What a crazy night of NBA DFS.
There were several blowouts that caused some of my key players to get a reduced workload in the 4th quarter tonight.
The Spurs thrashed the Magic tonight so Kawhi, who got off to a hot start, ended up only playing 27 minutes which obviously crushed his value.
What is Orlando doing at this point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they traded Victor Oladipo and a pick to OKC for Ibaka ... then traded Ibaka and a pick for Terrence Ross and a worse pick. So, essentially they traded Oladipo for Terrence Ross and the right to move down in the draft? They shift Aaron Gordon to a position that he's clearly not cut out to play and basically turning a potential young star into a struggling role player. They should absolutely clear house on the front office people there before next season.
Speaking of a franchise that is currently in shambles, the Atlanta Hawks are one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde teams I've ever seen. They look like world beaters one night and then they get run out of the gym by the Chris Paul-less Clippers. Tim Hardaway struggled through 28 minutes of unproductive basketball tonight as the Hawks lost by 16 to LA. I am not quite sure what is wrong with the Hawks, other than the fact that their bench is incredibly thin. I have watched a few games from ATL recently and I think Hardaway, Schroder and Milsap have a ton of potential while Dwight Howard has his dominant games and then disappears at times. It seems like if you don't get him going at the start of the night he may just sleepwalk through the entire game.
Damian Lillard was in a good spot again tonight but failed to deliver once again. He did get 35 minutes but the Blazers struggled to just 88 points while getting blasted by UTAH who put up 111 points. Utah ... put up .... 111. CJ McCollum played just 25 minutes and scored 18 pts with 2 rebounds and 4 fouls. On a bright note Jusuf Nurkic looked good in his first game with his new team as he scored 13 points with 7 rebounds an assist a block and 3 steals but 4 turnovers. I hope he gets some run with Portland to see if maybe he can live up to the potential that was expected of him in Denver.
The Kings were actually leading Golden State at halftime but managed to lose the game by 23. Draymond Green was booted from the game after just 15 minutes after receiving two technical fouls. Klay Thompson, once again, man-handled Sacramento by scoring 35 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assists 2 steals and hitting 7 of 12 3 point attempts. Kevin Durant looked like his old self tonight as he scored 21 points with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Fortunately I faded DeMarcus Cousins tonight and that worked out as he struggled through 23 minutes scoring 13 points. It was a rough game for Cousins and Darren Collison who has been playing a ridiculous amount of minutes while Ty Lawson has been out. The All Star break is coming at a perfect time for these guys.
I was admittedly very worried when the 76ers announced that Jahlil Okafor was back with the team and would suit up tonight vs the Celtics. Dario Saric was a staple on ALL of my teams tonight but I was not overly comfortable with this as Okafor was likely going to steal some his minutes and shot attempts. Early in the first half my worst fears were coming true as Dario was missing shots and hanging out on the bench for longer than I would like to have seen. Sadly Robert Covington, who was having a great game, had to go to the locker room after hitting his head and didn't return to the court. Dario was able to take advantage of this and once he got some consistent run he went right back to making the game look easy and he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds a block and a steal. TJ McConnell continues to fly under the radar and quietly put up great fantasy numbers as again tonight he exceeded value by scoring 12 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. I am very curious to see if this team ends up moving Okafor and, if they do, what they get back for him.
A lot of the talking heads today really liked Marcus Smart's spot tonight so I took their word for it and it paid off as he had a fantastic game scoring 21 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, adding 1 block and 8 steals. Yes, you read that right, he had 8 steals but 6 turnovers. Kelly Olynk had another solid game and Isaiah Thomas stayed steady but was not spectacular in the Celts 116-108 victory. This was a fun game to watch and both of these teams have a bright future and could be very scary when healthy.
The Bucks and Nets combined for 254 points tonight. That's an incredible number that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Brook Lopez went absolutely insane tonight scoring 36 points with 4 rebounds, an assist, 8 blocks, a steal and hitting 6 of out 10 3's. I am not sure what I'm more amazing with, him hitting 6 3's or having 8 blocks. Brook is not really known as a rim protector so that stat jumps off the page at me. Spencer Dinwiddle had a great game tonight as well contributing 19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists.
For the Bucks side of the ball Giannis was his normal spectacular self but the most encouraging player in the game was easily Khris Middleton. Still working off the rust from the injury that kept him out the majority of the season to this point, Middleton exploded tonight for 20 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in just 26 minutes. As his minutes continue to climb we need to keep a close eye on his price as he is always a box score filler when healthy so he's certainly worth a look once his minute restriction is lifted. Greg Monroe continues to prove that he deserves the center job as he had another very solid game tonight but was out performed by his opposite number in Lopez. Malcolm Brogdon's numbers and minutes continue to decline since the return of Middleton. The Bucks are going to need him to get everything straightened out to help ease the pain of losing Jabari Parker for the season. Brogdon was a viable rookie of the year candidate last month and hopefully some rest over the break will rejuvenate him for a second half run.
Just to mention a couple other big games tonight from individual players:
Eric Bledsoe has broken out of his slump in a big way as tonight he destroyed the Lakers (point guards vs the Lakers is always a thing so hopefully you were on him tonight) as he tripled doubled with 25 pts, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
Is it even news anymore when Westbrook triple doubles? Well, he did it again tonight. 38 pts, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as he lead the Thunder to a great comeback victory over a Knicks team that looks like they're just completely lost and have no direction. I am not sure what they should do with that team but I am starting to think that either Rose and Carmelo need to go or Porzingis needs to go. I don't think the three can co-exist there.
Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins showed why Minnesota fans are excited about the future of this team as KAT put up 24 pts and 19 rebounds while Wiggins scored 40 points in their 112-99 beat down of the short-handed Denver Nuggets. I expected way more out of Ricky Rubio tonight and he struggled to the tune of 6 pts, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. He tends to put up duds in spots that I expect him to mash, so I wasn't too shocked when I saw his stat line tonight.
Nikola Jokic continues to impress putting up another double-double tonight with 15 pts, 14 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 blocks. Jameer Nelson also double-doubled scoring 16 points and handing out 11 assists while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Mason Plumlee, fresh from Portalnd, drew the start in his first game in a Nuggets uniform and played 34 minutes scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. I believe he will be a good hard-nosed work horse that can come in and give this young exciting team a little bit of an edge with his blue-collar attitude.
Dion Waiters resurrection has been incredible. He has been unstoppable when given the opportunity this year and he has seamlessly bounced back from his recent injury and gone right back to putting up big numbers. Tonight he scored 23 pts, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 7 assists as the Heat beat the Rockets 117-109. Hassan Whiteside looks to be healthy now and is back to being the dominant force in the middle that Miami fans have drawn accustom to. Tonight he completely dominated the Nene/Clint Capela duo to a tune of 23 pts, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Speaking of dominant - is it news when James Harden triples doubles anymore? Well, he also did it again tonight as he and Westbrook continue to play "anything you can do I can do better". Harden tonight scored 38 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
Frank Kaminsky continues to be a great play at PF while Miles Plumlee and Cody Zeller are out. Frank completely smashed value tonight by scoring 27 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. As long as Zeller and Plumlee are out I will keep firing Frank out into my lineups unless his price gets too high.
I can't forget Dirk busting out tonight with his double double as well. 24 points and 10 rebounds for this future hall of famer during tonight's super high scoring slate.
