Stephen Curry went on a 12-minute tear for the ages, James Harden had 58 points, Spencer Dinwiddie made owners think twice about cutting him, Jarrett Allen went nuts against the center-less Rockets, we had a classic Nurk Alert, and Nikola Jokic went nuts on a crazy eight-game Wednesday night. Follow me on Twitter!
Warriors 147, Pelicans 140 – Stephen Curry had 23 points and seven triples – in the third quarter – and the Warriors came back to beat the Pelicans, who played very well in this one. Curry became the first player to ever hit at least eight 3-pointers in three straight games, finishing with 41 points, three assists and nine triples. Draymond Green finally broke out with 17 points, six rebounds and 14 assists, as well as a steal, a block and four 3-pointers, Kevin Durant had 30 points, 15 rebounds and five 3-pointers, Kevon Looney stayed hot with seven points, 12 boards, two steals and two blocks, and Klay Thompson added 19 points, seven boards and four 3-pointers. The Warriors have won six straight games, Curry’s third quarter was must-see TV, and it was nice to see Green finally come through with some scoring to go along with everything else that he does. Oh, and DeMarcus Cousins is due back on Friday, as the rich get richer. If you need help at center, take a look at Looney’s game log and act accordingly.
Anthony Davis had 30 points, 18 boards, seven assists, a steal, three blocks and a 3-pointer in the loss, Julius Randle scored 23, Jrue Holiday had 25 points, six boards and seven assists, E’Twaun Moore got loose for 17 points (he was due), and Nikola Mirotic, who owners were wondering what to do with after struggling in his return from ankle surgery, caught fire for 29 points, a full stat line and six 3-pointers in the loss. This was his best game since he started out the season with 30 and 36 points in his first two games, so maybe he’s ready to get going. Hopefully you didn’t drop him prior to Wednesday’s explosion. Moore scored a total of five points in his previous two games, so he could be getting hot, and Elfrid Payton had 12 assists in the loss. Davis went down hard late in the game, but played through it.[[ad:athena]]
Celtics 117, Raptors 108 – Kyrie Irving said that he called and apologized to LeBron James, and better understands what trying to lead a team full of young players is like. Irving went off for 27 points and a career-high 18 assists after missing his last game with quad injury, and the Celtics won the battle of two of the better teams in the East. Jayson Tatum double-doubled, Al Horford scored a season-high 24 points, and Gordon Hayward bounced back with 18 points, five assists, a steal, a block and two 3-pointers off the bench. Marcus Morris, who I picked up for this week in a couple leagues, has completely fallen apart in his last two games, hitting 5-of-20 shots for totals of 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Celtics still have games on Friday and Saturday, so there’s time for him to get this turned around. Jaylen Brown was 2-of-9 for seven points off the bench, and his inconsistency is driving his owners crazy. He’s not a must-own player in standard leagues, but he could also get hot at any time. The Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak.
For the Raps, Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry (poked in the eye, played through it) all played well, while Danny Green came through with 15 points, six boards, a block and three 3-pointers. Green has played well in two straight games, but I don’t even care. He’s simply burned me too many times to count, and I’m not taking the bait (at least for now). Pascal Siakam finally cooled off, hitting 3-of-6 shots for six points, four rebounds, seven assists and a steal. He’d scored in double figures in eight straight, had 24 points and 19 boards in his previous game, and he went on an absolute tear after his last dud, a four-point performance on Dec. 28. Just hang onto him. Norm Powell and Greg Monroe had decent games off the bench, so just keep an eye on them.
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Nets 145, Rockets 142 OT – Spencer Dinwiddie was wearing customized shoes with Beyonce’s face on them and they were working. I got a lot of questions about dropping Dinwiddie in Wednesday’s Live Chat, as he’d been posting relatively empty lines and had scored just eight points in each of his previous two games. Then he went nuts in the fourth quarter, sent the game to overtime, and then won it, finishing with 33 points, 10 assists and four 3-pointers. I hope you didn’t drop him. Jarrett Allen went crazy with 20 points, a career-high 24 rebounds and three blocks, taking advantage of the center-less Rockets, and all five Nets’ starters scored in double figures. Treveon Graham started at shooting guard and had 21 points, five boards and three 3-pointers in 32 minutes. He had scored a grand total of 19 points on the season, so we’ll need to see it another time or two before buying into him. Rodions Kurucs had 14 points and five boards, and is worth holding for now, while DeMarre Carroll came off the bench for 22 points, five boards and four 3-pointers, making him worth a pickup (if available) after double-doubling in his previous game. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson returned from his groin injury, but played just seven minutes, and I don’t have time to wait. And with Graham and Dinwiddie on fire, D’Angelo Russell cooled off with 10 points and seven assists. He’s fine. Additionally, Ed Davis cooled off with Allen grabbing every board, and Davis’ last three games have been disappointing, to say the least. Shabazz Napier disappeared with five points in eight minutes, so his run might be over.
For the Rockets, James Harden had 58 points, 10 rebounds, six dimes, a steal, a block and five 3-pointers. He’s scored at least 30 in 17 straight games, has back-to-back 55-point games to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player to do that, is averaging 35.4 points (Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant are the only two to average 35 in a season in the last 50 years), and is averaging 41.2 points per game over his last 20 games (Kobe Bryant was the last to do that (2005-06). The Rockets attempted an NBA-record 70 3-pointers on the night. Additionally, the Warriors and Pelicans attempted an NBA-record 106 3-pointers, and made an NBA-record 43 of them on the same night. P.J. Tucker had a 20 & 10 double-double, Austin Rivers had a 13-5-6-1-1 line with three 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon was back from his knee injury and had 20 points and four 3-pointers. Gerald Green added 15 points, five boards and five triples off the bench, and every player mentioned here is worth a fantasy look, although Tucker and Green are going to be inconsistent with Gordon back. I think Rivers should be owned until Chris Paul is back from his knee injury. Gary Clark started at center and had eight boards, two steals and two blocks, but didn’t score in the loss.
Bucks 111, Grizzlies 101 – Giannis Antetokounmpo had a 27-11-3-1-2 line on 10-of-14 shooting, and Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon all played reasonably well in the ‘blowout.’ D.J. Wilson had 13 off the bench with two blocks and three 3-pointers, and has quietly been playing well. Just put him on your radar. The Bucks have won three straight and 14 of their last 17, and have been doing it while giving Giannis very limited minutes. He played 22 tonight and triple-doubled in 25 minutes on Tuesday. While the final score doesn’t reflect it, this was a blowout, as the Bucks were up 31 at one point in the fourth quarter before the Grizz scrubs went on a 19-0 run.
Omri Casspi, of all people, led the Grizzlies with 17 off the bench, and JaMychal Green had 14 points, 10 rebounds, a steal, three blocks and two 3-pointers, also off the bench. Forget about Casspi, but I picked Green up for the four-game week, and so far it’s paying off. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol both quietly scored 14 points, Justin Holiday started and scored five points in 17 minutes, Jaren Jackson Jr. was quiet with seven points, five boards, two steals and a block, and Garrett Temple hit just 1-of-7 shots for two points. Holiday and Temple are worth watching with Kyle Anderson (ankle) out for a while, but I don’t trust either of them. However, it’s possible that Holiday will eventually get hot as long as he keeps starting, so keep him on your radar.
Spurs 105, Mavericks 101 – Six Spurs (Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Bryn Forbes, Davis Bertans, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli) scored between 12 and 17 points, Derrick White cooled off, and Mills is suddenly hot, averaging 11.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.4 3-pointers over his last five, making him worth a look. His emergence could hurt White and Forbes, but I’m not too worried – yet. Gay returned from his wrist injury and had 14 points in 22 minutes, while LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan were pretty quiet in this one. Looking at the Spurs box score, it’s a little surprising they won the game. And just to be clear, I’d still rather own White and Forbes over Mills.
For the Mavs, Luka Doncic had 25 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, a steal and three 3-pointers, and you can go ahead and give him the Rookie of the Year Award, while the rest of the Mavericks were highly disappointing. Seriously.
Blazers 129, Cavaliers 112 – Damian Lillard, playing through a sore hand, scored 33 with six dimes and four 3-pointers, C.J. McCollum scored 19, Jake Layman had 18 points and two 3-pointers, Al-Farouq Aminu had 14 points, nine boards and two 3-pointers, and Jusuf Nurkic – Nurk Alert! – had his first triple-double with 10 points, 10 boards and 10 dimes, and added five blocks! Layman has scored 18, 13 and 13 in his last three games and is shooting it well as a starter, but isn’t doing much besides scoring. He’s also filling in for Moe Harkless, who’s missed five straight with a sore left knee. Aminu’s worth grabbing if available, averaging 12 points, 10.7 boards and 3.3 3-pointers over his last three games. Evan Turner cooled off with seven points, four boards and four assists, and Zach Collins scored 11 points with three 3-pointers in 17 minutes, but there’s really not much to love about the Blazers’ bench. Nurk’s trip-dub was Portland’s first since Nicolas Batum did it five years ago.
For the Cavs, starters Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson, Collin Sexton and Alec Burks were all disappointing, as only Rodney Hood played well with the first unit, scoring 20 points, but failing to connect from downtown. Jordan Clarkson stayed hot off the bench with 22 points and two 3-pointers, Cameron Payne (on a second 10-day contract) had 12 points, three boards, two assists and two 3-pointers, and Ante Zizic came through with 16 points, eight boards and two blocks. Jaron Blossomgame also came through with eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, and this team is just a fantasy mess. Here’s how I rank the Cavs in terms of pickups: Clarkson, Thompson, Burks, Hood, Sexton, Osman, Zizic, Blossomgame, Payne. Having said that, if the tanking Cavs are over Thompson (and they may be, but TT played 21 minutes), Zizic could be someone to keep a close eye on going forward. Somehow, the two teams combined for an NBA record-low seven assists.
Jazz 129, Clippers 109 – Nikola Jokic went nuts again with 23 points, 22 boards, a steal and four blocks, Donovan Mitchell added 28 points, six assists and three steals, Jae Crowder caught fire with 23 points, four boards, two assists, two steals, a block and five 3-pointer, and Kyle Korver stayed hot with 19 points and four triples. Derrick Favors double-doubled with 11 points and 10 boards, Royce O’Neal started and added 10 points and seven boards, and Joe Ingles stayed quiet with six points, eight boards and two steals, but was 0-for-5 from downtown. Korver is averaging 14.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 3.6 3-pointers over his last five, and while I don’t trust him, he’s worth a look. Crowder had scored in single digits in four straight, and five of his last six, so there’s a reason he ‘s on your waiver wire. Maybe he’s ready to get hot, but I’d like to see him do it again before racing out to get him. The Jazz have now won five straight games.
The Clippers got nice games out of Tobias Harris, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and Avery Bradley, while Danilo Gallinari, and just about everyone else struggled. I’m not touching Bradley, unless he does this three more times in the next week.
Pistons 120, Magic 115 OT – Blake Griffin hit 11-of-18 shots for another big game (30 points), Andre Drummond sent the game to OT and finished with 14 points, 22 rebounds (11 offensive) and a block, while Reggie Jackson and Reggie Bullock each scored 13 points. Bullock had six dimes and three assists, and has scored at least 13 points in eight straight games, hitting exactly 13 points in five of those. Luke Kennard had 14 points, four boards, two assists, a steal and a 3-pointer off the bench, and Langston Galloway added 13 points and a couple 3-pointers, but neither of them is trustworthy. Ish Smith played 22 minutes off the bench, but hit just 1-of-7 shots for six points. Once he gets rolling, he’s probably going to slow the roll of Jackson, who had 13 points, four assists and two 3-pointers in 31 minutes.
All five Magic starters hit double figures and Nikola Vucevic had 24 points, 13 rebounds and two 3-pointers in the loss. Evan Fournier, D.J. Augustin and Aaron Gordon all had solid lines, while Jonathan Isaac scored 10 to go along with three boards, two assists and two 3-pointers, but didn’t have a steal or a block. The Magic have benched Jonathon Simmons and hope to trade him, which is a great sign for Isaac, but I totally understand if you’ve had enough of owning him. Terrence Ross stayed hot and had 24 points, six triples, a steal and a block, and is on fire again, averaging 19.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 4.2 3-pointers over his last five. Make sure he’s not available in your league.
