Welcome back, Mr. Slim Reaper! It’s a perfectly apt nickname too, because I own him in the JB vs. Slim RCL league and he’s going to be Slim’s reaper! Even though I’m getting crushed this week so far…
After a decent enough start, Kevin Durant was still without the big eruption type game in his first three back, but last night dismantled the Bucks in an uber-efficient 23/9/7/1/1 game shooting 7-11 FG and 8-8 FT. He’s worth 9 or 10 Bucks, at the least! Was 1-5 from deep, so didn’t miss within the arc. All of that in 29 minutes, as Beam-me-up Scotty Brooks benched the Thunder studs down the stretch of the double-digit win. Even though this was against the young Bucks, the Thunder as a whole are coming together with Russell Westbrook having a fantastic 28/5/7 night with like, a million free throws made, and Serge Ibaka is back to his %-gold ways for 15/5/0/2/2 shooting 5-5 FG & 5-5 FT. Durantula and Westy are going to command their first-round values in trades, but I bet you could still swindle Ibaka away at a buy-low price. 3+ blocks the past four games and 16-26 from the field his last three, and isn’t needing to force shots anymore. Things are right in order for OKC to go on a mad run, so be counting your lucky stars if you got KD at a discount on draft day! What we preached all preseason post-injury! Here’s some other happenings from the NBA last night:
Kyle Lowry – Dude is just dirty at basketball. Was a little cold with his shot (6-18 FG), but 16/4/14 without a single TO. That’s an infinity AST:TO ratio! I’m so good at math.
Greivis Vasquez – Took a temporary move to the bench as he’s got the sniffies. Shoulda worn a coat, ya Twerp! Likely a tweak for the matchup and coach Casey giving Vasquez a light night with him under the weather. If you own him already, last night wasn’t a reason to drop.
Patrick Patterson – Such sweet, sweet minutes! 26 to James Johnson‘s 22, with both being productive yet again. Pit-Pat for 12/4/1/0/2 shooting 5-7 FG with two treys and JJ for 12/4/0/1/1. If Pit-Pat is out there in your twelver, he loves you!
Jonas Valanciunas – Another Luminescnet Lithuanian night! 18/15 and only missed once with 6-7 FG and 6-6 FT. No Ast/Stl/Blk though… The 36:30 of PT is great to see, and even though it hasn’t reflected on the stats too much, 30+ minutes in 5 of the last 6, after only getting that much twice in the first 15. Big jump, and giving me some Luminescence in my Northwest Territory.
LeBron James – Don’t put your arm around the Duchess, you philandering American pig! Effin’ Brits man… Used that same, shimmering erotic passion to destroy another nation – Canada – with a rainbow-line 35/2/4/2/2 shooting 12-21 with two treys and 9-9 FT. Showing up when it matters! He’s Captain America!
Dion Waiters – Another nice points line, putting up 18 while shooting 7-10 with three treys, but the consistency just won’t be there. Meh.
Kyrie Irving – It’s exhausting guarding Lowry! “I’m out of breath, I can’t breath!” Oops, yeah don’t go there JB… 13/1/10/2/0, as the Cavs shifted to LeBron taking all the shots. The way the Cavs canshape shift makes even the Animorphs jealous.
Chris Kaman – If only someone recommended streaming him! Not only is Brad feeling Smart, I’m feeling smart! 14/3/2/0/2 on 7-10 shooting, and should have another shot at a nice line like that tonight against the lowly Wolves.
Damian Lillard – Looked pretty good out there as he recovers from some sprained fingers, for 14/5/6/2/0 shooting 6-14. Still shot confident when open and I don’t see it becoming an issue.
Nicolas Batum – Le poopoo again! 8/5/1/0/0 shooting 3-7 FG & 2-6 FT. Rock bottom. Nowhere to go but up, so the buy low offers can be redonk low. Offer Nick Young!
Greg Monroe – StanVan, the non-fantasy fan. The Pistons backups showed a little spurt, but never really got this game too close and stubborn ol’ Van Gundy still left them out there down the stretch run. Monroe was the biggest beneficiary going 22/10/1/2/0 on 10-22 shooting. Offer him for Batum!
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Ya know, looked good again. Capped to only 25 minutes for 11/0/0/2/0 with a trey, but had a really nice drive and made tough jumpers. This was more Stan Van giving a middle finger to fantasy basketball than a bad KCP game.
Amar’e Stoudemire – It’s just plain crazy how much he’s filling the STAT sheet! (I bet that joke has been used a million times… But I’ve never had a chance to as he’s been so bad the past few seasons! So I get to use it once, dammit!) 26/5/0/0/5 shooting 11-18 FG and 4-6 FT. He keeps this up, and the Knicks might get something decent for him in the trade market. And so could you as a fantasy owner…
Jose Calderon – One of his better games lately, and it’s still bleck. 8/1/6/3/0 with 3-5 FG and 2-2 3PTM. All of that in 36 minutes. It’s a step forward, especially the PT, but I’m still fine losing him where need be.
Carmelo Anthony – On top of the back issues, his knees are locking up. Melo looking slow as molasses! As the Knicks keep dropping games, I’m thinking ahead to the playoffs and see maybe a late-season shutdown if he even survives that long… Not out of the realm of possibility.
Tyreke Evans – Nothing will slow this Reke streak! 27/4/6/2/0, with much-needed % efficiency for 11-15 FG and 4-4 FT. Should put him over 40% FG shooting on the year, but this was a cupcake matchup. Not doing too much with it.
Omer Asik – Playing like a beast! A legit SEVEN foot turkey! 16/14 with 2 blocks, and while he gets 10+ boards almost every game, didn’t have a swat the last 3 and kills you at the stripe. Still, boards are a cat too!
Larry Sanders – Youchie. 13 minutes of not much, and the Bucks are off until Saturday. Yeah, if you’re in a tough matchup you can easily move on and stream through the end of the week.
O.J. Mayo – Led the Bucks in scoring with 18. Watching this game and looking at the box score, it’s a near-miracle the Bucks topped 100 points at 101. KD or RW looked like they could’ve taken em 1-on-5.
Reggie Jackson – As with the open, R-Jax falling into place with his role of 18/7/3 last night with a couple treys. Still needs to be owned, and dynasty owners have got to be salivating over that early-season run and what he’ll do for his next team in 15-16.
Marc Gasol – Wow, Memphis might be the best “team” in the NBA. 20 dimes to only 5 team TO last night. 6 of those Ast coming from Marcy Marc, dropping a 30-burger for 30/5/6/1/0 on 9-14 shooting and 12-13 freebies. Eatin’ ya up like a Tyson chicken, Tyson Chandler!
Courtney Lee – A surprise getting only 19 minutes, while the ghost of Tayshaun Prince haunts us evermore… 29 mins from Prince who didn’t play “that” great… Still, Lee is fading, with four of his last five games real Wranglers. I think you’re starting to feel less Lucky if you grabbed him, and can grab some Dockers on the wire.
Chandler Parsons – Whoa, welcome back to our draft day hopes and dreams! 30/7/3/2/1 in a near-rainbow, shooting 10-18 FG (6-10 3PTM, 4-5 FT). Especially impressive against a team like Memphis, but then again probably had that ghost of Tayshaun Prince on him a good bit. “I’m trying to play defense guys, but Parsons keeps going right through me!”
Jameer Nelson – “I’ll believe this when me shizz turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.” 18/4/4/0/0 hitting four treys. A few games too late, buddy boy! Only 24 minutes again, and got hot for once. Previous 4 games, had 23 points and 5 treys. Just to give ya a little comparison.
Monta Ellis – Good thing he’s not an MLB pitcher, or else we’d be pooping our pants! A sore elbow coming into the game, and shot 1-11 in 25 brutal minutes. Says he’s going to play again tonight, but even if you’re killing it in Pts and are afraid of FG%, I think you gotta play him…
Chris Bosh – 34/9/1/4/0 with four treys in a solid Heat W. Here’s to wishing that monster FT volume comes back, but it’s the minorest of complaints!
Luol Deng – Welcome to the multi-cat way of life, Luol! 23/4/3/1/2 hittigng 9-12 FG and 3-4 3PTM to help Ferry the Heat to a win against the Suns. He’s way too up and down to read anything here. It’s like trying to read something on a boat in choppy water. Deng makes me motion sick!
Josh McRoberts – Making some stuff happen, going 10/4/7/2/0 on 4-5 FG and 2-2 3PTM. Finally seeing the light of day, man! Took long enough for that toe to heal… Yeah I’m getting interested again in 12ers. Still would take a guy like Pit-Pat over him, but climbing the ladder.
Mario Chalmers – While McBob goes up the ladder, Mario down the poop chute. At least he’s a plumber! 4/0/2/2/0 in 28 empty minutes.
Marcus Morris – Sheesh, of course Slim would get a game like this from one of his bottom end guys in REL… Smh… 25/5/4/2/0 on 10-13 shooting with 5-6 3PTM. Gimme a friggin’ break! I honestly looked at our matchup earlier last night and saw that line thinking, “Oh OK, Markieff Morris had a good one for him!” Wrong M. Morris, fantasy gods! So fluky, that it really only gets a mention for me to whine. Daily Notes is my therapy.
Gerald Green – You’d expect 25 and 5 treys from Green every now and then, but not Morris! Green was close with 19 Pts while getting the 5 threes, and it’s surprising me right now as I look at his game log to see the consistency in his scoring and 3PTM output. Double-digit scoring in 12 straight with a 3PTM in 11 straight. With all but 2 of those multi-3PTM games. Another benefactor of the Isaiah Thomas kankle.
Tim Duncan – Just a rainbow line machine! 23/14/2/3/4, but twas not enough in a loss at the Jazz.
Cory Joseph – Another start for the [shockingly!] banged up Tony Parker, but did absolutely nothing with it. 7/0/0/0/2, and yes that’s 7 points and 2 rogue blocks. This was a dream matchup too! Cojo dropping the dojo like a real bozo.
Derrick Favors – Bossy type game. Bossing that paint. Like a boss. 21/8/2/1/2 in a near-rainbow, hitting 10-20 shots.
Kobe Bryant – Whoa, so sorry everyone! Dropped the ball on this one… I won’t forget Guess the Kobe line on Friday, I promise! 32/3/6/2/0 shooting 11-27 (2-6 3PTM 8-8 FT). Shocked the Kings late last night!
Ed Davis – Another start, and another line that looked like it could’ve been off the bench. 11/6/2/0/0 hitting 5-5 shots, but as we warned on the Pod yesterday, 1-4 FT. Doesn’t help his cause that Carlos Boozer played two more minutes than Special Ed off the bench for 15/9 and closed the game.
Ronnie Price – 20 minutes of ho-hum, and Jeremy Lin 22 minutes of equal humming. Dropping Lin in 12ers is certainly not Linsanity.
Darren Collison – Preyed on the awful Lakers PG play. 26/4/6/0/0 on 11-18 shooting and no TO. But what in the name of Drummond happened at the free throw line?! 2-8 at the stripe, in a flukish, rough game there. He makes 4 of those 6 misses and the Kings win!
Ben McLemore – Nice bounce back game for 15/1/2/1/1 and 3 treys, but still only 25 minutes with Nik Stauskas sneaking back in for 16. Helps give McLemore a tiny leash seeing the output, but not liking the split minutes lately. Especially since Stauskas took the potential game-tying buzzer-beater 3…
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Practiced yesterday, and probable for tonight. The Hornets need consistent wing play in the worst way, and while his minutes will probably be a tad limited the first few, his production early on was K.J. McDaniels-lite minus some scoring and treys. MKG should be worth a look again for some defensive stats.
Streamers/Cheap DraftKings Picks:
Marreese Speights (24% owned) – A little more widely owned than most of my stream picks, but still out there in over 3/4 of leagues with Andrew Bogut questionable with knee tendinitis and David Lee already ruled out. The ace of Speights! Might play an ungodly amount of minutes and lead the Warriors in shots. Plus should get some nice defensive stats against a Dwight Howard-less Rockets.
Allen Crabbe (0% owned) – Another deep-league sleeper alert! Yesterday’s Gal Mekel didn’t go so hot, but I feel better with this one as Crabbe gave the Blazers a spark last night in 20 minutes for 9/1/2/0/0 on 4-5 FG (1-2 3PTM). He probably would’ve played more had DET not made a run, and everyone expects a big blowout at Sota. On the second leg of a back-to-back, if it’s a big lead by the 3rd, Crabbe should win some big run from Stotts after looking great last night.
A busier than usual Robin Lopez Day, but it’s still a heavily scheduled Wednesday so be sure to set your lineups and thanks for stopping by!
