Man, that title seems all sorts of wrong… But what is right is Nikola Vucevic returned to action last night For a solid 16/10 dub-dub in only 20 minutes. Efficiency! Shot 6-12, 4-4 from the stripe and added a few steals. Very encouraging return for a guy people were dismissing since he had no timetable from the concussion. Concussions can really jack ya up, but hopefully you stayed true on your course to the playoffs and have a dynamic top-20ish big man. Of course the Magic now have lost value in other places, with Big Baby going 5/4/4 in 32 minutes, Arron Afflalo looking like the scrub I’ve said he was all year (still think his 20+ PPG is one of the most preposterous stats this year) and Tobias Harris temporarily moving to the bench. Although T Dawg isn’t Walking Dead (going 9/11/3/1/1 in 37 minutes), he shot like a stiff going 2-8. Afflalo is still a sell as soon as you can, Davis a drop, and hope you bought low on Vuc while there was a window open. Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy hoops:
PPD – That’s weird to see next to a basketball game! Atlanta virtually shut down during the winter storm. People stuck in their cars for 19 hours or more?! Nutso. Freddie Freeman had to hit up Chipper Jones to pick him up off the interstate in his 4-wheeler. No Hawks/Pistons last night so hopefully you read that yesterday and adjusted accordingly.
Kyle O’Quinn – Almost got as many blocks (4) as Big Baby points (5) in 18 less minutes! I’m going to stream O’Quinn on St. Patty’s just to say I did it…
RainbTOladipo – Well, only 3 TOs this time, but a paltry 12/2/3/1/0 in 39 minutes while shooting 3-14. That earth-shattering Greivis Vasquez defense! Haha.
Greivis Vasquez – Speaking of Vasquez, started with DeMar DeRozan out again and in 38 minutes only 6/1/6.
Jonas Valanciunas – Another solid game with lackluster ancillary stats… What are you doing to me LL! 14/15/0/0/1 and only 5 combined Ast/Stl/Blk in the past 6 games. This is like a Tristan Thompson stretch! Slim just threw up in his mouth a little bit.
Kyle Lowry – Grab the Imodium because Lowry blew it up! 33/7/11 with 6 threes. Just playing insane right now.
Amir Johnson – Sure broke out of his slump! Tied Lowry for the most shots on the team last night at 20 for 22/11/3/2/0. I’m not ready to fully buy back in especially with DeRozan probably back by Friday to sap up all those shots.
Terrence Ross – Well the huge points never came back, but 12/8/4/0/2 is pretty nasty. You will take it. And like it! And I’ll hold a game or two past DeRozan getting back to see what happens.
Serge Ibaka – If only he could play against the terrible Heat interior defense every game! Well, Ibaka is starting to become a shooter too, but yea… 22/8/1/1/1 shooting 10-20.
Kendrick Perkins – Only played 4:36 giving way to Perry Jones, who played a ridic 30:26. Only 3/2/2 for Jones, but if minutes keep coming his way, he could be a cheap James Johnson. Well, cheap 2 weeks ago James Johnson…
James Johnson – While we’re on JJ, only 4/2/1/1/0 in only 15 minutes. The way of the JB foresight! Glad I didn’t write this on my phone, or else that woulda auto-corrected to foreskin…
Mike Conley – Having a solid season and about the only Grizzlies constant… One of his best lines of the year for 27/3/10/2/0 shooting an uber-efficient 8-13 from the field with 2-4 treys and 9-9 stripes. IT2 needs to work on that D!
Rudy Gay – Returned to action making Derrick Williams irrelevant once again… 34 minutes for Gay, so pretty confident he’s good-ta-go!
Goran Dragic – Took a hard fall but sucked it up and stayed in the game for a 30/4/6 line. What a year.
Alex Len – Grabbed 10 rebounds. Jeff Hornacek was asked what inspiration he gave Len to hit the glass hard last night and Hornacek said he told Len, “just pretend the ball is Nick Young‘s head!”
Gerald Green – Another good game. “A good shooter when he’s on!” 23/2/3/2/0 shooting 7-13 including 4-6 from downtown. Be sure he’s scooped up in your shallower leagues.
Larry Sanders – Came off the bench. Played 33 minutes to John Henson‘s 22. Now, Henson did get into foul trouble, but who knows with this mess. Sanders for 14/9 with two swats does inspire a bit of confidence that there’s still upside there.
Brandon Knight – My boyfriend! 11-11 at the stripe for 24/2/8/2/0 last night. That’ll do, Buck, that’ll do. Luke Ridnour back to 9 minutes. As that situation should be…
Khris Middleton – Seems to always produce when given minutes. 28+ the past five games, double-digit scoring in all of them capped off by 17/4/2 last night with two treys. 12 team worthy again until Larry Drew shakes his magic 8 ball again to set his line-up. “Will I lose my job in the next month?” Shhhhhhhake! “Without a doubt!”
Anthony Davis – A surprise inactive after dislocating his finger the other day. Have you seen how lanky his fingers are?! He looks like friggin Nosferatu…
Greg Stiemsma – Got a start and played 33 minutes for a 3/12/1/2/1 near-rainbow flirt. I see you batting your eyes at him in your deep leagues!
Al-Farouq Aminu – Still not a big fan. 18/12/1/1/1 in a huge game, but bleh.
Jerryd Bayless – Well I said this would be a must-stream if no Rondo, and I think I get a push. 10/4/1/3/0 with two treys, but only shot 4-13. Not bad given he’s owned in like 2 leagues other than the Bayless family league. Did get 30 minutes and pile up some stats for ya. But not huge like the last two must-stream calls.
Jared Sullinger – Games like these are why I keep tellin’ ya to hold on! Hope you still had him in your lineups for this 24/17/2/1/0 game. Did take a ridiculous 25 shots though. Last time he took that many shots, he was stumbling all over the place and really though he was J Sully from Avatar…
Jeremy Lin – Playing like the Linsanity days! 18/7/7 in 37 minutes with two treys. No James Harden, no problem!
Donatas Motiejunas – Double-double off the bench. He’s raw, but also got a minutes boost due to some foul troubles.
Dirk Nowitzki – Spreken ze Dirk?! 38/17/3. Went all dominatrix on the red Rockets.
Devin Harris – 14/1/3 and continues to have marginal fantasy value. Deep leaguers are loving that pickup.
Ramon Sessions – Did what I told ya! Helping out the FT% for 8-10 last night in a 16/4/7/2/0 line. Bueno.
Al Jefferson – If you bought him low, you are reaping the rewards! 35/11/2/0/2. Big Al gets a big A plus. Like the Scarlet Letter.
Nate Robinson – Hurt his knee. Rumor is they may have to amputate, making him 7 inches tall. Short jokes! Jogged to the locker room under his own power, so doesn’t sound too serious.
Randy Foye – “A good shooter when he’s on!” 33 pts, but a surprising 7 dimes. Had to facilitate with no Ty Lawson, so I’m not clamoring to pick up Foye.
Evan Fournier – The Virgin on the other hand, a little more interested in. No, it’s not to pop the cherry, but the 19/5/6/3/0 line with three treys is muy interesante. Wait, wrong language!
Timofey Mozgov – 15/14 in a nice dub-dub. Playing pretty decent lately, but not interested in enrolling in Healthcare.Mozgov.
Joakim Noah – Monster line. 10/10/8/0/4. Not quite a rainbow, not quite a Goromotaro, but Noah is giving you an ark of good stats.
D.J. Augustin – This one wasn’t pretty, but still 15/5 with two threes. Not the worst floor in the world.
Boris Diaw – Came off the bench in favor of… Othyus Jeffers? Did Tiago Splitter change his name or something like Jeff Pendergraph to Jeff Ayres?! Literally never heard of that guy, and he played 15 minutes of nothing-ball. I could be in the Hall of Fame of nothing-ball! Diaw only 4/3/2 in 29 minutes. Still like him over Othyus! Haha.
Manu Ginobili – Will be out the next 3-4 weeks with a strain at the tapas of his hamstring. Since Popp is going to start guys like Othyus and Nando De Colo, nothing really helps fantasy right now…
Darren Collison – Still playing decent, marginally upticking his game the past two with 16/1/9 last night. Shot 5-9 and 6-6 from the stripe, no steals, but not too shabby.
Next Game: I’ve got TNT Overtime again tonight! And it’s the game of the century… Cavs at Knicks! Ummm, who the hell scheduled this one?! Be sure to set your line-ups and think about some streams tonight in a light slate of games and stay warm out there!
