After a tough groin injury, we really weren’t sure how long DeMar DeRozan would be Frozen. “Let it go! Let it go! Blah dee, blah dee, blah…” Trying to reach out to our younger readers.
DD is back and immediately entices with immense cleavage! Younger readers, alienated. DeRozan returned after missing a month and a half/21 games for a very solid 20/4/4/1/1 game hitting 9-14 FG. It was against the soon to be relegated Sixers, so there’s that, but this is mighty encouraging. In a game where Toronto didn’t need him at all, he started, got 29 minutes, and looks healthy for the stretch run. Toronto letting the DD out! I bet chicks aren’t letting the DD out this time of year in Canada, sheesh it’s cold in NC! Lots of ripples with DeRozan back out there. The biggest is it looks like James Johnson can go in several leagues, as sad an epitaph as it is… Played only 15 minutes for 5/2/2/0/0. Some of that was probably matchup based since the Sixers backup depth is in guards (and Amir Johnson played well), but it’s a swift death. Terrence Ross also played only 18 minutes as the starter and scored 2 Pts without doing anything else. Ross is barely 16-teamer worthy now, as one of the deepest lineups in the NBA is healthy top to bottom. The Raptors bench could probably contend for a playoff spot in the East. Well they’d have to replace Tyler Hansbrough. I think one of those inflatable flailing arms things has more ball skills than Psycho T… Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:
Lou Williams – Revenge game! Hah. Not like he wishes he was still there in Philly… 19/0/2/1/0 hitting four treys and got 24 minutes off the bench. That seems about right, but if those 4 treys are 1.8 like he averages on the year, it’s a pretty boring game. Another casualty of DD.
Kyle Lowry – Still a boss with DeRozan back! An un-casualty? I don’t think that’s a term… 18/7/12/3/0 hitting 6-15 FG (4-10 3PTM 2-2 FT), but we’ll see if the value slows down as DeRozan gets back to his mid-30 MPG.
Michael Carter-Williams – See, he’s not that bad! Had the rough 4-8 FT and 4 TO, but you get a lot of good with a 29/7/4/2/0 line hitting 12-25 FG.
Robert Covington – A late scratch that probably killed a lot of owners and DFS players. It’s a shoulder issue bugging him, but the fact he was out that late means he’s probably fine. Then again it’s the tanking Sixers who like to bench as best they can…
K.J. McDaniels – Koala Juice! Haven’t done the juice bit in a while! 32 minutes getting a little extra burn with Tony Wroten hurt and went 10/8/1/1/4. Those sweet, sweet out-of-position blocks! Was cold from the field (2-10) but snuck in a trey for ya.
Nerlens Noel – Woooo, no TO! Had a few post possessions against Tyler Hansbrough, so gets a little “no duh he could score” boost there… 12/8/1/3/1. Those sweet, sweet out-of-position steals!
Manu Ginobili – A nice 27 points and 3 treys. Has outbursts like this really frequently, as in, as frequently as he finds hairs on the top of his head.
Tim Duncan – Rainbow alert! 14/10/3/2/3. Gramps still got it!
Matt Bonner – 4 blocks. That’s weird! Had 6 blocks on the year before last night. Charlotte brings out the ginger power!
Bismack Biyombo – Woooooo, nice stream call there! 12/15/0/0/5 as the Spurs continue to struggle to have presence in the post. They need a Postman! Call Kevin Costner…
Lance Stephenson – Returned from a messed up pelvis. At least he didn’t try a three! 8/1/2/0/0 with a TO and an awful 2-6 FT. Meh, leaving him alone.
Tyreke Evans – Tripdub flirt! Just such a flirt when there’s no Jrue Holiday… 18/8/9/1/1 and back into the starting 5. Holiday’s kankle doesn’t seem like it’s that serious even though he’s without a return date, so whenever he does suit back up, Evans should have a few games with some saucy numbers you might be able to sell high.
Nate Wolters – Signed by the Pelicans and after dealing Austin Rivers, who really isn’t a pure PG either, the Pelicans have only Jimmer Fredette who is PGish. And he’s not even that PGish, he’s labradoodle-ish. Wolters might sneak in a couple minutes when he makes his debut.
Quincy Pondexter – The Lone Ranger! A shocking 32 minutes in his Pelicans debut. Dante Cunningham isn’t exactly an elite NBA SF, and while the Q isn’t a good per-minute dude either, had a decent 9/6/3/0/0 line and three treys for deep league speculators.
Andre Drummond – The mini-slump continues. 22 minutes of 2/2/0/1/2 and we’re all hoping his little illness he had a wee bit ago is making him a wee little Drummo.
Jeff Green – Debut for the Grizz and he did about what I’d thought he’d do. “They were who we thought they were!” 10/3/2/0/0 on 3-11 shooting. He came off the bench, and Courtney Lee played well remaining in the starting 5 for 18/0/3 on 7-10 shooting. Sixth man role makes so much sense for Green…
Mike Conley – Ruh roh. Rolled the ankle and left with a kankle in the walking boot. He played through it at first, but could miss a few. Beno Udrih becomes mighty interesting in daily/deep streaming if Conley misses any time.
Bojan Bogdanovic – Only played 24 minutes but made them count for deep-league usable 11/6/1/1/0 and a trey. Boggie Boogie!
Brook Lopez – Rumors are abound he might go to the Heat. Slim is like “Nooooooooo!”
Jae Crowder – Boston Clam Crowder! And the Chow-dah was cold last night… 7/2/0/0/0 on 3-4 shooting in only 20 minutes. It’s mostly that skullduggerous Brad Stevens as to why I was luke-warm on the Chow-dah. Why he’s not in the 12er discussion yet, even after that bigun the game prior.
Evan Turner – Why I’ve been so anti-Turner! Such bad ones and the good ones are the flukes… 3/4/6/1/0 on 1-5 FG and 1-2 FT with 3 TO.
Al Horford – After the triple-double, it was Big Al’s turn to sit! Pero Antic got the start and had a usable DFS game for ya, but nothing much to make here.
Thabo Sefolosha – Dammit! I was one off! Had him as a stream Tuesday against the Sixers, then had his rainbow last night for 4/5/3/3/2. It’s low-end, and Kyle Korver also got the roost along with Al on the pine.
DeMarre Carroll – Someone has to take Korver’s treys! 3-6 from downtown in a fantastic 22/5/3/1/0 game. Still singin’ the carols after getting sat Tuesday!
Derrick Rose – A new ThrAGNOF versin of Rose! 32/2/5/0/0 but hit 6 treys going 12-22 from the field. Pts and treys were both season highs, yet twas another Bulls loss. Blame it on Cutler!
Joakim Noah – Oh no, the lords of the kankle hath struck again. Missed the second half with an ankle sprain, and it makes Taj Gibson close to a must-own again. As well as Nikola Mirotic, who almost rainbowed in 17 minutes last night for 12/4/1/3/1 and no TO.
Marcin Gortat – Well, the minutes were firmly there at 32, but 11/9/0/0/1 ain’t gonna cut it. Ten foot pole is now the 8 foot pole! It’s receding like his bald hair next to the mohawk! Kinda makes him look like a bird IMO…
Dallas Mavericks – Sat everyone. Off a late OT the night before, it makes sense, and our Dirk Nowitzki fears are already settling in. DNP-aphobia!
Chandler Parsons – Oh man, this is a toughie to swallow. It’s like a pill the size of a loaf of bread. Kinda sounds like a dirty thing… Anyway, CP0 for only 13/2/2/1/0 even without Rajon Rondo, Tyson Chandler or Dirk. This should’ve been a breakout!
Monta Ellis – Expected more here too, but he only played 21:30. That said, shot 1-11 with no dimes and 3 TO. “I miss Rajon!”
Raymond Felton – Yes, that Raymond Felton… Is in a daily recap… Yes, that Raymond Felton started. Wow. This was a “punt-the-win” strategy for Dallas. And not surprisingly, sprained his kankle. Made it through the game, but you get what you pay for.
Ty Lawson – Owned this game. He was like, “I’m the former UNC PG that go boss here, me!” Those UNC speech “classes” didn’t help. 29/5/12 on 10-18 FG.
Jusuf Nurkic – The Nurk is berzerk! Jamba Jus for 7/9/2/1/2 in 25 minutes. Against opposing starter Greg Smith he looked like an Abominable Snowman out there. Let’s get those minutes to 30!
Kenneth Faried – Manimal on the loose! Especially when he’s boarding over Greg Smith and Dwight Powell and Charlie Villanueva. Ew. 22/14 for Faried with 2 swats and 8-8 FT. He was 5 for his last 11 before last night, so maybe a crash course in FT shooting on Lynda has righted the ship.
Mario Chalmers – Eesh, well at least you got 3 swipes! I expected a lot more than a 7/2/5/3/0 line without Dwyane Wade. But this was kinda a rough matchup. I’m still giving him a couple more sans-Wade.
Shabazz Napier – We have a new Shabazz on the fantasy radar! 10/2/6/1/0 in 33 starting minutes, completely flat-topping Norris Cole for only 16 minutes off the bench. Looks like Napier is a solid 14er value when Wade is hamstrung.
Hassan Whiteside – Whoa, looks who’s starting! 29 minutes for 10/12/0/0/3, but did have 3 TO. Unacceptable! Loving the run and seeing Chris Andersen only play 12 minutes off the bench. Still Nurk over W-Side for me, but very very close. Encouraging night from White Si-eede!
Warriors Cs – Can’t use any of these guys. Andrew Bogut plays 25 minutes of meh, David Lee at 8/6/5 in 23 minutes is fine, and Marreese Speights is still getting run with 20 minutes and 9 shots. Triple pass!
LaMarcus Aldridge – Ball hog! 28 shots hitting 14 for 37/12/0/1/1. Nice bounce back after a ho-hum game against the Lakers a few nights ago.
Meyers Leonard – Whoa, Oscar Meyer with a foot long of minutes! 31:06 of run for 11/10/3/0/0 on 4-7 FG. Rip City went only 7 deep, with Leonard getting all the backup PF and C minutes. Deep leaguers should be like, “I want an Oscar Meyer wiener!” This post is getting out of control, sorry young readers who were sucked in with the Frozen branding!
Jamal Crawford – Damn, almost rolled him out there on a dice… well, roll… in DFS last night. 25/3/1/1/0 on 10-22 FG (4-11 3PTM 1-1 FT). Just had a feeling… Fiddlesticks!
J.J. Redick – Such a ThrAGNOF. 7/2/3/1/0 with only one trey on 3-12 shooting. In the past 31 games in exactly 30 MPG, 1.6 AST 0.4 STL 0.1 BLK. Slim said Jonas Valanciunas‘ sub-2 combined Ast/Stl/Blk would be tough to beat for anyone getting big minutes, well we almost found one!
Matt Barnes – Quietly, at least for me, on another one of his mini-spurts. 10/7/2/2/0 last night with a couple of treys and no TO. The past 8 have been really solid. Worth a look even in 12ers.
Larry Drew II – Getting called up for the Sixers from the D-League. This is an American Horry Story. Haha, I typoed that at first, but Robert Horry should really coin this idea! Ameican Horror Story* Drew II was so, so bad at UNC back when I was a big Tarholes fan, but hey, racked up 10+ dimes per in the D League. American Horror Story: The Philadelphia 76ers. Title of the next season.
Streamers/Cheap Daily Fantasy Picks:
Tarik Black (2% owned) – Jordan Hill is probable even after hyper-extending his knee last Tuesday night, but the Lakers might bottle him up for small minutes. Opposing Cs have nice games against the Cavs, even more so with the ghost of Timofey Mozgov trying to play D (“it’s so hard when they literally go through me!”), so I like Black for a dubdub. But not a stream if FT% is close in a H2H matchup, he’s awful there.
Shane Larkin (6% owned) – I’ve mentioned a few times lately I’m not a huge Larkin guy, but the minutes are there (27+ the last 4) and the steals are as well (2+ in the last 4). Opposing guards Brandon Knight and O.J. Mayo aren’t exactly careful with the ball so a 2 3PTM/2 Stl game should be pretty easy for NUMBER ONE… THE LARK…
Thanks for dropping by everyone, and be sure to set your line-ups early today. Games start at 3:00 PM EST as the NBA is playing in London baby!
