Damian Lillard, 2017 Fantasy Basketball

When my wife was pregnant, the experience was…..interesting. At least for me. I can’t even begin to try and understand what my wife was feeling. All I know is that women are the GOAT. Anyways, after the initial gamut of emotions, things became very business-like. Doctor’s office. One month. Two months. Three months. Everything was mapped out and the “ride” was slow and steady. Then, the due date approached and….well, I was Robert DeNiro in Heat. The bags were packed and the routes were mapped out with contingencies for all possibilities. At the same time, though, I was like my five-year-old son in the back of the car on a long trip: “Are we there yet? When will we be there? Why is it taking so long?” Damian Lillard and his girlfriend had been expecting the birth of their child for the past few days. Lillard had been struggling a bit with his shooting efficiency, but the raw production was still there. It could have been the matchups or anxiousness with the pregnancy. Regardless, it was Lillard Time for the whole family last night.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
41	9	6	4	0	0	3/9	18/33	2/2

A 40-burger!!! On Damian Jr.’s birthday. Y’all know what time it is.

Here’s what else I saw last night:

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Rudy has been hard at work in the lab. His latest creation? DAILY LINEUPS PAGE. So good. So smooth. So helpful. He decided to go with the Sonny Bono red tint, while I prefer the blue tint. What say you?

Al-Farouq Aminu:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
10	10	2	3	1	1	2/10	3/13	2/2

Has been insanely good the past few weeks. Like top 10 good. The six games prior to last night: 14 points, 9 boards, 3 dimes, 2.2 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 3 downtowners in 33.4 minutes per game.

Jusuf Nurkic:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
21	10	0	1	4	2	0	10/14	1/1

Played 30 minutes. So skilled and usually produces when he gets the minutes. Inconsistent, but the ceiling is sky-high.

Maurice Harkless did not play, so Evan Turner got the start and played 36 minutes.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
14	6	2	0	0	0	2/3	5/10	2/3

He kind of sucks, but production will fall into his stat line if given enough minutes. After the game, it was announced that Harkless underwent arthroscopy on his left knee. The Jews had manna rain down from the heavens when crossing the desert. ET must’ve phoned home.

CJ McCollum:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
7	4	5	1	2	3	1/6	3/19	0

Please read CJ’s blurb from the prior day.

Anthony Davis:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
36	14	4	2	6	4	0	15/24	6/6

Do you think shaving his eyebrows would be Samson-esque?

Jrue Holiday messed around.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
21	11	11	0	2	6	0/2	9/17	3/3

When Rajon Rondo does not play, Holiday sees a 9% increase in usage rate. Rondo did not play last night.

Ian Clark:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
8	0	2	0	0	1	0/3	4/11	0

Got the start for Rondo and played 29 minutes. He’s a chucker, whether he starts or comes off the bench. The minutes have been relatively secure, but he just doesn’t contribute much in the periphery categories.

Nikola Mirotic:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
2	4	0	0	0	0	0/3	1/6	0

Was questionable to play due to a hip flexor. Has to be one of the reasons why he’s been playing so poorly. The other? No motivation from his buddy, Bobby Portis.

Giannis Antetokounmpo:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
26	9	7	0	5	4	1/2	10/16	5/9

G only has one triple-dub on the season. Yet, I’m always surprised when he doesn’t quadruple-dub. Logic.

Jason Terry:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
10	3	2	5	0	1	2/5	4/7	0/1

Played 32 minutes. Has played 32, 29, 30, and 29 minutes the past four games. Shame on you Jennings, Brown, Snell, and Muhammad. I take that back. Much props to you Terry. I mean Jason. I mean….I’m not fond of people with two first names.

Jabari Parker:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
2	1	2	3	1	2	0/1	1/12	0

Played 19 minutes. He stuffed the stat sheet alright. With crumbs jumping out from his mouth.

DeAndre Jordan:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
12	16	3	0	1	0	0	5/9	2/4

DJ keeps spinning the good stuff.

Tobias Harris:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
19	3	5	2	0	0	3/6	8/17	0/1

Lou Williams:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
16	5	4	1	0	7	1/4	5/16	5/6

Both Tobais and Lou played 37 minutes. They are the main cogs of the Clippers offense. DJ is like one of those dogs that jumps for frisbees.

Thaddeus Young:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
17	10	2	1	0	2	0/2	8/17	1/2

When he delivers games like this, just STFU and say TY.

Myles Turner:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
5	3	0	1	2	1	0/1	2/7	1/2

Honey, the Odometer is really broken this time.

Domantas Sabonis:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
7	6	3	0	0	2	0	3/3	1/2

Played 24 minutes in his first game back from injury. Arvydas loves to put the pedal to the metal, so that broken Odometer could be in trouble.

Quinn Cook:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
11	4	7	0	0	3	1/6	5/17	0

Led the team with 36 minutes and 17 shot attempts.

Kevin Looney:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
8	11	2	1	2	2	1/1	3/5	1/2

We’re tiny, we’re toony. We’re all a little looney. And in this cartoony. We’re invading your TV. Lonney has some skills. He can shoot from downtown and contribute in every category. He just doesn’t get the usage. Has received around 23-25 minutes over the past seven games. As the Warriors get healthy, the minutes should go away like the Looney Tunes.

The Warriors scored 81 points and only two others scored in double figures. No more blurbs for you!!!

Maxi Kleber got the start at center and played 33 minutes.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
6	9	0	1	1	1	0/2	3/6	0

Ha! We’re back here again? Well, the Mavs are trying to lose and saw that they were pitted against the Kings, so what other course of action was there to take than to insert Kleber into the starting lineup. The Kings weren’t having any of it, though, as they were victorious in losing 97-103.

Dennis Smith Jr.:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
19	1	6	0	0	5	3/6	6/12	4/4

Played 25 minutes. Carlisle had said that these last few games would be DSJ’s time and he would be unleashed. Carlisle should run for political office.

Aaron Harrison:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
10	5	0	1	1	1	2/7	3/8	2/2

My first thought was, “how did the Mavs trade for Andrew Harrison?” Well, his bro Aaron is apparently on the Mavs and played 20 minutes in a game last week. There were these videos back in the day called Faces of Death. In some of them, there were people who tried to commit suicide but were unsuccessful. That’s what this Mavs tank job is looking like.

JJ Barea was out for “personal” reasons. Translation: Coach, have you seen how hot my wife is? I can’t risk playing and pulling my groin.

Skal Labissiere:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
19	8	3	0	1	0	0/1	8/15	3/3

Played 30 minutes. Has now played 30 minutes in three straight. Zach Randolph has DNP’d in four of the last five games, so it looks like Skal is going to be doing his thing for the remaining of the season.

De’Aaron Fox:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
5	3	6	0	1	1	0/3	2/10	1/1

Played 25 minutes. Now that’s how you tank.

Frank Mason III:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
8	6	5	0	1	1	0/3	1/13	6/6

Played 26 minutes. Naw, this is how you tank.

Bruno Caboclo:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
3	1	1	0	1	1	1/2	1/2	0

Played 12 minutes. Tank? Puuleeaase.

Lauri Markkanen:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
22	4	2	0	1	5	2/6	8/15	4/5

Played 28 minutes. Good to have the Markkanen back. Should get plenty of run to finish the season.

Denzel Valentine:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
12	4	3	2	0	3	2/7	5/12	0/2

Played 29 minutes. Is dealing with a knee issue, so keep an eye on that going forward.

Sean Kilpatrick:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
12	2	0	0	0	1	1/4	5/9	1/2

Played 18 minutes. Bulls signed him to a three-year contract on Monday. Can shoot and score, but doesn’t do much else. Keep an eye on the minutes.

Trevor Ariza:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
21	6	2	4	1	0	4/10	6/12	5/5

The Kevin Kiermaier of fantasy basketball. Will have the stats at the end of the season, but the ride getting there kind of sucks.

Chris Paul:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
13	4	10	4	0	3	3/9	4/12	2/2

Played 28 minutes. When James Harden sits, Paul sees a 5.8% increase in usage rate. Harden sat last night.

Eric Gordon:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
31	1	1	0	1	0	8/13	11/17	1/2

Played 26 minutes. When Harden sits, Gordon sees a 4.9% in crease in usage rate. With the #1 seed locked up, could potentially see Harden sitting more games down the stretch.

Gerald Green played 30 minutes and scored 14 points. Joe Johnson played 29 minutes and scored 10 points. GG and JJ. My kids are MM. A perfect fit.

LeBron James:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
18	6	7	0	0	6	0/4	7/18	4/5

The Cavs scored 79 points. No more blurbs for you!!!!

James Johnson:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
15	9	5	2	3	2	0/3	7/11	1/1

It took a while for JJ to Heat up, but he’s been a top 50 player over the past month and a top 20 player over the past couple of weeks.

Bam Adebayo did not play. Neither did Hassan Whiteside, so Jordan Mickey got the start at center and played 23 minutes.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
7	5	0	1	1	1	0/1	3/6	1/2

The Mickey Mouse Jordan had played a total of 29 minutes since the start of the new year.

Kelly Olynyk:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
19	5	3	3	0	1	3/4	7/9	2/5

Played 25 minutes. Has been on a tear recently, with the most impressive thing being the assists and steals. With that said, Kelly O was matchup dependent. Has he become matchup proof? Me thinks no, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

Dwayne Wade:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
12	2	4	1	4	4	0/1	5/11	2/2

Only played 17 minutes but did this….

Paul Millsap:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
20	4	2	1	1	0	1/1	9/12	1/1

Can fill the stat sheet on any given night, like he did last night. Has just been so inconsistent this season. I’m sure the injury and new team has a lot to do with it, but still…

Nikola Jokic:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
29	16	8	2	1	3	3/7	11/21	4/4

Played 40 minutes and almost messed around. Two games back in the loss column for the eighth and final playoff spot. As long as Wiggins keeps shooting more than KAT, the Nuggets are alive.

Serge Ibaka:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
13	6	2	1	4	0	1/4	6/11	0

Iblocka is back!!! That’s the Serge I know and remember. This current iteration of Serge makes me sad.

Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry both had 4 blocks. Lucas Nogueira had 3 blocks. A good ole block party.

LaMarcus Aldridge left in the second quarter due to a knee injury. His status is unknown as of this writing. Ain’t no laughing matter.

Pau Gasol did enter the game for LMA and should see an uptick in minutes going forward.

13 Spurs played at least 10 minutes. The final score of 116-106 was not indicative of how bad a beatdown the Wizards put on the Spurs.

Bradley Beal:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
7	3	6	1	1	3	1/4	3/8	0

Played 28 minutes. You thought I was lying about the extent of the beatdown?