The Wizards have been playing much better as of late. Despite being down 18 points in the second quarter, the Wizards came back to win to push them over .500.
John Wall knocked down the game-winning jumper with 5 ticks left, to complete another fantastic performance with 26 points, 14 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Now that’s what Steve Buckhantz calls a dagger!
Wall was voted Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December and continues his strong play in the New Year. There hasn’t been a better player in the East over the last 6 weeks.
Now the Bulls were missing Jimmy Butler (illness) and Dwyane Wade (rest), but I don’t care. I’m going to take every opportunity to talk positively about my Wizards. They’ll disappoint me soon enough so let me enjoy my moment.
Bradley Beal – Beal should be joining the Wall-Star on the Eastern Conference team in NoLa in February. He finished Tuesday’s contest with 19/4/3 and 3 threes.
Markieff Morris – Now, that’s the shit I do like! Chief Keef matched Beal, scoring 19 points, to go along with 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 threes.
Marcin Gortat – 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 block. That’s 6 double-doubles over the last 7 games.
Rajon Rondo – With Butler and Wade out, Rondo saw his first minutes since missing 5 straight games to DNP-CDs. Rondo posted a useful 12/6/4 line with 3 steals. Even when he was starting, he wasn’t doing enough and a trade won’t guarantee fantasy relevance either. He’s still in the doghouse and remains a drop candidate.
Michael Carter-Williams – With Rondo in the doghouse, MCW should remain the starting point guard for the Bulls. He put up a 14/7/2 line and 2 steals on Tuesday. If you can deal with the lack of threes and poor field goal percentage, then MCW can be useful in the rebounds, assists, and steals departments.
Taj Gibson – 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 block. He even knocked down a three-pointer!
Denzel Valentine – It’s not quite February 14th, but it was Valentine’s Day for Denzel. He knocked down 5-11 from downtown for 19 points off the bench.
James Harden – “Another One” – DJ Khaled voice. Harden got another triple double with 40 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 dimes. He knocked down 7-14 from three and may get a quadruple-double sometime, if threes were to count. Either way, he’s now the 4th player in NBA history with back-to-back 40/10/10 triple-doubles.
Trevor Ariza – Trevor A-three-Za knocked down 3 threes to finish with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Montrezl Harrell – Filling in the for injured Clint Capela (leg), Harrell scored 14 points and helped defensively with 3 blocks and 2 steals. Enjoy it while you can because Capela remains on time in his recovery and is expected back in late January or early February.
Marvin Williams – Reemerging from a cold spell, Williams has scored double-figures in 3 straight games. He produced 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 threes on Tuesday.
Kemba Walker – Walked collected a double-double with 25 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 threes. Will this be the first year he’s an All-Star?
Hornets Bench – With Nicolas Batum sitting with a hyperextended knee, the Hornets got big games from their bench. Spencer Hawes went for a 16/5/4 line with 2 threes. Frank Kaminsky was feeling it from downtown, knocking down 4-9 to finish with 22 points, and Marco Belinelli scored 15 points (3-9 3PT) and dished out 6 assists. None of these guys are must own, but can light it up off the bench occasionally.
Paul Millsap – Is Millsap the next Hawk to be traded? Who knows. For now, he’s a Hawk and remains consistent as ever: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Even with a trade, Millsap’s fantasy numbers shouldn’t take too much of a hit.
Dwight Howard – The good: 14 points and 16 rebounds. The bad: 2-8 from the free throw line and only 1 block. He was 12-16 from the line in the previous 3 games so I guess he was due for some misses.
Dennis Schroder – The German point guard went for a double-double with 19 points, 10 assists, 2 steals and 2 threes.
Kris Humphries – Kim K’s former flame, Humphries went for 13 and 8 off the bench for the Hawks. The game was a blow out so look elsewhere.
Brook Lopez – 20 points, 2 blocks, 2 threes, but only 2 rebounds. I like the threes, but his rebound numbers have really taken a hit this season. He’s averaging 2 less rebounds a game from his career averages.
Bojan Bogdanovic – Bobo knocked down 3-5 from downtown on his way to a 16/6/4 line. He’s hit 10 threes in the last three games and looks to be starting a hot streak.
Jonas Valanciunas – My name is Jonas and I destroyed the Celtics to a tune of 18 points, 23 rebounds, and 2 blocks. The line could have been even more monstrous, if JV had knocked down more than 6-18 from the field.
DeMar DeRozan – DeMar joined Jonas going H.A.M. on the Celtics with 41 points and 13 rebounds. I’ve always thought DeMar was a better real life player than fantasy, since he rarely shot threes, but he’s more than made up for it this season with games like this.
Kyle Lowry – Lowry had it cooking from downtown, knocking down 5-6 to go along with 24 points, 9 assists, and 2 steals.
Al Horford – Big Al went for 14/9/4 line with 2 threes.
Isaiah Thomas – Thomas continues the scoring binge with 27 points, 7 assists, and 3 threes. He even knocked down this Curry-esque 4-point play:
Marcus Smart – Starting for Avery Bradley (Achilles), Smart took advantage of the minutes, finishing with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Bradley’s injury doesn’t appear to be serious, but Smart makes a wise pickup or DFS play while he’s starting.
Michael Beasley – Giannis Antetokounmpo tried to play through his illness, but lasted only 9 minutes, before Jason Kidd yanked him from the game. Fortunately for the Bucks, Beasley felt like being an impersonator, posting a Giannis-like line of 28 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Antetokounmpo should be fine soon, making this a one game wonder.
Jabari Parker – 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 threes.
Greg Monroe – Another potential trade candidate, Monroe has been playing better lately, posting 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on Tuesday.
Malcolm Brogdon – Who knew this kid would be so good in his first year? Another solid performance and a crucial three down the stretch. The rookie concluded with 17/6/6 and 3 threes. He should be owned in more than 55% of leagues.
Kawhi Leonard – With his partner in crime, LaMarcus Aldridge (gastroenteritis) sitting, Leonard did his best to carry the Spurs, doing a little bit of everything with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 2 threes. Aldridge should be fine in a few days, but why does the injury report have to be so technical? Just say he has diarrhea.
Tony Parker – Jabari wasn’t the only Parker to have a solid game. Tony continued his strong play of late with 14 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds.
Gordon Hayward – Having a career year, Hayward has the Jazz on top of the Northwest Division with their win over the Cavs. Hayward knocked down 4 threes to go along with 28 points and 9 rebounds.
Rudy Gobert – The French big man double-doubled with 11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block.
George Hill – Solid game for Hill: 13 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 threes. More importantly he survived another game.
Rodney Hood – After four straight single digit scoring performances, Hood bounced back to post an 18/5/3 line with 2 steals and 4 threes. Hopefully this is a sign of him turning things around.
LeBron James – It’s nice to be the King: 29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 threes.
Tristan Thompson – TT went for a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Kyrie Irving – Irving managed 20/4/4, but didn’t have the shot going, hitting only 5-18 from the field and 2-8 from three.
DeMarcus Cousins – Cousins produced 24 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 threes for his third straight double-double.
Rudy Gay – In his third game back from injury, Gay played 38 minutes to finish with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
Anthony Tolliver – A three-point specialist, Tolliver has been useful for deep leaguers lately. He put up 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 threes and Tuesday.
Andre Drummond – Quiet on the offensive end, with 9 points on only 5 shot attempts, Drummond made up for it with 7 blocks and 12 rebounds.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – KCP is on fire. He knocked down 6-8 from three en route to 21 points and 5 rebounds. He’s now 10-15 from deep in the last 2 games.
Stephen Curry – Curry flirted with a triple-double with 24 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. But damn, did he get banged on.
Kevin Durant – 28 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 threes. Durant has been blocking more shots than Dikembe in a Geico commercial, swatting 12 in the last 4 games.
Draymond Green – With Klay Thompson taking a scheduled day of rest, Green saw double digit field goal attempts for the first time this year, finishing with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals/blocks each.
Hassan Whiteside – Whiteside must be seeing 20/20 after missing four games with an eye contusion because he went for his third 20/20 game of the season on Tuesday. He ended with 28 points (13-17 FG), 20 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Goran Dragic – Dragic did his usual things with 17 points, 4 assists, and 2 threes. With the second worst record in the east (yes, they’re behind the 76ers), the Heat should be sellers at the deadline. Dragic is one of those looking likely to go so see what you can get for him, while you still have a chance.
James Johnson – Johnson did more than just bang on Curry, generating 14 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He’s been a borderline top 100 player over the last month and should be picked up in most leagues (53% ownership).
Tyler Johnson – The other Johnson on the Heat has been even better over the last month. With 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 threes on Tuesday, he’s put any critics of his preseason contract to bed.
Al-Farouq Aminu – The defensive specialist is back with 8 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Finally healthy, now would be a good time to pick him back up (46% ownership).
Damian Lillard – In his third game back from a 2 week absence (ankle), coach Terry Stotts admitted that Lillard doesn’t quite have his conditioning all the way back yet. He played 31 minutes and shot just 7-21 from the field, but still managed a 20/8/6 line. If those are his numbers at not quite 100%, owners won’t be complaining.
C.J. McCollum – McCollum continued his recent scoring binge with 25 points (10-17 FG), 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 threes.
Maurice Harkless – Harkless has seen his scoring down to start the month, but bounced back to produce 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks on Tuesday. While he’s still starting, his numbers may take a hit with Aminu finally healthy.
Luol Deng – It’s never good for the Lakers when your leading scorer is Luol Deng at just 14 points. Deng added 6 rebounds and 1 steals, as the Lakers were blown out by the Blazers for the 10th straight time.
