The snake, The rat, The cat, The dog
How you gonna see them if you living in the fog?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_4tr_-OznU
Ah, this is the classic hip hop that I love. DMX is one of my favorite rappers, mainly because everything he raps about is probably true. He made three songs about Damien, so I assume he actually has a demon that follows him around and tells him to do bad things in order to get money and fame. I mean the man did like 12 bids…Despite that, he’s one of the most legendary rappers of all time, and I couldn’t help but think of this song after watching Lillard absolutely demolish the Kings last night. Damian Lillard a.k.a. The Omen, stole the headlines last night, going 8-50-1-6-3-0-2 in only 29 minutes, as the Blazers blew out the Kings 118-100. He shot 16-of-26 and had 10-for-10 FTs. ”It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” and here’s what else went down in fantasy hoops 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?
CJ McCollum– 1-11-2-2-1-2-3. Unfortunately, there was no room for any other good Blazers lines, and CJ really took a backseat in this one. He’ll probably bounce back next time out.
Justin Jackson– 10-5-2-0-0-1 in 27 starter’s minutes. He’s been starting and getting minutes, and that’s about it. I can’t recommend him though, because he doesn’t really fill up the money stats. The one category he’s a real positive in is FG%, so I guess he could be a contributor in deep leagues, and maybe just keep an eye on him in shallower.
Willie Cauley-Stein– 19-6-3-1-2-2. Having a pretty good year if you are punting FTs, or can make up for them, he’s averaging 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks, while shooting a hair over 50%, which is quite useful.
De’Aaron Fox– 13-7-9-0-0-4. You were crazy like a fox if you held on to him all year, but kudos if you did, as he’s paying dividends.
Thaddeus Young– 1-13-14-0-1-0-1. The number one fantasy player of all time…named Thaddeus. He seems to be a steal every year and he’s ranked around 70 overall in standard leagues.
Myles Turner– 2-19-7-0-0-2-0. If you can, I would try to buy, as he’s frustrated owners this year. You gotta believe the best is yet to come for him this year.
Victor Oladipo– 2-35-10-2-5-0-5. Victor Von Dunkenstein got his swipe on last night. Just like he stole the body parts off of corpses of great basketball players to make one monster basketball player. That’s how I assume he got so good this year.
Jayson Tatum– 15-3-1-0-4-2 on 6-for-11 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. Just one of the many great rookies this year.
Greg Monroe– 2-4-1-0-0-0 in just 11 minutes off the bench. I’d give him one more chance in 12ers, but anything shallower, I’d move on.
LeBron James– 22-12-17-0-0-3. I guess cutting all the dead weight loosened the reigns on LeBron. I could see the Cavs getting right back in it and winning the East. Never bet against LeBron James…
Cedi Osman– 2-16-6-5-3-0-2 in 39 starter’s minutes. The Cedi Knight only went 2-for-7 from the line, but overalll made the most of his opportunity with the Cavs being so shorthanded last night. All their new players didn’t go, so kudos if you streamed him or played him in DFS.
Jeff Green– 3-24-3-4-0-1-0. Another guy who stepped up for the Cavs last night against the Hawks.
Kyle Korver- 7-30-3-0-0-2-1 on 9-of-16 shooting and 5-for-5 from the line. Revenge Game? Kyle Korved up the Hawks defense in his triumphant return to Hotlanta.
Dennis Schroder– 2-25-5-4-0-0-0 on 10-for-18 shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 FTs. Pretty much the only Hawk worth mentioning. The Dennis System demonstrated value last night, as he does on most nights. Just don’t be sad when he neglects you emotionally, just like the rest of your fantasy team.
Eric Bledsoe– 2-19-4-6-4-2-4 on 8-of-15 shooting E. Bled was the one bright spot for the Bucks on a rough night against the Heat.
Dwyane Wade– 1-3-2-2-2-2-4 in 22 minutes off the bench. Wade County is back! If you don’t look at the points and turnovers, this was a great return to Miami for Wade. I suspect he will have a bit of a resurgence, but I’m not running out to add him.
Tyler Johnson– 3-19-6-3-2-0-2 on 7-of-16 shooting. The Amish Baller bounced back from a rough stretch of games. Dwyane Wade’s return probably won’t help his minutes, so he’s probably just a low-end add or streamer.
Bam Adebayo– 15-10-3-0-2-2 with 9-of-10 FTs. The free throws are a surprise as he’s shooting just 72.8% on the year, but he had the Essence tonight. Bam!
Nikola Mirotic– 2-12-5-2-0-0-1 on 5-of-15 shooting. Two duds after a strong debut with the Pels. May be a buy low, but the fantasy trade deadline is fast approaching.
Darius Miller– 3-13-6-1-1-0-2. One of the few positives for New Orleans last night.
Emeka Okafor– 4-8-2-0-4-0 in 20 minutes. I had to check the last time he played, and it was 2013 with Washington! I can’t remember a player ever taking that much time between NBA games. Congrats on making it back big guy.
Dario Saric– 4-24-5-4-0-0-1 on 8-of-11 shooting and 4-for-4 from the stripe. I was looking at his stats, and he’s basically Harrison Barnes.
Joel Embiid– 2-24-16-0-2-1-3 on 11-for-18 shooting in only 24 minutes. The pride of Yaounde, Cameroon had a great night, but the Sixers play again tonight, so he’s questionable, as always.
J.J. Reddick– 3-15-7-2-2-0-1 in 24 minutes. He’s quietly having one of the best years of his career. Hard to believe he’s been in the league 12 years already.
Lou Williams– 4-26-4-6-2-0-4 on 7-of-12 shooting and 8-for-9 FTs. Sweet Lou just got a sweet contract from LA, and he’s showing why he deserves it.
Montrezl Harrell– 18-4-0-0-1-0. His minutes have been fairly low, but he’s been putting up good numbers the past month, minus the FT%.
Austin Rivers– 2-16-2-5-0-0-1 in 32 minutes as Stone Cold returned from an 18-game absence.
Reggie Bullock- 5-19-5-2-0-0-1 in 40 minutes. He’s hitting 3’s and getting a lot of minutes, which is the bifecta for me. I don’t care what else he’s doing, I’m adding/holding in 12ers.
Andre Drummond– 12-17-2-1-3-2 on only 5-of-15 shooting. Must have missed a few dunks, but an overall solid line. Still, the Clippers snapped the Pistons’ five-game winning streak.
Trey Lyles- 1-24-7-4-0-0-1 in 27 minutes. Trey-Bay-Bay! The only Nugget who shined against the Rockets last night as this game got ugly early on.
Clint Capela– 23-25-0-0-2-1 on 9-of-15 shooting and 5-of-11 from from the line. Have yourself a steaming cup of Swiss Miss with extra marshmallows! Career high in rebounds, and having a breakout year.
James Harden– 5-28-7-11-0-0-5 with 8-of-9 FTs in just 27 minutes. This could have been another monster line, but the Rockets put away the Nuggs way before the fourth quarter.
Kemba Walker– 3-19-3-5-0-0-2 Maybe only Red Label tonight. Sad… And he was just named to the All-Star Game!
Jeremy Lamb– 1-10-4-2-4-0-2 in only 19 minutes. His minutes are pretty low, but he’s been a decent hold in 12ers.
Joe Ingles– 3-23-5-5-0-1-3. J.Ingles jangled off another great line! Another guy who’s having a breakout year, he should be locked into big minutes with the departure of Rodney Hood and Joe Johnson.
Rudy Gobert– 20-11-3-0-2-0 on 7-for-8 shooting. He doesn’t score in the 20’s too often, so this is a good indication he’s locked in. I would bet he has a big blocks night sometime soon.
Donovan Mitchell– 3-25-6-4-0-1-2 on 8-of-21 shooting and 6-of-7 FTs. I would guess he’s owned on a lot of first place fantasy teams.
Andrew Wiggins– 18-4-0-0-1-5 shot 64% last night which is rare, but of course had to hurt you with five turnovers. On a more important note, on my Razzball Experts league team, I had him and Will Barton, and was contemplating changing my team name to ‘A Barton of Wiggarettes’. Sadly, I traded Wiggins for Rondae-Hollis Jefferson, so that dream will have to be deferred for now.
Jimmy Butler– 3-38-7-5-4-0-1 with 13-of-15 FTs. Second runner-up to getting the lede. Butler had a slow start to the year, but now is sitting on first round value. The volume FT shooting really helps.
Jeff Teague– 1-9-1-5-1-0-3 in only 23 minutes. Ugh. I don’t like what Thibs is doing here. It’s not looking great for Teague based on what I saw last night.
Tyus Jones– 1-7-5-3-0-0-3 in 27 minutes and closed out the game. He could really eat into Teague’s value if Thibs thinks he’s a better defensive play. Definitely worth monitoring if he can carve out more minutes, as he’s a steals specialist.
Jerian Grant– 1-14-8-11-0-0-0 in 38 minutes. He’s been playing really well sans-Kris Dunn and might be worth the short-term add.
Zach LaVine– 1-35-5-1-2-0-1 on 12-of-26 shooting and 10-of-11 from the line. Zach ‘The Machine’ LaVine was a beast last night. Just watched “Glengarry Glen Ross”. What a great movie. LaVine closed out this win for the Bulls and looks to ‘always be closing’ for them in the future. He appears to be fully recovered from his injury, but the Bulls already announced they will rest him tonight. In case you were wondering he was runner up to the lede, and for that, he gets to close out my daily notes!
That about wraps it up. Next week is the dreaded All-Star Break so enjoy your time off from Fantasy Basketball. Catch up on your shows, maybe check out “Glengarry Glen Ross”. The Winter Olympics have apparently started, so you’ve got a few options. As always leave a comment or question if you wish.
