Man, what a horrid week for injuries! Highlighted by the worst injury of all: yesterday we got news that JB Gilpin – yes pickup basketball superstar – rolled his ankle in his after-work pickup game on someone else’s fat foot. That’s right, I got a kankle! Some rough swelling, probably out 1-2 weeks, go ahead and give me that INJ tag! No joke, this is the second time in a row I’ve gotten a kankle before a big trip. Now I’m gonna be gimpy walking around Spring Training games on my baseball trip starting this weekend! Stupid kankles…
Anyway, some lower-tier basketball talents also got news of rough injuries, of course highlighted by Kevin Durant‘s MRI revealing a Grade 2 MCL strain and a tibial bone bruise. Stupid Zaza Pachulia flying around willy-nilly! He’s going to be “re-evaluated” in 4 weeks, so there’s no way he’s making an impact on your fantasy playoffs. Mayyyyybe he plays in the last game or two, but I highly doubt it. According to BB Monster, he was by far the best per-game player and total value player, so it’s an unbelievable loss. But hey, he got you to your fantasy playoffs (hopefully) and anything can happen week-to-week in H2H leagues. Injuries are the mother-flippin’ worst! Here’s what else went down across the NBA last night, including one other major injury piece of news:
Joel Embiid – Thinking about grandma too much, and losing that EMBIIIIIIIIIIID! Now more like EMBIIiiid. His most recent MRI revealed worse meniscus tears, so the Sixers went ahead and ruled him out for the season. His final numbers are unbelievable: 20.2/7.8/2.1/0.9/2.5 with 1.2 treys. That’s like, best-case scenario Goose or Myles Turner? Plus in only 25 minutes a game! But 3.8 turnovers and only 31 games played are going to make it so tough to put a second round pick on him… Maybe late-3rd, I dunno… Hopefully the knee heals up and we can see him get to 60+ games and 28-29 minutes. I think that’s best-case scenario… And for one last time in 16-17…
Richaun Holmes – The Sixers got rocked by the Heat last night, and Jahlil Okafor was awful again (6/7/2/0/1 with 5 TO in 22 minutes). Leave it to Sherlock to solve the crime! 15/6/0/1/1 on 7-10 shooting as he just keeps on trucking. I won’t say “must-own” in 12ers for Richaun, but I don’t have an RCL team where I wouldn’t take him.
Dario Saric – As Will Smith would say, “WELCOME TO EARFF!” 10/6/2/0/0 with 3 TO in a tough game. Still got 28 minutes in the blowout, so not like he didn’t have his chances. I think he was on an epic hot streak, but he’ll be better than this.
Hassan Whiteside – Looked really good in his 22 minutes. 15/11/3/1/4 and looks intent to finish the year strong after we had a lot of doubts how much he’d hold up late mentally… Winning basketball will do that!
Tyler Johnson – 24/2/4/2/0 with 2 treys on 8-12 shooting. He was off a couple duds, so nice to see him back. Playing the Sixers will do that!
Kristaps Porzingis – Hopefully I can bounce back from my kankle as fast as Goose did! 20/9/2/1/0 with 2 treys in 30 minutes last night, playing at the 5 with Willy Hernangomez out. Kyle O’Quinn got 19 minutes for 4/7/4/0/1 after initially reported he’d start… Still, decent little line if you streamed the KOQ.
Evan Fournier – Ugh, I liked Fournier a lot coming into the year, but I’ve about had it wih all the Magic. Aaron Gordon only played 24 minutes (foul trouble and a bruised quad didn’t help), Terrence Ross and Elfrid Payton had duds… Fournier was 22/2/2 with 2 treys at least, but man, couldn’t get some consistency against the Poppycockers at home, Orlando?!
Nerlens Noel – Was late for a team flight, a great impression to make when you’re a new acquisition! Would’ve been a perfect opportunity for minutes with Wesley Matthews out (hip), but instead Rick Carlisle started Dorian Finney-Smith and gave Noel only 16 minutes. Captain N did start the second half, but pretty annoying. Only 6/2/0/1/1… Still holding, but it’s frustrating.
Yogi Ferrell – There we go, Hot Yogi! 11/2/9 with a trey, and nice to see the assists creep up there.
Dwight Howard – Here’s an idea! We’re gonna play old-as-dirt Dirk Nowitzki on you and never have a capable center defender like Noel down low, so enjoy! 14/12/5/3/2 in 5-5 shooting for a rainbow line.
Ersan Ilyasova – Six-Foot-Turkey got hot! His interior temperature was 170 degrees, so he’s ready to carve! 6-7 from the field with 4 treys and 18 points. ThrAGNOF!
Bojan Bogdanovic – Big win last night for the Wiz, highlights by… BoBo?!?! 27/2/0/0/0 catching fire on 9-12 shooting (6-7 3PTM 3-3 FT). ThrAGNOF!
Marcin Gortat/Otto Porter – Thanks to BoBo getting hot, the Wiz were in blowout mode with the second unit killing it! Neither of these staples got to 20 minutes, but should be fine moving forward.
LeBron James – Phenomenal game at Boston last night, in a wholehearted playoff environment. Great national game for the NBA on ESPN. 28/13/10/1/1 for Bron with 3 treys, but twasn’t quite enough.
Derrick Williams – Maybe doing enough to be a deeper league target, getting a season-high 31 minutes. 13/3/0/1/1, and you can likely count on him for 10 points on most nights. Took a lot of run from Channing Frye (13 minutes) in this one too, so you can likely give Frye the boot.
Isaiah Thomas – Just a superhuman out there! 31/2/5/2/1 with 3 treys on 10-20 shooting.
Jae Crowder – Nice bounce back of 17/10/2/1/0 with 3 treys and no TO. Plus 5-10 shooting and 4-4 FT and you have a roto-frenzy goin’!
Al Horford – Still in a bit of a lull, but was a mere point from a tripdub last night going 9/10/10/0/1 with a trey. Good to see Big Al getting involved again.
Reggie Jackson – Exactly what you need to do when you’re ceding pivotal minutes to Ish Smith. Shoot 4-16 from the field in 29 minutes last night. Argh!
Jon Leuer – Your best Piston last night?! 22/7/1/3/1 on 11-23 shooting. 23 shots for Leuer?! He was 0/5/0/0/0 on Tuesday night… Yeah still not that intrigued in H2H 12ers, maybe roto though with the microscopic TO rate.
Anthony Davis – No Boogie, no problem! DeMarcus Cousins was suspended for all his technical fouls, so Brow had the whole paint for 33/14/3/0/1 on 11-17 shooting and 11-11 FT. All these massive injuries, and Brow is still alive and well?!
Jrue Holiday – No Boogie, hurray for Jrue! Really struggling with the pair of picks sucking up all the USG, but was 22/4/5/1/0 last night. Actually, this might be a perfect game to try and sell-high off of, I’m not convinced he can put up consistent numbers with the twin tower out there.
Nikola Jokic – Playing like Westbrook, tripdubbing every night! 13/14/10/1/1 on 6-10 shooting for his second straight tripdub.
Khris Middleton – Jason Kidd is gonna make me lose my mind. The Bucks still have a chance at the playoffs, what is he doing?! Bring The Duchess off the bench to start Rashad Vaughn, and Vaughn plays 5 minutes with a -11 in his first stint and never gets back on the court. What a joke, Kidd. Regardless of the horrific coaching, The Duchess looked great, getting 31 minutes of 21/5/5/2/0 on 7-12 shooting (3-3 3PTM 4-5 FT).
Malcolm Brogdon – Got the start and 34 minutes for a nice 17/2/3/3/0 line with 2 treys. He’s on a nice upswing, but this is friggin’ Jason Kidd’s shitshow, where he’s starting Vaughn over Duchess…
C.J. Miles – Another nice ThrAGNOF effort from last night, hitting 4 treys for 19/6/0/0/0.
Kawhi Leonard – Kawhiiiiiiii! Weeeeee, weeee, weeeeeeeeeee!
31/10/2/3/0 with 3 treys o 11-22 shooting. Including that cold-as-ice game-winner.
Pau Gasol – The bench role is suiting him! 18/4/2/0/2 with 2 treys. If he keeps this up, he’ll end up being a pretty good asset despite the weird ups-and-downs-and-injury.
Nemanja Bjelica – Another big chunk of run, with Gorgui Dieng‘s minutes on the decline. Dieng was still OK in his 23 minutes (7/6/1/1/2 no TO), but Bjelica looked great, going 13/11/5/1/2 also with no TO and a trey. I still don’t quite trust this flip flop enough to nab Bjelica in 12ers, but I would in deepers. It could be a flip! But could also be a flop, like the El Moussa marriage…
Derrick Favors – Rough game for the Jazz, but at least D-Fave came off a dude (hah too funny a typo to fix) with a bounce back, with a 10/12/0/1/1 line in his 27 minutes.
Patrick Beverley – If not for a 14-25 4th quarter, this blowout would’ve looked a lot worse for Houston trouncing the Clip! 14/12/4/1/0 with 4 treys for PBev, with a +32.
Austin Rivers – With the Clippers healthy, even in a bad loss, they’re all falling into their normal roles where not much is interesting to mention in the Notes,.. But Rivers was decent, and led the bench with 26 minutes for 16/5/4/2/0 and 4 treys. He was off an absolute dud, so good to see he should maintain a little value. It’s outside of 12ers though, for me.
Jeremy Lin – Hmmmm, well he had a good game, but still didn’t top 20 minutes. I still have no faith in the Mess playing anyone consistent minutes outside of Brolo, and that is until they shut down Brolo… 17/2/5/0/0 for Lin with a pair of treys. Sure, go ahead and add him if he’s somehow available, but I’m not that excited.
Willie Cauley-Stein – Well, that’s annoying. Shifted to the bench, going 9/5/0/3/0 on 2-6 shooting in 25 minutes. Did hit 5-6 FT, and starter Kosta Koufos shot 0-7. Plus the Kings just lost to the Mess at home. Gus Ayonin’!
Skal Labissiere – Got his first career start, and looked pretty good according to the numbers! Shocker, I didn’t actually watch this game… 4-5 FG, 2-2 FT, 10/5/0/1/1. Still well into the deeper league stash range.
Well, hopefully you had a better Wednesday night of hoops than me. Lots of icing this morning on my kankle before work, and more afterwards. And I hope you avoided this rash of injury bugs to Lowry, KD and Embiid! I have a Lowry and Embiid team… Smh… Thanks for stopping by, Razzball Nation!
