting another 20+? Come on.
Jazz over the Warriors: 119 – 79
Donovan Mitchell: 4/22/3/1/2/0 – Holy butt-whoopin’ Batman. The Jazz and Warriors are in completely opposite headspaces heading into the playoffs. This is gonna be interesting.
Derrick Favors: 2/16/9/1/0/1 – The Jazz can match up with any team. They have size when that works, they have speed when that works, they have shooting when that works, watch out.
Rudy Gobert: 0/13/4/2/0/2 – Rudy has to be right there for Defensive Player of the Year, right?
Jonas Jerebko: 4/14/6/1/0/0 – I have noticed then when I find myself writing about Jerebko the Jazz have usually won.
Ricky Rubio: 1/13/5/5/3/0 – I wonder which Ricky we will get in the playoffs? Can’t wait!
Klay Thompson: 3/23/1/1/1/0 – Klay is getting a shot to show that he is as valuable as other stars like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant (0/13/4/1/0/0) and to his credit he has been the best player on the Warriors in the last few games. Unfortunately that is not translating to too many wins. So what does that tell us? Nothing actually, it tells us nothing.
Quinn Cook: 1/8/4/1/0/0 – Really disappointing for Cook who just signed a 2-year deal so he could be on the playoff roster. A real feel good story which is made a little darker when you remember that Omri Casspi had to be released to make room. You know, Omri “I took less money to go for a title and then got cut 2 games before the playoffs” Casspi?
Draymond Green: 0/4/3/3/0/0 – This has to be his worst game ever right? It was just Drayedful…sorry, I tried.
Rockets over the Lakers: 105 – 99
James Harden: 3/21/4/10/1/1 – The Rockets and Harden are primed for a long playoff run and Harden is set up to win his first MVP and be a top 3 pick in drafts next season.
Chris Paul: 4/22/3/6/1/0 – Paul is healthy and will be looking to show everyone that he can get a team through the playoffs. Let’s get this started already!
Gerald Green: 3/16/6/0/1/0 – Green is feeling it and should get a ton of threes in the playoffs and depending where he ends up could be a nice late round THRAGNOF in next year’s drafts.
Clint Capela: 0/10/12/0/1/0 – Harden and Paul get all the hype, but the reason the Rockets are the best team in basketball is because of Capela taking his game to the next level. He could be an All-Star next year.
Josh Hart: 2/20/7/0/2/0 – Hart is the rare guard that puts up stats like a 3-and-D wing. Either way, he has game and this last Lakers’ draft will go down as one of their best ever.
Julius Randle: 0/17/8/1/2/0 – One of the more interesting stories out of LA will be what happens with Randle. He is almost surely gone, but where does he go and will the replacement player be better considering how young Randle is? We shall see.
Andre Ingram: 4/19/3/1/1/3 – The other Ingram? 32 year old Andre Ingram got the call from the G League and got a shot to play in an NBA game, and the “kid” delivered. Nice story.
Tyler Ennis: 0/10/4/4/2/0 – Don’t make a joke about what his name rhymes with, don’t do it, don’t you do it….Penis!
Alex Caruso: 1/9/4/6/2/0 – Let’s end on a beautiful rainbow line…lovely.
I will be back with off-season articles and you may see me on the Baseball side of Razzball. We will also be back with more podcasts. So stay with us for all your off-season NBA and fantasy basketball news. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support!
