The Daily Dose: Dose: McCollum's strange DNP
C.J. McCollum got a senseless DNP, Kevin Durant went from ‘out’ to ‘in’ and went off, and Paul George cooled off. Follow me on Twitter by clicking here.
Knicks 98, Heat 90 – Carmelo Anthony’s shot got back on track last night as he hit 9-of-12 shots for 25 points, five boards, four assists and two steals. He had been struggling from the floor over his last several games, so this was nice to see. Robin Lopez stayed hot with one his best games, hitting 9-of-12 shots for 19 points, four boards and two blocks. He’s been trending up and it’s time to grab him. Kristaps Porzingis hit just 3-of-10 shots for 12 points, four boards and two blocks in 31 minutes, Jose Calderon hit 4-of-5 shots for nine points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a 3-pointer, and Arron Afflalo fell back to earth after two monster games with nine points and one 3-pointer on 4-of-10 shooting. He played a team-high 40 minutes, but didn’t do much with them, making him a DFS killer. Derrick Williams scored 13 points in 18 minutes, and looks like a much better deep play than Lance Thomas right now. Thomas had just two points in 18 minutes.
Chris Bosh stayed hot with 28 points, five boards, a block and a 3-pointer, Goran Dragic had 10 points, but just one assist, and Dwyane Wade added 18 points, six boards and six assists in the loss. Perhaps the story of the game was that Hassan Whiteside played. He was quiet with eight points, eight rebounds and a block in 28 minutes, but the good news is that his knee problem is simply tendinitis, and not something serious. Crisis avoided. The bench was useless again, while Gerald Green and Justise Winslow are both worth keeping an eye on.
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Pacers 95, Magic 86 – Paul George cooled off on 5-of-13 shooting and 20 points, George Hill returned from an illness and had 16 points and a nice stat line that included three 3-pointers, and Monta Ellis added 19 points, seven assists, four steals and a 3-pointer. Ian Mahinmi is heating up again and had eight points, 12 boards and a block, and Jordan Hill played just 12 minutes off the bench for six points, three boards and a block. Mahinmi looks like he’s worth owning in most leagues, while Hill has gotten more minutes than this on most nights. C.J. Miles came off the bench, but hit just 1-of-10 shots for three points. It’s all or nothing with Miles.
Tobias Harris hit just 3-of-12 shots for the Magic in one of his worst games of the season, Evan Fournier played through a toe injury, but hit just 5-of-14 shots for 13 points, while Nikola Vucevic scored 17 points, but didn’t do much else. Victor Oladipo started again and had 20 points and a very nice line, and he looks like he’s good to go, with or without Elfrid Payton, who was out again with a bum ankle. It sounds like Oladipo is permanently back in the starting lineup either way and he played 41 minutes. The Magic bench played a lot of minutes, but none of them scored more than eight points. I’m keen on Andrew Nicholson, but not unless he overtakes a useless Channing Frye in the starting five.
Cavaliers 121, Wizards 115 – LeBron James had a fun double-double, Kyrie Irving looked like his old self with 32 points and a full line, and J.R. Smith hit 10-of-16 shots and five 3-pointers for 25 points and three steals. Smith has been a bullseye in two straight games, so ride him while he’s hot, and Irving should be good to go from here on in. Kevin Love was eerily quiet with eight points and nine boards on 4-of-10 shooting, and Tristan Thompson had just three rebounds to go along with 12 points. The rise and return of Irving isn’t going to do Love any favors, but he’s struggling too much to offer much trade value right now. Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert played heavy minutes off the bench, but didn’t do much at all.
All five Wiz starters scored in double figures, led by Garrett Temple (21) and not John Wall (20). Wall double-doubled with 12 assists, but also had seven turnovers, while Temple hit three 3-pointers and 7-of-10 shots. Temple’s been quiet, so don’t get overly excited. Marcin Gortat, Otto Porter and Jared Dudley each scored 12, but all of them filled the stat sheet a bit. Gary Neal had 13 off the bench and the strong play of Neal and Temple limited Ramon Sessions to just 16 minutes, but he still had nine points, six dimes and a 3-pointer. I still trust Sessions more than the other two while Bradley Beal is out, but the pendulum could be swinging away from him.
Pistons 99, Celtics 94 – Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did what they were supposed to, but Ersan Ilyasova (5 points), Marcus Morris (8 points) and Andre Drummond (13 points, 5 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks) were all disappointing. With Morris and Ilyasova struggling, Stanley Johnson played 23 minutes and double-doubled with 11 points and 10 boards. Just keep an eye on him in case this trend continues.
Kelly Olynyk started over Jared Sullinger again and had 10 points, five boards and two 3-pointers, while Sully played just 15 minutes for eight points and a block. Sully had five fouls, or would have likely played more. Amir Johnson was nice with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and is worth using in deep leagues, Jae Crowder cooled off with 16 points, four boards, two steals and two 3-pointers, but also played 36 minutes. Isaiah Thomas played through a thumb injury and had 22 points and 10 dimes, and Evan Turner did a nice job of filling in for Avery Bradley (hip) with 17 points and six boards in another start. Bradley is hoping to play on Sunday, so don’t fall in love with Turner just yet. David Lee was a DNP-CD, which contributed to Amir’s nice line.
Raptors 91, Nets 74 – Jonas Valanciunas was nice with 22 points, 11 boards and two blocks, and he should be ready to roll. Kyle Lowry had 17 points, eight boards, six assists and five steals for one of the lines of the night, and DeMar DeRozan added 15 points and a full line. Luis Scola has cooled off with the return of JV, and Bismack Biyombo played just 17 useless minutes. With JV healthy and rolling, Biyombo can now be dumped, and Scola is shaky, at best. James Johnson started for DeMarre Carroll (knee surgery) and had eight points, five boards and two blocks, and Terrence Ross played just 19 minutes, hitting 1-of-5 shots for three points. Ross is going to struggle if Johnson continues to get the starts for Carroll. The Raps you want to own are the four solid starters. The jury is still out on Ross and Johnson.
Brook Lopez posted a monster line, but he was the only Net to show up. Thaddeus Young cooled off, Joe Johnson may have been bothered by his quad injury and scored just five points, and Bojan Bogdanovic cooled off with 12 points and two 3-pointers on 4-of-10 shooting. I’m still high on him. Shane Larkin played much better in another start at point guard, hitting 4-of-8 shots and a 3-pointer for nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 30 minutes. If you picked him up recently, this line is a good reason to hang onto him. The Nets’ bench was dreadful.
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