Anthony

Randolph

He saw some action because the Lakers were up big in the second half, and because Kevin Love was out due to illness. Prior to tonight, the artist formerly known as Ant-Rand had only played in one game this month, getting 12 minutes on Feb. 8. Continue to ignore him.

This isn’t a guarantee that Randolph will be productive, but it sits a bit better with the anxious owner that may decide to take the plunge. Randolph, Michael Beasley, Anthony Tolliver, and Derrick Williams have all been toss-ups since Kevin Love went down.

Love has undergone further medical evaluation and his diagnosis is unchanged. He has a “mild” concussion and a neck strain. Doctors in Denver have cleared him to return to Minneapolis, where he’ll undergo even more tests. With just six games left in the season after Thursday, Love’s season is certainly in jeopardy. Derrick Williams and Anthony Randolph are prime candidates to pick up the slack.

This is the first step toward validating our suspicions that Williams would be the player to add between Anthony Tolliver and Anthony Randolph, who we like in that order. A lot can change based on game flow and in-game performance, but for now all three guys are worth varying degrees of fantasy consideration before the cards get laid on the table tonight.

Randolph, as fate would have it, became the clear winner of the Kevin Love injury sweepstakes, at least as it stands right now. We know better than to fully trust any of Love’s backups, but Randolph has a way of letting owners down after lifting them up. He’s certainly worth owning in all formats right now, but owners have to go into the transaction with a ‘buyer beware’ sign hanging around their necks.

Love suffered a minor concussion and neck strain, and after staying in a Denver-area hospital overnight, he won’t play against Los Angeles. Anthony Randolph scored 28 points to go along with six rebounds and five blocks in Love’s absence, and Love’s owners should be giving the inconsistent big man a very long look.

Kevin Love left with a mild concussion and Randolph, along with rookie Derrick Williams, stepped up tonight. Randolph is going to be a hot pickup in many leagues, but he’s really done nothing but burn fantasy owners throughout his career. He was clearly feeling it with his shot tonight, and while we do think he’s worth a flier in case he can do this again, Love would likely have to miss multiple games for Randolph to come through in fantasyland. Pick him up and start him at your own risk. He had scored a total of 21 points over his last 22 games, so forgive us if we’re not jumping up and down with excitement after tonight’s explosion.

Kevin Love left with a concussion tonight and Tolliver, despite tonight’s poor outing, could be a big beneficiary if Love is going to miss time. Anthony Randolph will garner all the headlines, but Tolliver has had a much better season. If you’re looking for the winners if Love is going to be out, we’d rank them Derrick Williams, Tolliver and Randolph, for now.

Beat writer Jerry Zgoda keeps calling him ‘out,’ while qualifying his reports with the term ‘doubtful,’ and our educated guess is that he won’t play. Derrick Williams will start in his place and is well worth a look tonight, and look for Nikola Pekovic, Michael Beasley, and maybe even Anthony Randolph to pick up the slack, as well. Also look for Ricky Rubio to pick up his play and for Luke Ridnour to keep up his recent push. That, or the team will totally implode under the weight of the Lakers.

He made 3-of-10 FGs but 8-of-8 FTs, and he may have drawn extra motivation against his former team. With Kevin Love officially done for the season, Randolph should be similarly active in Thursday’s finale.