Ya know, playing a typical “bad” team can help cure all ills, but then there’s playing a New York team that goes full Poppycock… To kick off MLK day, the Knicks continued their epic collapse, by being forced to start doofy Ron Baker and Mind Games Koozie Mints. I’m kinda guessing at that second guy, I don’t know why Razzball isn’t linking to his name though! It’s about right! Baker got 22 minutes of 12/3/1/2/0 and was OK, and I guess Mindaugas Kuzminskas was OK too for 14/5/2/2/0 in 38 minutes, and well, the Hawks only beat this make-shift roster by 1, so there’s that! But the big thing to watch in this game (for me) was Dennis Schroder, who is off two horrid games where he got out-minutesed by Malcolm Delaney. Fortunately Das German broke out of his funk, and went 28/3/3 on a mad hot 13-16 shooting with a trey.
The trey being the game winner! Still got 2 TO and no D stats, but hey, at least he kept another split-PG situation from developing. Already have seen to much of that in the NBA! It was an action-packed, holiday-filled day of basketball last night, so let’s daily notes it up!
Kent Bazemore – Wing minutes there for the taking, and finally Baze is breaking out of it! 16/6/5/1/0 with 2 treys, and I’m glad I scooped him up where I could.
Paul Millsap – Playing some out-of-position C with Dwight Howard out (rest), and went 1.5 rainbow for 17/7/6/3/3. That said, murdered your ratios for 5-18 shooting, 6-10 FT, and 3 TO. Emulated Dwight a little TOO much on some of that!
Tim Hardaway Jr. – Ups and downs of ThrAGNOFfing! After a dud, comes out and goes 20/3/4/1/0 with 2 treys. I think he’s just happy to be neutered and no longer be a Poppycock.
Carmelo Anthony – Puts up 20 points, but bleh. His caramel-filled knees can’t carry this team without…
Kristaps Porzingis – …The Goose! Sat yet again with a sore Achilles. If you’re concerned, just look at what old man Dirk has been able to do after a sore Achilles ruined his first month. Goose should heal quicker while on his roost.
Joakim Noah – Well, at least Noah played pretty well! 7/17/3/1/2 on 2-3 FG, 3-5 FT. He’s reportedly got a sore shoulder, and playing him 33+ minutes I’m sure helped the cause. As long as that ugly-ass, side-winder shot is not going up too often, that’ll help the torque on his shoulder!
Moe Harkless – I ain’t got much for the Blazers, it was just an ugly afternoon across the board in DC. 0/1/1/1/1 for Moe, still getting a steal and a block every game, by hook or by crook!
Markieff Morris – Dayum, Kieff is on the upswing! 17/13/5/2/2 with no TO, on 6-9 FG (1-2 3PTM 4-4 FT). That’s like an Otto Porter line! Porter was only 12/4/0/1/0 – I think the two switched jerseys.
Kelly Oubre – 18 minutes off the bench, inflated by a little junk time run. I’m still hoping he can be the starting 3 next year in DC!
Joel Embiid – Sheesh, this is getting to be pretty ridiculous! Monster 22/12/2/2/5 line last night, only 9 FG attempts! Took 13-18 FT as he got his EMBIIIIIIID slapped around a little inside.
But went full EMBIIIIIID on that one! So fun to watch.
Sergio Rodriguez – Got the start with T.J. McConnell playing the same drills Jerryd Bayless went through in the offseason and also hurting his wrist. Luckily the MRI came back clean, but without a timetable, if you need some PG stats, Spanish Chocolat it up! (Was trying to go for the Spanish spelling, just so you know that wasn’t an unintentional typo. I’m sure I have plenty of typos usually though!) 10/7/6/1/0 with a trey from S-Rod in a decent outing.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Fouled out in only 29 minutes. Got Embiid-ed! 23/6/2/2/3 in his usual great line though.
Malcolm Brogdon – 11/2/6/2/0 in a decent-enough line, but where’s the beef?! Only 28 minutes?! 3 of the last 4 games now 28 minutes or under. In redraft or keeper leagues, I think I’d be selling high. Matthew Dellavedova still got his 21 minutes off the bench, and I don’t think with Delly healthy they go Brogdon as a 32 or 34 MPG starter.
Anthony Davis – Got to 16/3/3 in 23 minutes, but had to leave early yet again after getting truck-sticked by Myles Turner:
On the one hand, Turner did get a pretty clean block! On the other hand, he DDT-ed him! At least that was only half-bad compared to when KOQ threw him out of bounds last week… Fortunately X-rays on Brow’s hip and thumb were fine, and we might be looking at [hopefully] only a missed game or two, if that.
Terrence Jones – Got a little extra run with Brow hurt, going 15/8/3/0/2 with a trey. Did his usual FT-punting with 2-5 FT, but holding off Donatas Motiejunas right now for bench PF/C minutes. Tjones’s last 3 have been pretty good (minus the 6-17 FT – yikes!), but if you can manage a FT punt guy, with Brow hurt, you could take a worse flier.
Thaddeus Young – Who does he think he is, Winona Ryder at a department store?! 17/3/2 with 6 steals! 8-9 FG, 1-1 FT and no TO either. Thaddeus playing maddeus D this game!
Jeff Teague – Someone get this guy some stickum! Beautiful 16/8/10 line, but 7 TO. Did the scorekeeper accidentally count some passes from Teague to Thad as TOs for Teague and STLs for Thad?!
Aaron Gordon – New nickname! “Lol”. Because that’s what I do every time I see his stat line. As soon as he’s hot, he disappears. As soon as he’s atrocious a few games, he goes off for 30. 4/4/2/2/0 in 28 yawnstipating minutes.
Elfrid Payton – Hell to the yes! 20/4/12/0/0 on 9-17 shooting. Sure, I wish he was putting more steals on his Shelfrid, but playing some inspired ball right now.
Nikola Jokic – Whoa, burying the lead! Jokic going full Thanksgiving Ham on us! 30/11/5/3/0 with a trey, on 13-19 shooting. Where’s the Magic D?! I thought Nikola Vucevic was supposed to be better at D these days!
Kenneth Faried – The Nugs went big for this matchup – makes sense against a team starting Serge Ibaka at the 4 – and Manimal took advantage for 10-12 FG for 20/5/2/1/1. Marks back-to-back good games, but it’s really tough to trust he’ll get enough run. Not like they’re gonna stop playing Wilson Chandler, who only got 21 minutes due to the matchup and a little foul trouble.
Gary Harris – Mannnnn, just can’t stay healthy. Picked up an early kankle, and is doubtful for tonight. I’m not going to go any further into the Razzball history on this guy, I want to see him stay healthy for a bit.
Emmanuel Mudiay – Well for as good as Elfrid played fantasy-wise, he didn’t lock down Mudiay on D! Huge game from Mudiay, going 18/2/13/2/1 on 6-12 shooting with 2 treys. He really bottomed out starting on the calendar flip to 2017, but has been much better the past 2 games. If you can handle some % and TO drain, he’s certainly worth scooping back up.
Nicolas Batum – Damn, couldn’t make one more triple?! 8/10/10/1/2 in a solid, multi-cat line, but shot only 2-11 with 4 TO. C’s D!
Isaiah Thomas – Holy schnike, it’s like he’s playing on the Warriors! 14-25 shooting for 35 points, with 7-15 of those shots treys! IT2/3 owners are looking at a nice 3PTM win this week!
Kelly Olynyk – Came in questionable with a kankle, but plodded his way through another nice outing of 15/9/4/1/0 on 6-9 shooting with 2 treys. Another 26 minutes too, something I noted yesterday – now 5 straight of 22+ minutes, and he’s been able to fill up the cats with that kind of run.
Klay Thompson – Well, I guess getting to the CLE@GSW game this late in the daily notes is REALLY burying the lead! But this game was atrocious. Klay led the Warriors in scoring with 26 Pts on 5 treys, and the Warriors won this straight from the tip. Didn’t take kindly to the tough loss on Christmas!
Draymond Green – Case and point, Draymond playing football at center court on LeBron!
#Targeting. But hey, at least he didn’t target The King’s crown jewels on this one! Yeah it looked worse that it was, LeBron and his long-practiced act of flopping made that look a lot worse than it should’ve been… Oh yeah, fantasy! Epic line! 11/13/11/1/5 with no TO this time from #Occupy! And one tackle, for those of you in IDP leagues…
Kevin Love – Aggravated a sore back when he ran into Pizza Arms, but it seems mostly like a 75-49 halftime lead sounded like a good idea to limit some minutes, rather than push through.
Rudy Gobert – Is an absolute monster. 18/17/1/1/4.
Joe Ingles – Is less of a monster, than just a nice, under-the-radar Hobbit. 11/2/5/2/0 from the Aussie with 3 treys. Got 34 minutes and looks to be your starting SG for the next few weeks, as Rodney Hood hurt his knee on Sunday and will miss at least two weeks… Ingles is pretty low upside, but you could do worse for some back end, 3-n-D.
Eric Bledsoe – Was a one-man show keeping Phoenix in this one! 31/9/9/1/0 with 2 treys from mini-Bron.
Alex Len – Got the start at C in a tough, tough matchup with Tyson Chandler with an upset, upset tummy. 6/5/0/0/2 from Len in 21 minutes.
Dragan Bender – Wait, Gobert played 37 minutes, who in the hell was on Rudy most of this game?! Bender?! 25 minutes for 5/4/0/0/2, and Marquese Chriss got 22 minutes and was awful with 5 fouls. You put these two stretch 4s on Gobert some of the game?! Yeesh.
Enes Kanter – Wow, in a game against the Clippers without Steven Adams (concussion) and going against DeAndre Jordan, you start… Jerami Grant at center?! 9/8/1/0/3 for Grant who at least held his own in 34 minutes, but Kanter only got 23 mins for 12/5/1/1/1. I guess the Thunder wanted a leaper, not a shower.
Victor Oladipo – Off one of his better lines of the year, went only 6/3/3/2/0 in this one, on 3-11 shooting. It’s rough sledding against the Clip, so hopefully he gets back on the right foot tomorrow against the Dubs.
Chris Paul – Well, it wasn’t CP3 leading this dominating win over the Thunder, as he jammed his thumb in a collision with Russell Westbrook and left after 14 minutes. X-rays were clean, but thumb injuries can be scary. I’m holding my breath here.
Raymond Felton – Roly poly got some added run, and didn’t miss from the field! 15/3/6/1/1 on 7-7 shooting, and I might be making some spec-Felton adds across my RCLs with this Paul news. Be sure and get him now if you’re a CP3 owner.
Marreese Speights – The ace of Speights! 23/10/3/1/0 on 8-15 FG (3-7 3PTM 4-4 FT). If there’s a jumper to be had, he’ll be taking it!
I hope everyone had a fantastic MLK day and got to watch some added afternoon basketball yesterday! Good luck to your squads in the remainder of the week, and I’ll catch you with the Pod and Notes again on Thursday morning!
