The Daily Dose: Dose: Reggie Jackson's World
LeBron James led the Cavs in a win over the Pacers on Sunday night, Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond mounted a ferocious fourth-quarter comeback over the Blazers and Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant continued to light up the NBA. Let’s get right down to the action!
Click here to follow me on Twitter!
Cavaliers 101, Pacers 97
Easily the best game of the night, a hobbled LeBron James battled through a sore thigh on his way to 29 points on 10-of-23 shooting with six boards, four assists and a pair of turnovers. Unfortunately, James was hit in the thigh again during the game, and he is currently questionable to play against the Jazz on Tuesday. If James does decide to sit out, Richard Jefferson will likely draw the start, but Kevin Love would stand to benefit the most with increased looks on the offensive end.
Speaking of Love, he was absolutely on fire with 22 points, 19 boards, two assists, three blocks and two 3-pointers, and it’s starting to look like he is finally getting more comfortable in Cleveland. I fully expect his numbers to dip when the Cavs get some bodies back (including Kyrie Irving), and his owners should keep in mind that his workload will likely decrease as the season progresses in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs. There may not be a better time to sell high, but I’m not against keeping him either. Timofey Mozgov continued to be boring with just nine points, six boards, one block and a trey, and his outlook isn’t going to get much better as long as his minutes stay in the low 20s. Mo Williams’ clock is ticking with Irving’s return on the horizon, but he has been playing solid basketball and finished with 10 points, eight assists, five boards and two 3-pointers.
As for the Pacers, Paul George did everything he could to steal a win including a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch, but they weren’t able to get a stop on the defensive end and fell to 3-4 on the season. George scored 32 points with 11 rebounds, six assists, three 3-pointers and four turnovers, but the challenge for him will be to keep his turnovers down and to keep his field goal percentage in check if he wants to post early-round value over the course of the season. Monta Ellis broke out of his slump in a big way with 25 points, five boards, three assists, one steal and two 3-pointers, and this will be a welcomed sight for his owners after he averaged 10.3 points on 32.9 percent shooting prior to Sunday’s game. George Hill chipped in with 14 points, five boards and five assists, while Ian Mahinmi was quiet with six points, two boards, two steals and a block.
Editor’s Note: Sign up for FanDuel today and receive a FREE ENTRY into a one-day fantasy basketball league for real money! And all you have to do is finish anywhere in the top-half to win cash. Enter now.
Knicks 99, Lakers 95
It wasn’t a marquee matchup by any means, but Sunday’s game between the Knicks and Lakers may have been the last time that Kobe Bryant will play in Madison Square Garden. Bryant looked painfully slow on his way to 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting, and you can tell how much it’s bothering him that he isn’t a top player any more. He was shooting just 32.1 percent from the floor coming into Sunday’s game, so it’s hard to imagine him not improving in that aspect. D’Angelo Russell was pretty pathetic with just six points, five boards, three assists and three steals, and as bad as he has been early on in his rookie season, you might as well keep him stashed on the end of your bench because he has the potential to improve a whole lot by the end of the season.
Jordan Clarkson has arguably been the Lakers’ best player in the early going, but he fell back to earth on Sunday with 10 points, two boards, one assist, one steal and two treys. He will be a little inconsistent because the Lakers are a mess (I should know since I am fan), but I absolutely love Clarkson’s outlook for the rest of the season, especially if Bryant goes down at some point. Julius Randle slowed down with six points, 11 boards and three assists, but he should be a nightly double-double threat moving forward and it helps that Brandon Bass (DNP-CD) isn’t a threat any more. Roy Hibbert was impressive with 18 points, 10 boards and two blocks, but I’ve seen this show before and his owners should keep in mind that he tends to fade as the season goes on.
Jose Calderon finally had a respectable game for the Knicks amidst rumors that his starting role is in jeopardy, so it was huge for him to log 35 minutes with totals of 14 points, five boards, three assists, two steals and two 3-pointers. I’m still confident that rookie Jerian Grant (two points, eight assists, two boards) will take his spot in the first unit at some point this season, so I’m not going to be plucking Calderon off the wire in any league. Sasha Vujacic scored just five points in 15 minutes, but he will be replaced by Arron Afflalo (hamstring) next week anyways.
Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting with eight boards, two assists and two 3-pointers, but his fantasy value will start to take off if his shots start falling. Kristaps Porzingis logged his second straight double-double with 12 points, 10 boards, one assist, two blocks and a 3-pointer, and as much as I love his upside, I’m just skeptical about his ability to stay healthy over the course of an 82-game schedule because he seemed to be very fragile in training camp. I really hope he proves me wrong. Kyle O’Quinn played just 11 minutes in the win and he has only played 20 of his 115 minutes next to Robin Lopez and Porzingis this season, so I’m not grabbing him unless one of those two bigs go down.
Heat 96, Raptors 76
The Raptors looked like the real deal early on this season, but losing a player like DeMarre Carroll (plantar fasciitis) isn’t ideal and hopefully his injury doesn’t linger. James Johnson drew the start on Sunday and finished with seven points, seven boards, two assists and one steal in 26 minutes, and he could have some nice short-term value if Carroll misses more time. Kyle Lowry had a rough night from the field, connecting on just 4-of-16 attempts to finish with 15 points, eight assists, six boards, one steal and two treys in 37 minutes. He is shooting just 34.1 percent from the field over his last three, but he has otherwise been brilliant this season and his owners have no reason to panic.
DeMar DeRozan was very inefficient with 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting with one board, three assists and a whopping six turnovers, but to be fair he did score 20 or more points in his previous three games. DeRozan reportedly spent the summer working on his 3-point shot, but he has only made 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep through seven games. Jonas Valanciunas was solid again with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with five boards, while Bismack Biyombo contributed five points, seven boards, two steals and one block in just 15 minutes.
Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 20 points, 11 boards, six blocks and a steal, and he was even able to shoot 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe with no turnovers. I’ve been really impressed with the big man early on this season and the scary thing about tonight’s line is that he did it all in just 25 minutes. He is going to get a nice little raise this summer. Dwyane Wade was quiet with 12 points, three boards, two assists, one block and a 3-pointer, but it should be noted that the game was a blowout and he only had to play 25 minutes which is probably a good thing considering his injury history.
Chris Bosh was fantastic with 23 points, eight boards, four 3-pointers and one steal, but Goran Dragic disappeared in 26 minutes with just two points, three assists and two boards. The Heat committed a lot of money to Dragic this summer and he is too talented to not turn it around at some point, but I would assume that his role in the offense will increase when the Heat decrease Wade’s workload during the second half of the season. It’s just too early for Dragic’s owners to panic.
Thunder 124, Suns 103
Coming off a three-game losing streak, you just knew that the Thunder were going to win on Sunday and Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant made sure of that. Durant scored 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting with 11 boards, four assists, three steals and two 3-pointers, and the good news is that he did all of his damage in just 32 minutes after a grueling week. Westbrook continued to showcase his playmaking ability with 13 assists, adding 21 points, six boards and four steals. He’s averaging 20.6 points with 11.6 assists over his last five, and it’s great to see him thriving alongside a healthy Durant. Serge Ibaka scored 10 points with nine boards and a steal, but he failed to block a shot for the first time this season.
Steven Adams played through a sore back and finished with seven points, five boards and five blocks, but the bad news is that he saw just 20 minutes and Enes Kanter (21 points, seven boards) has been outplaying him off the bench. Dion Waiters blew up for 19 points off the bench with a couple of treys, but he is way too inconsistent for my taste and his season-high for points was 10 prior to Sunday’s game.
It was a disastrous night for the Suns and Eric Bledsoe was really the only player who stepped up, so owners shouldn’t read too much into these lines. Bledsoe scored 28 points with 11 assists, two boards and two treys, but the most impressive thing about his line was that he shot 10-of-15 from the field. Brandon Knight was in shambles and turned the ball over eight times, but he was still able to scrape together 14 points, four boards, one assist, one steal and two 3-pointers. T.J. Warren was solid with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with a couple boards, but he hasn’t been consistent at all and is simply a stash in deeper leagues at the moment. The same thing can be said for Alex Len who finished with eight points, five boards and two steals in 20 minutes.
Pistons 120, Blazers 103
What an absolute meltdown by the Blazers. After winning the first three quarters of the game, the Blazers were outscored 41-13 in the fourth quarter and they looked completely rattled by the final whistle. Damian Lillard paced Portland with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting with 11 assists, one steal, four boards and four 3-pointers, but he also deserves some blame for allowing Reggie Jackson to drop 40 points on him. C.J. McCollum was excellent again with 18 points, four boards, two assists and one steal, and it’s quite a relief because me and my colleagues hyped him up all summer. If he can keep his field goal percentage up and take care of the ball, he could return early-round value to his owners.
Meyers Leonard had his second consecutive nice game after a dreadful start to the season, scoring 17 points with two boards, one assist and three 3-pointers in 33 minutes. It’s understandable why some owners panicked during his sluggish start, but I feel like he is the most talented big in Portland and his 3-point range makes him a must-own player in my opinion. Al-Farouq Aminu scored nine points with nine boards and one assist, but he has been playing fantastic lately and will look to add some 3-pointers, steals and blocks to his name in his next outing. Allen Crabbe has improved tremendously and hit all seven of his shots on the night to finish with 15 points, two assists, two boards, one steal, one block and a 3-pointer, so he is worth keeping an eye on in deeper formats.
Like I mentioned earlier, Reggie Jackson scored a career-high 40 points in the win including a 25-point fourth quarter, so his owners are probably in a good mood at the moment. He also added five boards, five assists, two steals and three treys, so maybe he does deserve the massive contract that he signed this summer (John Wall doesn’t think so). As good as Jackson was on Sunday night, this is still Andre Drummond’s team and he has clearly been their best player early on this season. Drummond scored 29 points with 27 rebounds, two steals and three blocks in 36 minutes, and that brings his season averages up to 20.3 points, 20.3 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks. Those numbers are just ridiculous, but he looks scary good at the moment and it doesn’t appear that he will be slowing down any time soon.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 16 points with four boards, four steals and two treys, while Marcus Morris chipped in with 13 points, three boards, three assists, three steals and one 3-pointer. The Pistons are now 5-1 and look like they could become a serious force in the East.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
