Man, there could not have been a more epic high or more epic low last night comparing our elite facial hair aficionados! Well of course, #1 is Grey, he looks like the worst player at the Saturday afternoon Y pickup game, then goes for 40/15/15 every time!
The tanking Nugs got absolutely bludgeoned by The Beard last night, with James Harden going 50/10/4/1/0 on 12-27 FG (4-12 3PTM 22-25 FT). Lay off the fouls, Denver! Maybe they were like hippie Rastafarians just enamored with his majestic beard, “Oh I must rub your luscious hair, mon!” Most surprising amongst the odd stats (like scoring 50 whilst shooting under 50%, on only 12 makes, etc.) is that Harden had never scored 50 before! And Corey Brewer had! Hah!
Then to the ugly. Skipping the bad. Anthony Davis tweaked his ankle in drills yesterday morning and wasn’t able to play. That might cause some playoff losses this week! All I can say is that I couldn’t get Brow in any leagues after my contrarian #1 overall rank, so he hath not scorned me! Maybe burning all his owners late with this one will help him be a discount for me in 15-16. So what is it, Brow or Beard first in next year’s drafts?! With the ridiculous emergence of Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside, kinda leaning getting one of those bigs later if given the choice and it’s tipping towards Harden. 7 dimes a game! Plus scoring 50 every night! Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:
Terrence Jones – No one is safe! The injury wave is higher than that Perfect Storm one as Jones hurt his ribs and had to go to the hospital, reportedly in a stretcher. Eesh. Luckily it sounds like Jones missed a serious injury, but McHale said it would still be a little while. Bye week teams can wait it out until the weekend, but I think cutting him in tight week 1 H2H macthups is a must. PS – another injury on our weekly locked F&F team…
Donatas Motiejunas – Dwight Howard is looming with his return in a week, but even so it’ll be in 22-25 minute games and sitting back-to-backs. And now with TJones taking a ribber, Motiejunas should be a safe hold if he’s been helping out your squad. 7/9/4/3/0 last night, only hit 3-10 FG, but the minutes are all but assured.
Wilson Chandler – Geez, glad this game had some offense! Everything else was brutal last night! 23/6/2/3/1 hitting 10-17, and he’s been very vocal about the Nugs benching guys in apparent tank mode. The Kuato in his neck is like, “Quaid, don’t start the reactor with DNPs on back-to-backs!”
Randy Foye – Beastly last night for 23/2/6/1/0 with no TO hitting 5 treys. Can’t expect Harden to play D when dropping 50! Nice one for Foye who is certainly high up on the possible DNP list tonight, which would make Will Barton a great stream play.
Zach LaVine – Proof the rawest of players can look solid against the Poppycockers! 20/7/4/1/1 hitting 7-13 FG and 2 of his 5-5 FT iced it in OT. Such a good reach pick by the Wolves.
Justin Hamilton – Are all these friggin’ DNPs giving you a headache?! After getting taken off the injury report, Hamilton experienced another bout of migraines and they might take this extra cautiously. Ugh. Moving on from him now.
Gorgui Dieng – Choo choo! The Dieng Train is pulling into Penn Street Station! 19/11/1/2/6 in 48 minutes of 9-10 shooting. Only 1-4 FT, and I heard Flip at one point say, “Just dunk it from there!” He’s been on a fantastic blocks outburst with 16 the past 5 games.
Alexey Shved – Missed all his treys, but the caviar is a staple for fantasy lineups! 21/5/6/1/1 hitting all 6 FT and I’ve been saying for a week he’s a must-own.
Langston Galloway – Back-to-back nice ones from The Harlem Renaissance! 21/7/3/2/0 with 3 treys, but I’m still not convinced he can be a Boy Scout. Not trustworthy.
Brandan Wright – The swat party is in Phoenix! At least the Suns played some D, because certainly had no O scoring 74! 16/8/0/0/7 and eschewed his inner Alex Len last night. Well, better than Len! 8-10 FG and should get a boatload of minutes until Len is healed from the kankle.
Marcus Morris – Also reaping the rewards of injuries, getting 40 minutes despite shooting 1-11 FG and 0-2 FT. Is that goal regulation size or what?! The 14 boards and 4 dimes help, but wowzer.
Omer Asik – Really the main post player the Pels needed to go ham with Brow going down, Asik only got through 18 minutes before suffering a calf strain and leaving early. Yikes. Was still 6/14, but on his way to 30 boards! The Turk needs more from his calf to go ham! His leg is an Animal Farm. Get Napoleon!
Alexis Ajinca – L’croissant! Should be your main baker of the big man bread if Asik and Brow are both out tonight at the Warriors. Geez, the line in that game should be like 40 points! 10/7/4/0/1 last night, but another 2 TO and giveaways remain an issue.
Rudy Gobert – Well, it didn’t go as good for this Frenchman! Monsieur Elbow for 3/7/0/1/3 making his only shot. Hey, when it’s against the Lakers and the rest of the Jazz can make all their own shots, you don’t need any Gobert alleys!
Rodney Hood – Eek. I warned he wasn’t the huge ThrAGNOF he was appearing, and didn’t hit a FG last night. No treys the past two games shooting a combined 4-15.
Jordan Clarkson – Ya know, it’s shocking (well, maybe not that much, it is the Lakers after all) that a 2nd round rookie PG that seemed all sorts of raw early in the year is the only Laker you can depend on night to night. 8/5/8 in 30 minutes against that Jazz elite D.
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Tyler Zeller (24% owned) – I know, I know, I always pick a big vs. the Spurs, but it usually seems to work! Kelly Olynyk is owned in more leagues and is more perimeter based, so gimme Zeller who has been mad hot the past 3 games hitting 25-33 FG for 56 points.
Greivis Vasquez (11% owned) – I’m surprised he only hopped up one percent in ownership since Wednesday night, as Kyle Lowry said he’s 50-50 to play tonight and the Raps have previously rested him just for rest’s sake. When asked why I’m napping at my desk at work, I just say “I’m doing it for rest’s sake!”
I hope everyone has a lead heading into the weekend of their H2H matchups, and nice work through one day of the Tourney, Leebo! 14 points is leading our Razzball bracket. Dude, my UAB upset had me ahead of all my pools for like an hour! It should’ve ended there!
