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First Look: Tuesday, February 24
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Props, Rumors, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz,
Not much surprising Monday in terms of box score, but before you read on, please go watch this. You’ll see why in a second.
Monday’s best: Did you watch it? Wow. The line Devin Harris put up tonight: 39 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 threes, 2 steals, a block, 11-22 from the field, and 12-14 from the line. Also worth mentioning was the line Nate Robinson was putting up at the same time across town. KryptoNate went off for 41 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 threes, 2 steals, 11-18 FG, and 15-19 from the line. Couple more points, rebounds instead of assists, one fewer three and block, but better FG%. Pretty close, but not much tops that shot from Harris.
Monday’s worst: Chauncey Billups. No wonder the Nuggets got bulldozed by the defending champs. In 34 minutes, Billups had 3 points, 5 assists, and 4 turnovers. He was 1-8 from the field and ended up a team low -38 at the end of it all.
Keep an eye on: The Utah Jazz. They got Carlos Boozer back tonight, and they’re playing good ball. Now they have a purpose, and with the West so tight, they could really climb that ladder. They are a scary team for sure.
What to watch for Tuesday: Two good games will be Mavericks/Spurs and Portland/Houston. No Greg Oden vs. Yao Ming, but oh well. Also, word has it that Mikki Moore is signing with the Celtics tomorrow. He’d be worth a pickup probably, at least if you have the spot to spare. Interestingly, Mike D’Antoni will miss practice Tuesday to attend an arbitration hearing for Stephon Marbury. Might the Celtics be interested in him as well if the meeting spurs a buyout? Hm…
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First Look: Monday, February 23
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Props, Talent, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns,
Three games on national TV today was nice. Delonte West was back and torched the Pistons, the Celtics figured out maybe Kevin Garnett isn’t all that important, and the Raptors got even with the Knicks. But without further adieu…
Sunday’s best: No disrespect to Dwyane Wade’s 50 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, but I’m giving this to Rajon Rondo. What a player. He went for 32 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 dimes, on top of 3 steals, a three, and some stellar shooting in a road win against the streaking Suns. It’s pretty scary when someone outside the Big Three is playing this well. Oh yeah, and Steve Blake had 14 assists in one quarter. He only finished with 17 though. Only.
Sunday’s worst: Grant Hill. In 30 minutes, just 8 points on 2-7 shooting, and here’s the real dagger: 4-7 from the line. He’s shooting 82% on the season, and this probably lost somebody in fantasyland a win for the week. Extremely unimpressive line for that many minutes, and we have to wonder if that injury he suffered Friday is kind of a big deal.
Keep an eye on:DeAndre Jordan. Dude went for 15 and 12 with 3 blocks. He’s worth grabbing in deep leagues for sure.
What to watch for Monday: Monday is a fairly bland day around the league. Carlos Boozer is expected to play Monday, so plug him in for sure, just don’t expect too much. Keep your eyes peeled to that Clippers/Warriors box score to see if Jordan gets some minutes and continues to break out.
First Look: Sunday, February 22
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Props, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns,
Good to see the Jazz win tonight, in what had to be a big emotional boost for that organization and city. I’m a Suns fan, you know I’m not exactly rooting for the Jazz, but I gotta say, it was good to see them win this game. Another note: Oklahoma City has a really bright future. I saw them in person Friday, and then in the second half of a back-to-back, they played really well. See: Saturday’s best.
Saturday’s best: Tie between Russel Westbrook and Jeff Green. Man what a great young team. Seriously. If they don’t land a big name free agent in 2010, it’ll be shame because they could go places with another superstar. Westbrook had 31 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and a steal. Green went off for 27 points, 15 boards, and 6 dimes. He did have 7 turnovers, which prevented him from taking home the title all to himself for today.
Saturday’s worst: Mike James. After a few strong games, he fails to score in 26 minutes, missing all 6 shots. He’s got Javaris Crittenton breathing down his back, but even he had a bad game, scoreless in 18 minutes. No shocker that the Wiz got blown out by the Spurs.
Keep an eye on: James Singleton. Who? Yeah, I dunno. What I do know is that he scored 19 points and grabbed 12 boards with a couple steals and a block tonight. That’s something worth watching.
What to watch for tomorrow: Boston at Phoenix is the best game on the docket. Two teams without their best player, and we’ll see how the Suns adjust to not being able to score 140 on a weak team. Worth watching on national TV at least.
First Look: Saturday, February 21
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Props, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Seattle Supersonics, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns,
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Friday night was something special. We saw an epic battle between the Lakers and Hornets, in which Chris Paul fouling out might have cost the Hornets a big upset, yet another 140-point outburst by the Suns, and one of the truly amazing single performances in recent years by none other than LeBron James. I really hope you got to see at least part of one of these games.
Friday’s best: LeBron takes the cake here, and it’s not close. The man scored 16 points in less than three minutes at the beginning of the third quarter. He finished with 55 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 8 threes. About half of those threes were at least a couple feet behind the line. Truly amazing. But let’s not look past Paul’s 21 points, 5 rebounds, 16 dimes, and 4 steals and Leandro Barbosa’s career-high 41 points (on 16-21 shooting!), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals. Two extremely outstanding lines that would easily top most other nights. Oh, and Randy Foye had 36 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals too.
Friday’s worst: Peja Stojakovic. He had 5 points on 2-11 shooting (1-8 beyond the arc) in 29 minutes. If he had connected on just a couple more shots, the short-handed Hornets would have taken down the mighty Lakers in Hollywood… oh well. He’s just so inconsistent, it has to be maddening for his owners.
Keep an eye on: The Chicago Bulls. Big win tonight at home against the Nuggets, in the first game after acquiring Brad Miller and John Salmons... and they didn’t even play. Maybe it was a big chemistry booster. Maybe they can make noise in the playoffs. Maybe they should try to climb a few spots and get out of facing the Celtics or Cavs in the first round.
What to watch for tomorrow: The best game on the docket tomorrow is easily New Orleans at Utah. One team coming off a pretty tough loss tonight in OT traveling to play a team in an emotional turbulent time, toppling the defending champs Thursday and losing their owner and influential Utah man Larry H. Miller. Should be a pretty interesting game, and definitely an emotional one for the Jazz and their fans. I wish Miller’s family and the community to best as they recover from this tough loss.
KG, Amar’e go down
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Injuries, Waiver Pick Ups, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns,
In an awful turn of events, the biggest news on deadline day and it’s aftermath happened to be two massive injuries that are sure to handicap two teams and a lot more fantasy teams.
First of all, Kevin Garnett went down Thursday against the Jazz. He seemed to tweak his knee going up for an alley-oop and made sure not to land on it. After hobbling his way off the court, he went to the locker room, and later came out to warm up for the second half. According to Cheryl Miller at the game, he wanted to play, but was told not to. Now he has been sent back to Boston for an MRI and will miss the rest of the Celtics’ West Coast road trip. Stephen A. Smith reported the Celtics are estimating it could be four weeks, although no official word has been out. Expect Leon Powe to start and produce. This may also intensify the Celtics reported talks with recently-waived Mikki Moore.
The first team the Celtics will face without KG, the Suns, have taken what could end up being a bigger blow. Currently 9th in the West and out of the playoff picture, the Suns lost Amar’e Stoudemire for eight weeks or more with a detached retina suffered in Wednesday’s blowout against the Clippers. It’s an odd injury and could sideline him longer than eight weeks when all is said and done, which would probably put Phoenix in the lottery. For now, it appears Louis Amundson will start, and on Tuesday in the first blowout against the Clippers, Lou scored 13 and ripped 8 boards with a block in 20 minutes. Given the minutes, Amundson could be pretty valuable, so I suggest grabbing him. Matt Barnes could also start, but that’s probably unlikely, even with the new running style offense.
First Look: Friday, February 20
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Injuries, Props, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers,
Only two games tonight, and of course one was the lovely snoozefest the NBA calls Spurs/Pistons. It was actually a good game, but I was happy enough watching the last two minutes, as I’m sure most people would be. The Celtics/Jazz game was pretty good too, pretty close throughout. Let me say, the Jazz look good. They stayed composed and when they get healthy, they’ll be scary. If I’m the Lakers or Spurs, I’m hoping they climb the standings.
Thursday’s best: Not a whole lot of impressive lines. Could have gone with Timmy Duncan’s 18 points and 18 boards, but it was on some pretty shotty shooting (7-19). Instead, we’ll give it to Allen Iverson, who went for 31 points, 3 boards, 7 dimes, a steal, and a block on 13-28 shooting. Not too shabby on an otherwise unimpressive night around the league.
Thursday’s worst: Gotta be Rip Hamilton. He got 34 minutes off the bench in which he scored 4 points on 2-10 shooting. Combined with Rodney Stuckey’s 2 points (although he did have 8 assists), a bad night from Rip did the Pistons in.
Keep an eye on: Kevin Garnett’s injury and Gabe Pruitt. KG went down just before halftime with a “sprained knee.” At the time of writing this, it’s pretty cloudy just how bad it is, but if he misses any time on this road trip, the Cavs could find themselves on top in the East. With Tony Allen’s injury, Pruitt will get some extra burn. He wasn’t extremely effective Thursday, but keep an eye out.
What to watch for tomorrow: Toronto at New York could be pretty exciting and high scoring. The new-look Bulls take on a good Nuggets team in Chicago, so we’ll see if they’re really any good with Brad Miller and John Salmons. And on national TV, the Hornets visit the Lakers. Should be a doozy.
First Look: Thursday, February 19
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Props, Talent,
On a day in which a semi-, kinda-, a-little-bit-significant deal was made (more on this below), one was also taken away. The Bulls acquired Brad Miller and John Salmons in a deal also involving Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni. Why? Well I’m not sure. Nobody really is. I guess they think they can compete in the playoffs. Ok, please stop chuckling.
Wednesday’s best: Today is a tie. I just can’t decide. Dwyane Wade had 37 points, 4 rebounds, and 12 assists to go along with four steals and a block. Well that’s nice. But so way Amar’e Stoudemire’s 42 points and 11 boards on 15-20 shooting and 12-13 from the line. That’s the kind of line that allows you some wiggle room in the FG% department for the rest of the week.
Wednesday’s worst: Tyson Chandler. Dude, you failed a physical. It’s the middle of the season. Now nobody knows what’s wrong with you, and the Hornets have to lie to you to make you feel welcome again. In the beginning, they were excited to have Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox, and now they must have been doing it just for financial reasons, right? You wasted a game for yourself and a few other dudes, and made your GM look silly. I’m sorry, it’s kinda funny.
Keep an eye on: Spencer Hawes. He gains a lot from the trade today, and had a good game tonight. He could definitely end up being a guy you look at keeping in some deeper leagues if you don’t have a lot of keeper-quality dudes.
What to watch for tomorrow: Only two games tomorrow, and we all know how much of a snoozefest Detroit and San Antonio can be, and Utah will probably lose to Boston. Ho-hum. But guess what’s the most exciting part of tomorrow on TNT? The Round Mound of Rebound is back. I’m sure we’ll get to hear how “It was a turrible mistake Ernie, I really am a knucklehead.” Must-see TV.
First Look: Wednesday, February 18
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Disses, Props, Waiver Pick Ups, New Jersey Nets, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns,
What a day Tuesday was. Let me tell you, there were some crazy lines. One stood above the rest. Way above. One could say it was… super. And there was no green substance anywhere to be found…
Tuesday’s best: Let me start off saying there was a triple-double Tuesday. It was Pau Gasol (12 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists). However, it was CLEARLY the second-best line. The winner? Superman himself, Dwight Howard. All he did was score a career-best 45 points to go along with 19 boards and 8 blocks. Two blocks short of one of the more impressive triple-doubles I’ve ever seen in my life. Not only that, he was an uncharacteristic 13-18 from the line (72%) and 16-23 (70%) from the field. Sorry Pau, Dwight just blew your triple-double out of the water.
Tuesday’s worst: Zach Randolph. The former Jail Blazer played under 12 minutes because he felt it necessary to throw a punch at Louis Amundson. I mean seriously, I was there, and we went to a boxing match and a basketball game broke out. The plus side for Zach? His +/- was only -13, compared to Eric Gordon’s -45 and Ricky Davis’ -42.
Keep an eye on: Amundson. Sure, it was a blowout. But Lou was the first guy off the bench under new coach Alvin Gentry and played 20 solid minutes, scoring 13 and pulling down 8 boards with the team’s lone block. If he gets 20 minutes a game, which he could easily under a new coach, he’s worth a look in 12-16 team leagues where you need a big.
What to watch for tomorrow: Shawn Marion plays his first game as the Cavaliers travel to take on the Raptors. Keep an eye on how many points the Raptors score, especially if Chris Bosh plays. Dwight could go off again against New Orleans, who traded their best defensive big today. And Devin Harris comes back to Dallas, where Vince Carter trade rumors are abound. Could be semi-interesting.
Chandler, Wilcox swapped
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Trades, New Orleans Hornets, Seattle Supersonics,
In a deal that appears to be mostly financially-driven, the Hornets sent Tyson Chandler to their once stand-in hometown of Oklahoma City for Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, and the draft rights to DeVon Hardin.
I think in a pure basketball sense, it’s a good move for both teams. Obviously, the Hornets may have lost the value end of it, but they get back a saavy veteran and a guy who can hold his own down low. Chandler was having a bad season anyway, and Wilcox hasn’t been getting off the pine.
Fantasy-wise, Chandler will start in OKC, sending Nick Collison to the bench. He takes a big hit in value and Nenad Krstic becomes droppable in every league. Of course, either could see minutes at the four, but it won’t likely be many.
As for New Orleans, Wilcox will just take Chandler’s place in the starting lineup. Smith will likely back up David West, and Hilton Armstrong will continue to see his limited minutes backing up Wilcox.
Big winner? Wilcox, because he’ll actually get to play some minutes.
Trade Reaction: Marion to Toronto, O’Neal to Miami
Posted by Brandon Haraway Categories: Trades, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat,
In a deal expected to be finalized Friday afternoon, the Miami Heat traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Toronto Raptors for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon.
Has a guy ever been traded hours after hitting a game-winner? Well he has now.
Anyways, this trade better suits the Heat’s system, and fulfills Pat Riley’s desire for a big. But for Toronto, it makes them a legitimate playoff team. At the moment, they are second-to-last in the East, but only four games out of a playoff spot. This gives them a trio of Jose Calderon, Marion, and Chris Bosh that might be capable of going on a tear and making some noise.
As far as fantasy goes, one has to assume Marion’s numbers go up. We’ll likely see Bosh play some center and Marion play at the four, because behind O’Neal, was Jake Voskuhl on the depth chart. Winners here are Marion, Jason Kapono, and Joey Graham. They’ll be picking up Moon’s minutes plus some of the minutes created by the shifting around of Bosh to center.
On the Miami side, not much should change. They basically had no center, so this helps there. Michael Beasley might get some more minutes, and it remains to be seen if Moon starts. If not, Beasley would likely get the nod. This effectively kills any value that Jamaal Magloire and Joel Anthony had in deep leagues.
I’m predicting some noise made by Toronto…
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