Chris Paul looks to take control of the Clippers, Monta Ellis puts his imprint on the Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies’ dangerous frontline has that team a very real contender at 9-1 to begin the season. LeBron James is heating up, Damian Lillard’s ready to answer the cry of his fantasy owners and Klay Thompson keeps flat out ballin’. It’s the Sunday Dose.

You can check me out on Twitter right here, and check out all the exclusive content in the Rotoworld Season Pass right here.

Raptors 111, Jazz 93

Gordon Hayward’s owners haven’t had anything to complain about since the season began, but the max-contract baby-faced star finally delivered a clunker in Utah’s blowout loss: 12 points, five assists, a steal, a block and no 3-pointers. He’ll be fine. After a couple of promising games, Trey Burke took a step back with 12 points and five dimes on 4-of-15 shooting, but he played a whopping 34 minutes while Dante Exum clocked in at just under 18. Keep throwing Burke out there and don’t sell low – you’ll regret it.

After only eclipsing five rebounds once all season, Alec Burks pulled in a team-high ten boards to register a double-double (10 points, 4-of-11 shooting). I’m not as high on Burks as some others, and I’m still not sure why Utah felt the need to give him a $40+million extension. Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors each had 18 points apiece, but with just 11 rebounds between them and no defensive stats, it wasn’t their finest showing. Keep an eye on Rudy Gobert after eight points, eight rebounds and a block in 18 minutes of action tonight, but he’s going to have to get garbage-time production to be consistently relevant right now.

For Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas came out ballin’ with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in what was easily his best game of the season. If his owners can get anything close to consistent production along these lines, JV will have a full-blown coming out party. DeMar DeRozan scored a team-high 27 points with basically nothing else in typical DD fashion, while Kyle Lowry had a solid but unspectacular 19 points and four dimes. Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson combined for just six points, four assists, a steal and two blocks while playing fewer than 23 minutes each.

Mavericks 131, Timberwolves 117

In a game where defense was clearly optional, Dallas once again displayed a potent offense that makes them a friendly fantasy factory that so many owners love. Monta Ellis had it all with a season-high 30 points (11-of-21, three triples), and it was just the second time Ellis has eclipsed 20 points this season. With eight players in double-digits, Ellis was the only one with a big scoring night, but Monta had just three assists and a steal to go with 30-burger. Dirk Nowitzki had just 15 points while Chandler Parsons kicked in 12 of his own, but Tyson Chandler’s double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks) is certainly worth taking note of as well. Chandler has bounced back so far now that he’s returned to Dallas, and owners who took him at a discount on draft day are fattening their fantasy portfolios with a solid ROI.

The Timberwolves again played without Thaddeus Young and are missing Ricky Rubio (ankle), so Kevin Martin got all of the shots he wanted and tried to do his best Monta Ellis impression. With 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting (including four threes), this may wind up being his most efficient outing of the season when it’s all said and done. Nikola Pekovic played just 12 minutes and said after the game he’s having soreness in the same foot that bothered him last season, so Gorgui Dieng (12 points, eight boards, 26 minutes) needs to be owned in all leagues at this point. The Timberwolves should unleash the youth and go full TimberPups in what is clearly a developmental season.

Zach LaVine struggled with foul trouble and put up an impressive four points to go along with five turnovers, while Mo Williams played nearly 30 minutes off the bench for 13 points and eight assists. Keep an eye on the point guard situation moving forward with Rubio sidelined as LaVine looks lost more often than not since inheriting a starting role.  Andrew Wiggins should be appealing to fantasy owners for name only, and he further solidified his non-standing as a fantasy asset with five points, three boards and a steal in 23.5 largely invisible minutes.

Grizzlies 95, Pistons 88

The 9-1 Grizzlies are very much for real. Z-Bo went berserk with 17 points and 22 rebounds against the Pistons’ gargantuan frontline, and the only issue owners can take with his performance is his 7-of-22 shooting performance. Marc Gasol continued to play like an underrated fantasy MVP candidate with 23 points, eight boards, three assists, a steal and two blocks in 38 minutes. Gasol’s owners have to be happy with how he’s showing out in his big contract season.

The Pistons continue to start their three-headed monster up front, but so far this season it’s produced different results. While Josh Smith (11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, four blocks) has produced in better than expected fashion, Andre Drummond continues to really struggle. Some fantasy owners may have built expectations to an unreachable point for the young center, but he’s really going through some growing pains this year and had another forgettable (six points, 10 rebounds, 20 minutes) line while struggling through foul trouble.

Greg Monroe has been one of the most underrated players in fantasy and reality, and he delivered yet again on Saturday with 16 points and 11 rebounds on an efficient 8-of-13 from the floor. Brandon Jennings transformed back into Brandon Jennings, cooling off in a big way with 14 points and four assists on 6-of-16 shooting. Kyle Singler popped in a surprising 21-point effort on five threes, but he hadn’t scored more than nine in a game all year before tonight.

Pacers 99, Bulls 90

No Derrick Rose: Big Problem. Despite a season-high 32 points for Jimmy Butler (10-of-17 shooting, 11-of-14 FT), Pau Gasol picked a bad time to have his worst game of the season for his new team with just 12 points, six boards and three blocks on 4-of-15 shooting. Joakim Noah was mostly MIA in his 32 minutes with seven points, four boards, six assists and two blocks, and the Bulls bench – shortened by Kirk Hinrich (15 points on 17 shots) filling in for Rose – struggled to produce in this one.

Luis Scola had a throwback game with 21 points and 11 boards on 10-of-12 shooting (with a steal and two blocks), and that could easily wind up being his best game of the season. Solomon Hill continues to play big minutes with the Pacers so banged up, and he actually produced against Chicago with 21 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Hill should be playing over CJ Miles even when the veteran swingman is healthy – which he never is.

AJ Price continues to be a pleasant surprise for the Pacers and had another 21 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Roy Hibbert didn’t have one of his better shooting nights with just four field goals on 11 attempts, but eight points, seven boards, five assists and three blocks is a line owners can at least live with considering the basement expectations for him going into the season.

Chris Paul looks to take control of the Clippers, Monta Ellis puts his imprint on the Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies’ dangerous frontline has that team a very real contender at 9-1 to begin the season. LeBron James is heating up, Damian Lillard’s ready to answer the cry of his fantasy owners and Klay Thompson keeps flat out ballin’. It’s the Sunday Dose.

You can check me out on Twitter right here, and check out all the exclusive content in the Rotoworld Season Pass right here.

Raptors 111, Jazz 93

Gordon Hayward’s owners haven’t had anything to complain about since the season began, but the max-contract baby-faced star finally delivered a clunker in Utah’s blowout loss: 12 points, five assists, a steal, a block and no 3-pointers. He’ll be fine. After a couple of promising games, Trey Burke took a step back with 12 points and five dimes on 4-of-15 shooting, but he played a whopping 34 minutes while Dante Exum clocked in at just under 18. Keep throwing Burke out there and don’t sell low – you’ll regret it.

After only eclipsing five rebounds once all season, Alec Burks pulled in a team-high ten boards to register a double-double (10 points, 4-of-11 shooting). I’m not as high on Burks as some others, and I’m still not sure why Utah felt the need to give him a $40+million extension. Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors each had 18 points apiece, but with just 11 rebounds between them and no defensive stats, it wasn’t their finest showing. Keep an eye on Rudy Gobert after eight points, eight rebounds and a block in 18 minutes of action tonight, but he’s going to have to get garbage-time production to be consistently relevant right now.

For Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas came out ballin’ with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in what was easily his best game of the season. If his owners can get anything close to consistent production along these lines, JV will have a full-blown coming out party. DeMar DeRozan scored a team-high 27 points with basically nothing else in typical DD fashion, while Kyle Lowry had a solid but unspectacular 19 points and four dimes. Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson combined for just six points, four assists, a steal and two blocks while playing fewer than 23 minutes each.

Mavericks 131, Timberwolves 117

In a game where defense was clearly optional, Dallas once again displayed a potent offense that makes them a friendly fantasy factory that so many owners love. Monta Ellis had it all with a season-high 30 points (11-of-21, three triples), and it was just the second time Ellis has eclipsed 20 points this season. With eight players in double-digits, Ellis was the only one with a big scoring night, but Monta had just three assists and a steal to go with 30-burger. Dirk Nowitzki had just 15 points while Chandler Parsons kicked in 12 of his own, but Tyson Chandler’s double-double (12 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks) is certainly worth taking note of as well. Chandler has bounced back so far now that he’s returned to Dallas, and owners who took him at a discount on draft day are fattening their fantasy portfolios with a solid ROI.

The Timberwolves again played without Thaddeus Young and are missing Ricky Rubio (ankle), so Kevin Martin got all of the shots he wanted and tried to do his best Monta Ellis impression. With 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting (including four threes), this may wind up being his most efficient outing of the season when it’s all said and done. Nikola Pekovic played just 12 minutes and said after the game he’s having soreness in the same foot that bothered him last season, so Gorgui Dieng (12 points, eight boards, 26 minutes) needs to be owned in all leagues at this point. The Timberwolves should unleash the youth and go full TimberPups in what is clearly a developmental season.

Zach LaVine struggled with foul trouble and put up an impressive four points to go along with five turnovers, while Mo Williams played nearly 30 minutes off the bench for 13 points and eight assists. Keep an eye on the point guard situation moving forward with Rubio sidelined as LaVine looks lost more often than not since inheriting a starting role.  Andrew Wiggins should be appealing to fantasy owners for name only, and he further solidified his non-standing as a fantasy asset with five points, three boards and a steal in 23.5 largely invisible minutes.

Grizzlies 95, Pistons 88

The 9-1 Grizzlies are very much for real. Z-Bo went berserk with 17 points and 22 rebounds against the Pistons’ gargantuan frontline, and the only issue owners can take with his performance is his 7-of-22 shooting performance. Marc Gasol continued to play like an underrated fantasy MVP candidate with 23 points, eight boards, three assists, a steal and two blocks in 38 minutes. Gasol’s owners have to be happy with how he’s showing out in his big contract season.

The Pistons continue to start their three-headed monster up front, but so far this season it’s produced different results. While Josh Smith (11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, four blocks) has produced in better than expected fashion, Andre Drummond continues to really struggle. Some fantasy owners may have built expectations to an unreachable point for the young center, but he’s really going through some growing pains this year and had another forgettable (six points, 10 rebounds, 20 minutes) line while struggling through foul trouble.

Greg Monroe has been one of the most underrated players in fantasy and reality, and he delivered yet again on Saturday with 16 points and 11 rebounds on an efficient 8-of-13 from the floor. Brandon Jennings transformed back into Brandon Jennings, cooling off in a big way with 14 points and four assists on 6-of-16 shooting. Kyle Singler popped in a surprising 21-point effort on five threes, but he hadn’t scored more than nine in a game all year before tonight.

Pacers 99, Bulls 90

No Derrick Rose: Big Problem. Despite a season-high 32 points for Jimmy Butler (10-of-17 shooting, 11-of-14 FT), Pau Gasol picked a bad time to have his worst game of the season for his new team with just 12 points, six boards and three blocks on 4-of-15 shooting. Joakim Noah was mostly MIA in his 32 minutes with seven points, four boards, six assists and two blocks, and the Bulls bench – shortened by Kirk Hinrich (15 points on 17 shots) filling in for Rose – struggled to produce in this one.

Luis Scola had a throwback game with 21 points and 11 boards on 10-of-12 shooting (with a steal and two blocks), and that could easily wind up being his best game of the season. Solomon Hill continues to play big minutes with the Pacers so banged up, and he actually produced against Chicago with 21 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Hill should be playing over CJ Miles even when the veteran swingman is healthy – which he never is.

AJ Price continues to be a pleasant surprise for the Pacers and had another 21 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Roy Hibbert didn’t have one of his better shooting nights with just four field goals on 11 attempts, but eight points, seven boards, five assists and three blocks is a line owners can at least live with considering the basement expectations for him going into the season.

Cavs 127, Hawks 94

In what was their most convincing win of the season, Cleveland got a show from LeBron James early and often in this one. With 32 points, six boards and seven assists, James led the way for Cleveland in a dominant victory over Atlanta. Kyrie Irving had an impressive 20 points on just 6-of-9 shooting (four threes) to go along with five assists, and Kevin Love added 13 of his own (three triples) with six rebounds and five assists. The real story of the game? Dion Waiters had eight assists! Of course Waiters had just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, but the Syracuse product had six assists all season coming into this game.

Kyle Korver had his first real dud after he was benched for the entire second half. Korver was an impressive -28 in 13.5 minutes with a missed shot and an assist. Consider this an outlier. Underrated every year and mislabeled as a specialist, Korver is far more than just that. Paul Millsap was the only notable for the Hawks in this game with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block. Jeff Teague posted another stinker of a game with five points on 2-of-8 shooting with three assists and four turnovers. He’s still looking to find consistency and his owners need to know that the numbers aren’t going to be there every night.

Wizards 98, Magic 93

Channing Frye, your thoughts? Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier started for Orlando with rookie Elfrid Payton shifting to the bench in this one, and Payton struggled through 16 minutes with barely any production. Oladipo tossed up a healthy 18 shots to score 18 points to go along with seven boards and seven assists, so his owners have to be happy with the very early returns.  Tobias Harris continues to ball with 19 points and eight boards on 8-of-11 shooting, while Nikola Vucevic had another double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

John Wall had an inefficient double-double with 15 points and 10 assists on 6-of-17 shooting, but the Wizards got 16 unexpected points from Kris Humphries to go along with 16 from Nene as well. It’s worth noting Wall was the only player to go over 30 minutes for Randy Wittman’s squad.

Blazers 97, Nets 87

Playing without LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard put the Blazers on his back with 28 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four three-pointers on 8-of-14 shooting. After a slow start to the season, Dame is starting to come on … the second-highest scorer for the Blazers was Chris Kaman with 12 points on 11 shots, so the load was spread around without LMA and Nicolas Batum (knee). We had a Meyers Leonard sighting with seven points and 12 rebounds, but he should go back into hibernation when the Blazers are at full strength.

The Nets continue to be an unlikely but welcomed source of production for fantasy owners. The underappreciated and underrated Joe Johnson had 20 points, six boards and five assists. Kevin Garnett bounced back with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes, and while he’s not going to be consistently useful, it’s clear KG has more in the tank than he showed last season.

Kings 94, Spurs 91

It’s probably just about time to stop asking if the Kings can keep doing this. Despite battling foul trouble, DeMarcus Cousins poured in 25 points with 10 rebounds in just 27 minutes to lead the way for Sacramento. Rudy Gay had 18 points, three boards, six assists, a steal and a block on 7-of-20 shooting, while Darren Collison continued his impressive start to the season with 19 points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals. Amazingly, those were the only three players in double-figures for the Kings.

Kawhi Leonard continues to play an enormous role for the Spurs – sixteen points, five boards, four assists, a steal and a block in 40 big minutes on Saturday. Tim Duncan’s subpar shooting night (4-of-11) was offset by his blocking five shots, and Manu Ginobili turned back time with a vintage performance off the bench: 21 points, four boards and five assists in 26.5 minutes.

Warriors 112, Hornets 87

Al Jefferson’s decent night (19 points, six rebounds) was the highlight of the night for the Hornets, so that should tell you all about how their evening went to begin the weekend. Kemba Walker was absolutely atrocious with a garbage eight points on 14 shots, and while Lance Stephenson’s 7-of-10 shooting is nice, his one:one assist:turnover ratio left a lot to be desired. Brian Roberts got hot off the bench for 17 points with Gary Neal (concussion) sidelined early.

The Warriors had this one in control early. Klay Thompson had 21 points, four boards, five assists, three steals and a block with four triples in just 27 minutes, so that’s very impressive per-minute production. Stephen Curry was right there with him with 19 points, five rebounds, nine assists and a steal (three triples) in 28 minutes, while Andrew Bogut reminded everyone he was alive with 13 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. Harrison Barnes had another impressive game with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and thankfully that’s the case because Andre Iguodala continues to look awful. With no points, four boards and four assists in 25.5 minutes, it’s fair to wonder whether how much more Iguodala is capable of giving right now.

Clippers 120, Suns 107

Goran Dragic scored 19 points, but the rest of the Phoenix Suns’ starting five scored a combined 17 points, including a 3-of-20 effort from the Morris twins. Eric Bledsoe couldn’t find his shot with an 0-for-6 performance with just one point in 34 minutes, but he at least added six boards, 10 assists and three steals. Gerald Green (26) and Isaiah Thomas (19) combined for another 45 points, and Phoenix unexpectedly got a double-double from Alex Len (17 points, 11 rebounds, 7-of-11 shooting) to bolster their efforts against Los Angeles.

However, the Clippers were too much. Matt Barnes was reinserted into the starting lineup, but the real story was DeAndre Jordan’s coming out party: 12 points, 18 rebounds and seven big blocks for DJ. Blake Griffin (19 points, eight rebounds, four assists) played a complementary role while Chris Paul brought home the bacon with 32 points, five rebounds, nine assists, two steals and five three-pointers. Spencer Hawes is still playing under a minutes watch, but he was very solid in his short time on the floor: 14 points, eight boards and three blocks in under 20 minutes.