Who knows, maybe devoting his soul to the lord of the Sith is what got Hassan Whiteside to where’s he’s at!
Absolutely terrible flagrant-2 last night to the back of Kelly Olynyk, hit-sticking him into the cameramen. L3, L3! Friend of the Podcast Mike Gallagher from Rotoworld tweeted out a great vine showing the hit from two angles, and I think that’s maybe a judo elbow he learned from Tekken. On top of his lingering kankle issues, now we have to assume a game or two out via suspension. Certainly doesn’t helped he tackled Alex Len a few games ago, with Whiteside’s flagrants turning into an MMA reel. As Slim and I mentioned on the Pod, Whiteside throws his body around willy-nilly and it’s starting to catch up with him with the physical play from oppos. Gotta control those emotions, young padawan! “Concentrate!” Just has to get the last few mental things together to be an elite NBA big. Can you do that, Hassan?! “I’ll try.” “No! There is no try! Do. Or do not.” Here’s what else went down last night in fantasy basketball action:
Cody Zeller – Left after 7 minutes with a shoulder sprain. Unfortunately with this a blowout we didn’t get to see a clear replacement, but you’d assume if CZ misses time Marvin Williams would gets the boost. Worth a spec add in 14ers or deeper, probably not going to 12.
Mo Williams – Know your range! Only 1-10 from deep, but just a cold game. The Hornets were atrocious, scoring 69 points after winning 5 straight. Peaks and valleys! 19/0/7/1/0, and with news Kemba Walker might be back next week, it’s a smidge bleak. That said, I’ve maintained I think Mo will have must-own value even with Kemba at full strength, much less the interim when Kemba gets eased back.
Marcin Gortat – On a great run lately, putting up 20/7/0/2/0 on 9-11 shooting last night. Big Al with no Big D! Big Al playing more like Ft. Worth!
Dennis Schroder – Wooooo! Nice night for my stream calls. 12/2/8/2/0, and while the points were a little down compared to the previous four, it’s now 5 straight of at least 12 Pts and 6 Ast. And did his damage in 18:31! And with Jeff Teague going bonkers in 29 minutes with an 18/5/13 line! It was against the terrible Kings, but still!
DeMarcus Cousins – Well, hit his FT and only had one TO! 12/14/6/1/0 is good and all, but shot only 3-9 from the field and his numerous injury/illness issues accrued through the year have me a tad concerned through the duration of H2H playoffs.
Ray McCallum – Had one of his better games as a starter this year for 15/3/5/2/0. So hard to trust though, and even in a great game (for him) and in a blowout loss (where you’d imagine the younguns get work), still only 29 minutes. Meh.
Isaiah Thomas – If Boston played it out the way they’re built right now for a whole season, IT2/3 would be the Celtics leading scorer by far. Has a bench guy ever lead a team in scoring for the year in NBA history? I’m gonna lean no, but we don’t factcheck! 25/1/4 with 3 treys and 8-8 FT. Such a good move to green. He got a couple bumps and bruises last night, but sounds like he should be OK.
Dwyane Wade – Man, imagine if he could coulda gotten through the end of his career without injuries! 34/4/2 with a couple of treys last night. But twastn’t enough for a W.
Chris Andersen – Suffered a kankle, and with Whiteside likely suspended, the Heat might have to do something nuts. Like play Tyler Johnson or Shabazz Napier at center!
Michael Beasley – In all seriousness, the Heat are going to have to play small and Beasley might get C minutes. 14/2/1 last night, on a whopping 16 shots and equally whopping 32 minutes. Creeping up into 14er worthy and 12er streamable.
Tony Snell – Mr. Hot Sauce! Apparently what he gets called a lot… But probably only when he’s hitting shots… 7-13 FG (4-7 3PTM 3-4 FT) 21/3/1/2/0 in a monster game given no TO. That said, the line is empty without the treys and he’s a supreme ThrAGNOF!
Nikola Mirotic – Who woulda thought that in March, Snell and Miro would have games leading the Bulls in points?! Monster game from NikMo for 18/12/2/1/0 with a couple treys and keeping up the high-volume FT at 4-5. Sure Taj Gibson should be back at some point, but no way Miro doesn’t stick in a big way in the Bulls rotation.
Aaron Brooks – Just can’t make up his mind if he’s a must-own fantasy PG! Was fine for 15/4/4 with a trey last night, but that’s what he is… Fine… Fringy. Kinda like a hot hippie.
Jeff Green – I had my fun bashing Green most of the year, but 19/7/1 with 3 treys last night and 11+ shots in 5 straight with 16+ points in 3 straight. He was single-digs in both of those almost every night for a while! Might be out there in some leagues.
Anthony Davis – Sheesh, after saying James Harden was pushing for #1 next year and Russell Westbrook could be #1 if Kevin Durant (for some odd reason, very unlikely obviously) wasn’t in OKC, Brow goes nutso! I think he read yesterday’s Daily Notes and made it bulletin board material! What NBA player doesn’t read Razzball? 43/10/6/1/2 on an absurd 17-23 FG and 9-11 FT.
Michael Carter-Williams – Officially been Kidd-fixed! Hah, of course not really, but a monster game from MCW for 25/1/7/2/0 hitting 8-17 FG and the shocking 9-10 FT. Kidd is making him take 500 FT a practice! With “only” 3 TO, MCW finally had a fully efficient game for a PG. Let’s keep it rollin’!
Giannis Antetokounmpo – No one will slow my O! Or slow my RainbO! See what I did there?! 29/5/4/3/3 hitting 11-16 FG and 7-7 FT. This was a battle of the lanky dudes last night! Advantage Brow, but Greek did a pretty nice Freak.
Will Barton – Like I said above, good night for my streamers! 17/4/3/1/0 last night, racking up 27 minutes. He had been playing about that range lately, but looked like Randy Foye (7/4/4) was starting to edge him out in minutes. Not in a matchup against the Poppycockers in a 30 point blowout win!
Wilson Chandler – Reportedly left early with a sore knee, but was such a horrific blowout it may have just been precautionary.
Alexey Shved – Your new Knicks primary scorer. Hah, those Poppycockers so funny. 19/1/1/0/0 with 3 treys. Isn’t NYC the capital of stand-up comedy?!
Brandon Knight – Ughhhhhhhh. With extra phlegm. Suffered a really, really bad ankle injury in the 2nd quarter and didn’t return. Crossing our fingers here (X-rays were negative), but might cost him a good chunk, if not all of the H2H playoffs. Obviously Eric Bledsoe‘s usage should go through the roof, but interestingly T.J. Warren was reported to get SG minutes before the game and played 24 minutes for 11/2/1. Should be looking at some extended run while Knight is out.
Alex Len – Returned from a brief absence with a kankle for 10/11/0/0/1. Did have 4 TO, but just good to see him out there.
Stephen Curry – With all this “who’s #1 next year?” talk, Curry stepped it up as well! 36/6/5/4/0 with 7 treys. Man, the top 4 or 5 next year are gonna be a shuffle! Unlike all those boring LeBron years… Sheesh…
Shaun Livingston – Wasn’t as huge, but had yet another fantasy-usable game for 7/2/4/0/2. Those out of position blocks, doe! Easily a great add for teams needing blocks upside even in 12ers.
Ricky Rubio – Lordy, I’ll still love him forever, but his shot sure looked putrid all game. Usually I make excuses for it, but it was flatter than Kristen Stewart! 1-8 from the field, but at least got the 12 dimes and 3 steals.
Adreian Payne – Kevin Garnett got a DNP-rest, so it’s Major Payne time! 16/15/2/2/1, and while he made some mistakes and had 3 TO, had some nice court awareness. Could be a nice out-of-position dimer if he gets a full time starting role down the road.
Austin Rivers – I’m shocked how much run he’s getting, picking up more combo G minutes than PG. 13/4/6/2/0 with a couple of treys, and blipping on the deep league radar. Even if his five o’clock shadow looks like a tween hitting puberty.
Streamers/Cheap Daily League Picks:
Patrick Patterson (24% owned) – One of my favorite streamers this year, the Raps get the Spurs and you always play your fringy bigs against the Spurs! Had a couple really bad games before last Sunday, but I think Pit-Pat makes it happen tonight.
Dewayne Dedmon (4% owned) – There’s still a chance Nikola Vucevic can get over his kankle in time for tonight, but with the Magic out of it for yet another season, I see no reason to rush it. Off 11/16 and 2 blocks, Dedmon could easily have another big game against the Pacers and they’ll need his big body against Roy Hibbert/Ian Mahinmi.
I hope everyone had a better start to their week than my REL team (Whiteside, Knight, Wilson C)! Thanks for dropping by, and see you tomorrow Razzball Nation!
