I try not to write up the same player in the top blurb two days in a row for a variety of reasons. It’s good to change it up. My wife and I are on page 360 of the Kamasutra book that we “read” every night before bed. Ha! Who am I kidding? I’ve been married for 12 years and have two kids. Page 360. Ha! It’s nice to show love to everyone, as there is so much skill in the league, and every night greatness is produced by many. But sometimes, a string of performances is so great that there is nothing to do but bow down and pay homage. In my many years at Razzball, I think I’ve only written a player in back-to-back nights maybe four or five times. Now, this is not a back-to-back, but it’s damn close. On Sunday, Julius Randle went 29/14/7 against the Bucks. After meditating and correcting his issues, Randle came back the next game and went HAM….
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 28 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4/4 | 9/16 | 6/10 |
In 44 minutes!!! Thibs is Thibsing. He just can’t help himself. Serious question, why stop at 44? That now makes seven times Randle has messed around in his career. Thibs has freaking unlocked Randle. The assist percentage is a whopping 34.1%, after being at 15.8% the last three seasons. While he had nine turnovers last night, prior to that he had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.50, after being at 1.03 last season. Now, the tres are likely unsustainable and the 55% field goal percentage is going to come down, but the points, boards, and dimes are real.
Here’s what else I saw last night:
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Aaron Gordon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0/3 | 5/10 | 2/2 |
A blocked shot!!! Dude is 6′ 9″ with a 39-inch vert. And he blocked 39 shots last season in 62 games. Lonzo Ball had 38. Someone, please cue up Chris Carter…..
Gordon did only play 22 minutes, as the Magic have him on a minutes limit due to the hamstring injury he suffered in August.
Nikola Vucevic
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 28 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3/4 | 12/18 | 1/1 |
You take a seat in the cab of the Vucevic coaster, fasten your seatbelt, then wait for the operator to press the button. You lurch forward slightly as the chains below grab hold of the car and proceed to take you on a journey. The first incline presents itself. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. It’s a slow process. As the incline forces your head back into the cushion, you turn sideways and gaze upon the landscape that is growing smaller with each Clack. Then you reminisce about the top 20 seasons Vucevic has produced the past two years and a smile cracks on your face. Clack. Clack. Clack. You’re almost there.
Dwayne Bacon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9/10 | 0 |
Got the start and played 23 minutes, as James Ennis continues to miss games due to injury. I love slab bacon, buckboard bacon, Canadian bacon, Irish bacon, peameal bacon, streaky bacon, and uncured bacon. Dwayne Bacon? Not so much. He doesn’t score, dish out dimes, or contribute much in the defensive stats. He will grab some boards, though. But Son, he shot 9 for 10 last night! Go have fun with your Dwayne Bacon then, while I gorge on my bacon.
Isaiah Roby
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 9/12 | 0/3 |
Got the start and played 28 minutes, as Al Horford (rest) did not play. Roby is 6′ 8″, 230 pounds, and played his college ball at Nebraska. He was drafted 45th overall by the Pistons in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Darius Bazley
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0/4 | 3/14 | 0 |
Momma said that there would be days like this. Don’t fret. He’s starting, playing a ton of minutes, jacking up a lot of shots, and will contribute in every cat but dimes. The shooting efficiency is a concern though.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 23 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3/3 | 8/10 | 4/5 |
There ain’t much to say about Shai…except that he’s freaking Gilgeous-Alexander!!!
The Bucks put out the Heat, 144-97. As a result, Giannis Antetkounmpo only played 24 minutes and produced 9 points, 6 boards, 6 dimes, and 3 steals. Jrue Holiday scored 24 points with 7 dimes and 2 steals while Khris Middleton scored 25 points and contributed 5 dimes and 2 steals. The Bucks had 14 steals, good for 14th all time!!! Back in 1988, the Supersonics had 22 steals in a game.
Tyler Herro
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 23 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3/8 | 9/16 | 2/3 |
This Herro did not have the strength to carry his team along, though.
Lauri Markkanen
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 | 3/8 | 2/3 |
Markkanen was dealing with a calf contusion from Monday’s game then left early in the third quarter of this one. No official designation or timeframe has been given. When Markkanen is off the court, Zach LaVine’s usage rate spikes up to 42.9! Lol. So he basically morphs into good looking Harden. Speaking of LaVine….
Zach LaVine
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 23 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3/7 | 6/15 | 8/9 |
One more for the true five-finger discount. Through four games, LaVine is the 51st player on a per-game basis. He’s similar to Donovan Mitchell in that both will score a bunch of points and produce tres, boards, dimes, and steals, but the turnovers are elevated while the boards and dimes are….a finger short of a hand.
Not sure if it was due to the Markkanen injury or not, but Otto Porter Jr. and Garrett Temple both played 29 minutes.
Otto Porter Jr.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3/7 | 4/10 | 5/6 |
Minutes are half the battle, right? Yo, Joe? Not sure how real this is but something to monitor for sure. Before making any rash assumptions, I Otto wait for some more concrete data. Thank you, I’m here every morning, Monday through Thursday.
Garrett Temple
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/6 | 4/10 | 2/4 |
Even if I was Jewish, I’d never go to the Temple.
Deni Avdija
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3/5 | 3/6 | 0 |
Continues to start and played 26 minutes. It looks like he’s going to be a really good player, as he can contribute a little something something in every cat. The usage rate is sub-10 though, so he may be a year away.
Russell Westbrook
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1/4 | 9/17 | 2/2 |
Let’s go video highlights of Westbrook’s performance last night….
Make that the 158th time Westbrook has messed around. Only 31 more to tie Oscar Robertson for the career lead. That’s crazy.
Davis Bertans
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3/9 | 4/10 | 9/9 |
Played 26 minutes off the bench. The minutes’ restriction is slowly unraveling. Woo hoo! Now, when both he and Rui Hachimura are ready to go, how does the starting lineup look? Rui next to Deni? Does Bertans come off the bench? Or does Deni move to the bench? Things to keep an eye on.
Kyle Lowry
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3/8 | 6/15 | 9/9 |
Played 37 minutes. I love Nick Nurse. The turnovers and shooting efficiency can be problems, but everything else is magnifique.
OG Anunoby
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4/7 | 7/11 | 2/2 |
He wasn’t the OG, but he is the OG. He’s currently a top 20 player and could finish as a top 50 player. The usage is low at 13.3 and he’s only averaging nine shots per game, but he contributes everywhere else, especially in the defensive cats. What an OG!
Stanley Johnson
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 7 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1/3 | 3/7 | 0 |
Played 22 minutes off the bench. Why? No idea. A matchup thing? Maybe it’s to throw the 76ers dogs off the scent. Or Nurse is pulling a Bill Belichick and putting something out there on tape so that the 76ers and other rivals will have to prepare. That said, it’s Stanley Johnson so what would teams prepare for? If anything, they’d be ecstatic if he played 20 minutes a game. I kid. He played well. Don’t think much of this but if he cracks the rotation, then we have to do some soul searching.
Alex Len
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/2 |
Played 21 minutes off the bench. Scroll up to the Stanley Johnson blurb. Copy, then paste here. Len had not played a minute prior to last night.
Chris Boucher
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/3 | 0 |
Played for five minutes. Boucher is a per-minute stud but he won’t play in a matchup against big, studly centers me thinks.
Tobias Harris
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2/5 | 11/20 | 2/2 |
In 38 minutes. Wowzers! TH see how high he can take you. Take that regression fairies! The defensive stats aren’t going to be a consistent thing, but Harris will provide plenty of points, tres, and boards, with good percentages.
Ben Simmons
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 11 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3/11 | 5/8 |
It’s BS that God edited the shooting slider all the way down to 10. What did he do?
Joel Embiid
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 29 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1/6 | 7/17 | 14/16 |
Imagine if Boucher played? The 16 free throw attempts were only good for 11th in his career. Back in 2018, Embiid shot 23 free throws against the Pistons. He’s a top 10 player right now and just needs to stay healthy.
Seth Curry
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3/6 | 5/11 | 4/4 |
Usually don’t expect much outside of points and tres, so it’s nice to see Curry display the full repertoire. The most impressive thing about Curry’s game is that he shoots close to 50% from the field, with most of the shots coming from the outside.
Jayson Tatum
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1/3 | 9/17 | 8/10 |
Played a team-high 40 minutes. Scroll up the Nikola Vucevic blurb. Copy, then paste here.
Tristan Thompson
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5/7 | 4/4 |
Continues to start and played 27 minutes. Will provide boards, but tough seeing him get 30 minutes of run in any game.
Payton Pritchard
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0/2 | 4/8 | 2/3 |
In 27 minutes off the bench. The front office loves him. The coaching staff loves him. The players love him. Should fantasy owners love him too? He’s played 13, 25, and 23 minutes to start the season. When Kemba Walker returns, there probably won’t be room for much. Until then though, he will get some run and provide some tres, points, and steals. He has to be extremely efficient shooting because he’s not going to get many looks, but with defenses focused on Tatum and Brown, the looks that he does get should be of the open variety.
Domantas Sabonis
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1/2 | 5/12 | 3/4 |
MVP! MVP! Is it a coincidence that Julius Randle and Sabonis are similar in so many ways? Hmmm, I don’t believe in coincidences. It’s like yin and yang with both being the same. That made absolutely no sense but it sounded good and makes people think.
Victor Oladipo
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2/6 | 10/18 | 2/2 |
Played 34 minutes! Yummy. He’s the number 12 player for fantasy! Stop the season! He looks good and the shot is falling. Now, he’s not going to shoot 61% from the field for the entire year, so regression is coming. That said, Top 50 season is a feasible outcome.
Andrew Wiggins
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 27 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5/8 | 9/19 | 4/4 |
Getting Wiggins Wit It! We don’t get to celebrate often, so when the situation arises, we must go full bore. If he could play like this every night, Wiggins could fulfill the Maple Jordan prophecy and be one of the great fantasy players in the land.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!
Steph Curry
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 31 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5/9 | 9/17 | 8/8 |
Chinatown was popping in San Fran and Oakland with all the 8s! It’s crazy that even with the putrid games to start the season, Curry is the 14th player on a per-game basis right now.
Blake Griffin
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/2 |
Only played 17 minutes because he was sent to the concussion protocol. While going up for a rebound, James Wiseman inadvertently bashed his elbow into Griffin’s face. Hmmm, a Wiseman indeed as the Warriors defeated the Griffin-less Pistons 116-106.
Killian Hayes only played 17 minutes after tweaking his right ankle.
Josh Jackson
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/5 | 6/14 | 5/8 |
Got the start and played 29 minutes. The percentages can be rough, but Jackson is providing a little something something in every cat. He’s garnering a usage rate of 26.3! Maybe Dwayne Casey is the Reclamationer.
Reggie Bullock
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5/9 | 6/13 | 0 |
Continues to start and played 41 minutes. Class? Yo, Joe! Now, Alec Burks did not play due to an ankle injury, so Bullock got some extra minutes. The shooting efficiency isn’t great but Bullock can provide tres.
Mitchell Robinson
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 9 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4/9 | 1/2 |
Got the start and played 32 minutes.
![Ron Paul - It's Happening GIF [IMGUR] - GIF on Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/7drHiqr.gif)
That’s back-to-back games with over 30 minutes of run. If it happens again on Thursday, then it’s time for a block party in Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood. I can’t believe the day has finally come.
Elfrid Payton
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2/4 | 6/15 | 0/2 |
That’s back-to-back good games for Payton. The real test will come when Quickley is able to play.
Cedi Osman
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/5 | 2/12 | 2/2 |
Not so Osman. Actually, down right dreadful.
Andre Drummond
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 18 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0/1 | 7/13 | 4/10 |
Sayonarra to your free throw percentage but, but, but…. パーティーの時間! as the counting stats will be tough to match. Such a beast!
JaVale McGee
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1/1 | 5/7 | 0 |
Played 16 minutes off the bench. There was actually a time when McGee and Drummond were on the floor at the same time!!!
This is a scheduled “@JaValeMcGee just hit a three” tweet. pic.twitter.com/fJ20uYlC7L
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 30, 2020
Out there to space the floor!
The Pelicans got smoked in Phoenix, 86-111. As a result, no one played over 20 minutes and only four players scored in double figures. No stat boxes for you!!! Brandon Ingram went 13/6/6 with a block. Zion Williamson went 20/2/0 with a steal. Lonzo Ball dished out 1 dimes and shot 3-for-12 from the field. Yuck.
Jae Crowder
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5/8 | 6/11 | 4/4 |
This is the fantasy equivalent of a broken clock being right twice a day.
Due to the Pelicans sucking, only one player played 30 minutes (Mikal Bridges) while Crowder was the only Suns player to score at least 20 points. The world is truly going to end.
Naz Reid
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | 4/6 | 2/2 |
Got the start for Karl-Anthony Towns but only played 20 minutes. It Ain’t Hard to Tell that Naz is no KAT.
Ricky Rubio
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 17 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2/3 | 6/8 | 3/3 |
Got his second start of the season and played 26 minutes while Jake Layman moved to the bench. On the season, Rubio is averaging 23.9 minutes per game and is mainly a dimes and steals guy.
D’Angelo Russell
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 22 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4/11 | 9/19 | 0 |
Played 31 minutes. Without KAT, Russell had a 30.6 usage rate.
Malik Beasley
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/5 | 5/16 | 2/8 |
Had a 30% usage rate! Crazy, but not as crazy as his off-the-court life.
The Clippers spanked the Timberpuppies, 124-101, so no on played over 29 minutes.
Serge Ibaka
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 16 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0/2 | 7/12 | 2/2 |
In only 22 minutes! Iblocka is back baby! He’s such a perfect piece for this team and will provide points, tres, boards, and blocks for fantasy. The main issue is the 20.8 minutes per game.
Michael Porter Jr.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4/7 | 12/18 | 2/2 |
Played 40 minutes. I just jizzed in my pants. Excuse me.
Nikola Jokic
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1/3 | 9/14 | 7/7 |
Uh, uh, uh, ooooooooohhhhh. Sorry, I just jizzed a second time. You know what’s crazy? The Nuggets lost 115-125 to the Kings with those lines. Maybe those 10 turnovers had something to do with it. Whatever. Turnovers. Schmunovers. That’s now 44 times Nikola has messed around. What a Jokic!
Monte Morris
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2/6 | 10/15 | 2/2 |
Got the start and played 37 minutes because Jamal Murray was scratched due to an elbow contusion. Morris garnered a 20% usage rate last night, while Jokic was at 31.8. He’s great when Murray is out, but only averages around 20 minutes when he’s in.
Richaun Holmes
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 20 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10/13 | 0/1 |
Orale, Holmes!!! Played 32 minutes, while Hassan Whiteside played 13 minutes. Stop the fight.
De’Aaron Fox
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2/4 | 8/15 | 6/7 |
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Go up to the Vucevic blurb. Copy, then paste. You gotta love the early season when the sample sizes are small but emotional reactions are at stock market-esque highs.
