Five game night across the league, let’s get it!
Lakers/Mavericks
I just love my guy Dereck Lively. He’s a really good real-life rookie and fits what the Mavs want to do on offense. 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and steals, and is getting better and better.
I really respect Luca Doncic tattoo game. I thought at this point he would be completely covered. Like Lavar Ball said before we all found out his kids had really bad legs said, you never just get one. It’s usually in one of three ways that guys get inked:
The Monte Ellis: Nothing, then all of a sudden just blasted. JJ Redick did this also, so did Coby White recently. Go from nothing to sleeves.
The Lonzo Ball: Gradually get more and more until you don’t have any more room. DeMar DeRozan did this as well.
The Luca: Just keep one of a tiger on your forearm and that’s good enough.
The Kelder: No, I’m not cool enough to have a tattoo. My dermatologist recommended not because I scar weird, and it would end up looking like a puffy sticker. That and I’m not tough.
Oh, and Luca was 12-28, but did have 17 assists including this to Mr. Lively, the Diaper Dandy:
https://x.com/NBA/status/1734767889234710708?s=20
Dante Exum is interesting, I must say. He’s not going to drain 7 threes every night, of course. He’s a good streamer though when Mr. Flat Earth sits. His last three Dante’s Inferno has burned to 23, 16, 26 points. That’ll play, although the inferno burning nets up gets expensive or something.
For the Lakers, Cam Reddish has been back for a while but hasn’t gotten the minutes for a 12-team league pickup. He’s one of those guys who’ll get dropped, picked up, then dropped again. I’m just going to ignore him, and honestly most Laker role players. They’re too deep for anyone to really bust out and make an impact. This of course changes when someone gets injured. If this is the case, I pick up:
Cam Reddish
Rui Hachimura
And that’s it.
Bulls Nuggets
In keeping to form, opposing centers quake in fear to play the Chicago Bulls. Nikola Jokic was the lastest victim, with a 4-9-6 line against the fearsome defense of Nikola Vucevic.
No, that’s obviously not what happened. He got ejected for some reason which we won’t know.
https://x.com/BullsCentraI/status/1734760100105974102?s=20
I really wanna know what he said! As the Bulls Nikola said, “You can’t argue in English, you have to do it in Serbian!” Ironically, it was Serbian Heritage night.
Reggie Jackson is worth keeping around until Jamaal Murray gets to full strength. 26 points and somehow the Nuggets won a game without their two best players. Again.
DeMar DeRozan was just 3-13 one night after a 40-point explosion in overtime. Let’s look for a pattern. DeMar is 35. He played 40 minutes the night before. He then struggled with lift and his shot. Yes, that’s age related. Keep that in mind for back to backs, he may even sit for some of them.
I wrote this about Patrick Williams in preparation for tonight:
Patrick Williams has arrived several times in his NBA career. This time, though, feels different. With the Zach LaVine Klutch induced foot injury, PW is getting a new role. He’s spiffing it up and producing double digit points in 5 of 6 games sans the Bulls max player. His rebounding has ticked up and he’s averaging over 6 per game in this span, along with solid production in blocks and steals. His overall season numbers are lackluster, but I really do think this is the breakout some people have been saying is imminent. Not the elite level player, but he can be a low-end starter in 12 team leagues.
Then he goes for 7 points and 2 boards. I hate this job.
Coby White hit 5 more threes last night. He’s not THIS good but should settle into a near 20 points per game average. He’s for real.
Cavaliers vs. Celtics
Shout out to Max Strus. If you got him late, you are likely smiling all the way up the standings. He’s leading the league in minutes, last night he chips in 9 boards. He also chipped in 5 threes, so bully for him.
Celtics, blah blah, nothing newsworthy. Jayson Tatum (25-10-5) and Jalen Brown (25 points) lead the way. Jrue Holliday has of course lost value as the 3-4 option on his team and only scored 11, but that’s his role now. When everyone’s healthy he gets like 7 shots.
Warriors vs. Suns
This is the only thing that really matters here:
https://x.com/WorldWideWob/status/1734795959811682504?s=20
Yes, I imagine we will be seeing ol’ Draymond Green take a seat for 5-10 games. Here’s who I’m targeting to pick up the slack:
Brandon Podzeimski: Picked up the minutes last night and had 20-11-5. He’s my number one target.
Jonathan Kuminga: Positionally plays more like Draymond, went for 16-6 after the ejection. I don’t think Steve Kerr trusts him, though. Might be a hit or miss player.
Kevon Looney: I loved this guy last year as a sneaky percentages guy with a ton of rebounds. This has not been the case, he only logged 11 minutes last night. I don’t know what he even did wrong! Maybe his minutes tick up in the short term.
Dario Saric: Probably already owned, but he’s a surefire starter now and will push for 20 PPG and chip in on rebounds and passing as well. I only have him fourth because he’s likely owned. Well, okay, fine. I forgot about him. Don’t judge, you aren’t writing articles!
I really don’t know why Looney didn’t get more run. Probably I’m missing something because after a quick Twitter search it seems Kevon has been more Kev-off, amirite? I live in NC, and dadgum, those Warriors games go past my sleep time. I thought he’d be a good choice to guard Joseph Nurkic, with his spiffy 17-13-7 line. Kudos to the Suns for keeping him in while the Warriors went small.
Kings vs. Clippers
And we now reach the final game of the night. Word on the street is that the Clippers will be playing at a slow pace this year, and that’s how they kept the Kings to 99 points! Keep that in mind with streaming; the Clippers are not a juicy target. They also recently held the Nuggets to 102, the Mavs to 88, and Pelicans to 106, so this is a bit of a pattern here. Of course you run your main guys out there, but if you’re in like DFS or looking for a stream play this is a team to avoid.
If you took the chance on Kawhi Leonard, and you probably should not have, you have been rewarded. He’s been an ironman of late, averaging 38 minutes and not missing games. 23-6-4, while not prime numbers, are probably worth more than you paid for. Kudos if you drafted him over guys like Zach LaVine, DeMar, or other guys who aren’t playing as well.
I hope you gleaned some grains of knowledge here, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @theeducator23. I really need to get better at that app.
What would you like to see from me on the Tweeter machine? Keep in mind I’m not terribly motivated or anything and I tweet about the Bulls too much.
Have a great one and never, ever watch the Carolina Panthers!
