The first night is in the books and for a night that started off harmless enough there were some very interesting ramifications in both the fantasy and reality basketball worlds.  In the good news department Anthony Davis looked like he was just scratching the surface with 26 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, three steals and nine blocks. 

In the bad news department, the broken leg for Julius Randle served as sad punctuation to officially finish a half-baked Lakers season on the very first night of the year.    Nobody expected them to do anything (I had them last in the West), but watching this poorly constructed unit steal away Kobe Bryant’s final relevant years is depressing as all hell.  And watching a Lakers game, especially when something like 20 of them will be rammed down our throats on national broadcasts, is something akin to watching the pre-Blake and Chris Clippers for the last 25 years. 

In the end, last night served more as an appetizer with real-life basketball implications rather than the 12-game fantasy extravaganza tonight.  So let’s jump right to it and we’ll see you tomorrow to figure out what the hell happened the night before. 

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Editor’s Note: Rotoworld’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $200,000 Fantasy Basketball league for October 29th’s games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $20,000. Starts at 7pm ET on October 29th. Here’s the FanDuel link.

MAGICALLY DELICIOUS

If you followed my Bruski 150 list closely then you wouldn’t have to connect the dots much to know that I have Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn on quite a few fantasy teams.  I had O’Quinn’s value significantly higher than just about anybody anywhere and as a result I’d usually cherry-pick where I wanted to grab him at the end of drafts.  I’d usually spring for Harris earlier than his ADP because I didn’t want to watch him explode for somebody else because I got cute and tried to max out his profit margin. 

Thusly, there were a lot of us huddling together on Twitter in metaphoric prayer circles when it appeared that Harris had suffered the proverbial ‘non-contact’ injury before calling it an early night.  True to form, there was practically zero Orlando media presence in New Orleans so it was only when readers started reporting that they saw Harris walking around that we all got to take a small breath.  And eventually it would be reported that he merely suffered from a cramp, so hopefully this is just a mild speed bump for him as he aggressively looks to establish himself on a nightly basis.

In fact, the words ‘contract year’ appear to be tattooed all over every aspect of Harris’ game, as he races to put up jumpers and takes on way more of the offense than he’s probably ready to handle.  Maybe he was just excited for Opening Night, and perhaps it’s unfair to read into his aggression considering the Magic’s offense is bogged down by a rookie point guard that gets zero respect from the perimeter.  Either way, Harris scored a team-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds, one steal, one three, four turnovers and a 6-of-6 mark from the foul line.  His shooting percentage will always be buoyed by dunks and inside play, and he couldn’t really play much worse than he did last night – which is a calculus owners should be excited about knowing he has room for improvement. 

O’Quinn (four points, two rebounds, five assists, one steal, three blocks) logged just 21 minutes and was in early foul trouble, but it was clear to see that he will play a big role for this team when he’s on the floor.  Always around the ball, he’s a good distributor and he’s constantly mixing it up down low to get all those steals and blocks.  He stepped into a long-three and missed it but whether he’s shooting threes or not, the takeaway is that he’s ready to expand on his consistent low-end offensive production from last season.  Considering the entire fantasy universe (including RW as a whole) has been sleeping on him to varying degrees, chances are he’s still available on your wire.  Go check out his splits from the last 2-3 months of last season and ask yourself if he’s going to do more or less than he did during that span.  The results may frighten you. 

Nikola Vucevic hilariously tried to post up Davis and went nowhere on one play, but in this playground style atmosphere and against Omer Asik he was able to slither his way into a huge night of 15 points, 23 rebounds, one steal and four blocks.  If there is a rock on this team, it’s him, and he’s developing a very nice back-to-the-basket game.  Elfrid Payton was incredibly fun to watch but it’s going to take some time before he’s not hurting his team on the offensive end.  He hit just 2-of-8 shots for four points, five rebounds, seven assists, one steal and just one turnover.  Don’t let the one turnover fool you, his inability to get the team into sets, his inability to create coherent penetration, and the fact his defender simply goes five miles under any screen that is set – will all be important as they relate to other players’ success on the team.  As for Payton’s value itself, he’s simply a stash for the chance he’s a fast learner and nothing more.  He cannot sustain any real fantasy value with this type of shooting and lower volume popcorn (PTS-REBS-ASTS) totals. 

Evan Fournier got the start for Victor Oladipo and scored 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting with two threes, three boards, two assists and four turnovers in 32 minutes.  Ben Gordon was terrible with five points on 1-of-8 shooting with four rebounds and three fouls in 23 minutes, so Fournier’s uneven performance will probably get a pass.  The Orlando media had been nibbling around the edges by saying Maurice Harkless was the odd man out of the rotation and that played out last night with a DNP-CD.  Fournier looks like the best deep league plug-and-play in the group. 

FLY PELICANS FLY!

In non-Brow related news, the addition of Omer Asik and return of Jrue Holiday really make this team a treat.  Asik allows Brow to roam around and the duo is the best defensive big man tandem in the league, and once Holiday gets his sea legs that’ll make three solid defenders getting heavy minutes for New Orleans.  If you can funnel Tyreke Evans’ athleticism into some form of coherent defense now you’re really onto something if you’re Monty Williams. 

After an emotionally and physically trying year, Ryan Anderson had a feel-good moment in the Pellies’ easy win over the Magic with 22 points on 9-of-22 shooting with three treys and nine boards in his 22 minutes. Holiday played 27 minutes and finished with eight points on 4-of-11 shooting with two rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.  He’s clearly not at 100 percent and the only concern there for owners is that Evans is more than willing to bring the ball up and it’s a habit he may not be willing to lose when Holiday actually is at full strength. 

Eric Gordon scored just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting but did manage to post two steals, two blocks and a three to keep it from being a true bust of a night.  Asik went for 14 and 17 with five blocks, and like Davis it has to be noted that this Magic squad was giving away statistics like Halloween candy last night. 

FIRST NIGHT JITTERS

The Mavs and Spurs game would be the one you’d probably gloss over in an early-season matchup but it was the only exciting game of the night.  Monta Ellis was his normal consistent self with 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting with four rebounds, six assists and a trey, and everybody else pretty much stayed in their lane during the Mavs’ one-point loss.  The only exception was offseason acquisition Chandler Parsons, who disappeared after his rollicking early-game dunk to finish with just five points on 2-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, two steals and one block.  If there is an owner that is worried about him be a good friend and offer to take the problem off his or her hands for a while. 

SAME OLD STORY

The Spurs were their typical wonderful selves last night and all of the usual suspects did their thing last night.  Tim Duncan went for 14 and 13 with a steal and two blocks, Tony Parker scored 23 points and added an unusually high four 3-pointers, and Danny Green hit 5-of-9 shots and 3-of-6 from deep to finish with 13 points.  Marco Belinelli saw extended run with Kawhi Leonard (eye) out and finished with 15 points, three treys, three assists and a steal, Boris Diaw had his usual versatile line of five points, nine boards, six assists and one trey, and Manu Ginobili scored 20 points with six assists, two steals, two threes and a 6-of-7 mark from the line.  Leonard sounds like he’ll be back for Friday’s game but stay tuned for updates. 

LIGHT THE FUSE

The only remotely interesting thing about the Rockets’ win over the Lakers last night was the brief spat between Dwight Howard (13 points, 11 rebounds, 7-of-16 FTs) and Kobe.  Terrence Jones was never going to falter and he showed out with 16 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Trevor Ariza did well in his debut with 16 points and five treys to go with a smattering of other stats.  James Harden dominated the ball with 32 points on 7-of-17 shots (15-of-16 FTs), six assists, one steal, one rebound and three treys, and Patrick Beverley hit 2-of-6 shots (including two threes) for nine points, five rebounds and five assists.  Beverley is going to eke his way to mid-round fantasy value this year, but it’s going to feel like he’s pulling teeth because Harden is the team’s de facto point guard still. 

JOURNEY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WEST

Obviously the Julius Randle broken leg changes things for the Lakers, which is kind of ironic since Byron Scott was going to put him on the slow track to getting into the game.  Randle really might have been the only Lakers player capable of getting their own shot other than Jeremy Lin and Kobe, a fact that Scott was going to have to face one way or another before the injury shook the whole thing up.  Kobe is out there facing double-and-triple teams as he demands to be the focal point despite diminished returns as a No. 1 playmaker and distributor. 

Yes, sometimes Kobe will do something that makes you think he can turn back the clock, but most of the time his probing of the defense will result in a harder shot for he or his teammates rather than an easier one.  He hit just 6-of-17 shots for 19 points with a meager three rebounds, two assists and one steal, which was my concern heading into drafts.  Like Derrick Rose, if the defensive stats simply aren’t there they both need really big volume and efficient shooting to even sniff their old lofty heights.  At this rate Kobe’s going to be seeing triple coverage unless he, Scott and the rest of the Lakers can come up with a viable Plan B that doesn’t rely on Kobe’s non-existent athleticism advantage anymore. 

Carlos Boozer (17 points, seven rebounds, one steal, 28 minutes) became a must-hold player with the Randle news, and Jordan Hill (seven points, 10 rebounds, one block, 23 minutes) becomes as important as ever for the Lakers down low.  Wes Johnson started and was pretty bad with seven points, two rebounds, one three and that’s about it.  He’s got a starting job on a very bad team and owners should just wait that out for now.  Ed Davis is worth a look as a flier pick in standard leagues and last night he posted 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting with six rebounds, one steal and two blocks in just 22 minutes.  Deep league owners may want to keep Jordan Clarkson on their radar given the propensity of Jeremy Lin and Ronnie Price to get hurt.  Clarkson had eight points, four rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes off the bench, and Lin had just seven points on 1-of-5 shooting with two rebounds and six assists as he stood around and watched Kobe handle most possessions. Look for Lin to slowly get that under control as the year goes on. 

That’s it for now.  Look out for a big Dose tomorrow night and good luck.