The Daily Dose: Dose: Jrue's Clues
Sunday night featured a larger than usual nine-game slate, with big time performances from Jrue Holiday, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard among others. This Dose is a doozy, so let’s just get right into it.
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Sunday Stars
Jrue Holiday had his best game of the season on Sunday, putting up season-highs in points (29), rebounds (11) and minutes (36) to go with four assists, three steals and a 3-pointer. He took full advantage of the increased opportunity with Anthony Davis (back) on the sidelines, and posted a gaudy usage rate of 37.5. Holiday has really picked up his play through the month of January, owning averages of averages of 18.8 points, 5.0 boards, 4.8 assists, 1.3 three-pointers, 2.5 steals and 2.8 turnovers per game which has translated to third-round value in 8-cat leagues and fourth-round value in 9-cat leagues. Jrue should find himself back in the starting five sooner rather than later, and it’s clear that Alvin Gentry is ready to finally set him loose (35 minutes in the previous game) after a very slow start to the season hampered by a strict minutes limit. If Holiday can finally stay healthy after spending the better part of the past two years on the sidelines, he’s fully capable of offering early-round value.
Chris Paul continued to rack up the stats sans Blake Griffin (quad) on Sunday, tallying 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go with 11 assists, five boards, three treys, three steals, one block and just two turnovers through 40 minutes of work. CP3’s usage rate has climbed to 31.5 since Griffin went down, and he’s been putting up first-round value through the first four games of January.
Dirk Nowitzki powered the Mavericks to a win over the Timberwolves on Sunday, going off for 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting with seven boards, one assist, one steal and four trey-bombs in 32 minutes. He continues to defy Father Time, and is having himself a top-30 season at 37 years old.
J.R. Smith, who had been unconscious over the past two games (71.4 percent shooting) came back down to earth on Sunday with a 5-of-18 shooting performance, although he still got the job done with 14 points, four 3-pointers and one steal. The return of Kyrie Irving has really opened up the floor for Swish, and you can bet when either LeBron James or Uncle Drew drives to the hoop and kicks it out to J.R., he’s not going to be passing up the open look. Pre-Kyrie, 48.9 percent of J.R.’s shots were open looks (29 percent open, 19.9 percent wide-open) and he was shooting 37.8 percent from the field overall. With Kyrie back, 55.9 percent of Smith’s shots are open looks (39.0 percent open, 16.9 percent wide open), and that has resulted in him knocking down a much more respectable 44.1 percent of his shot attempts. Additionally, Smith’s true shooting percentage has risen to 66.7 and his usage rate has climbed to 20.5 since the Cavs got fully healthy. Swish was a third-round stud after the All-Star break last year, and he’s been a fourth-round guy since the return of Uncle Drew (and second-round through the first five games of January). He’s trending up after his standard horrific start, and is back to must-own status in all leagues.
To help visualize the difference, here are Swish’s shot charts, pre/post-Kyrie
LeBron James predictably went off in a game against the 76ers, scoring 37 points on 15-of-22 shooting with seven boards, nine assists, two steals, three 3-pointers and just two turnovers in 37 minutes. Through five games in January, King James owns averages of 26.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 2.4 three-pointers and just 1.8 turnovers per game on 58.8 percent shooting, which has him ranked No. 2 overall in 9-cat leagues during that span. The Cavs have a very favorable 4-4-4-3 (Week 21-24) playoff schedule in fantasy hoops, and with the East being a bit more competitive than expected this year, I feel like it’s less likely that LeBron will be rested down the stretch. If you want to sell-high on James, now would be the time to do it, but you may regret that decision if you happen to face the guy you traded him to during the fantasy playoffs in a head-to-head format.
Ish Smith flirted with a triple-double on Sunday, scoring 18 points on 7-of-21 shooting (3-of-3 from the stripe) with seven boards, 10 assists, one steal, one 3-pointer and five turnovers through 38 minutes. There’s no arguing that Ish has been a stupendous addition for the 76ers, but his 40.8 percent shooting and 3.2 turnovers per game in Philly weigh him down to just late-round value in 9-cat leagues. However, if you exclude the turnover category (8-cat) he’s a mid-round guy, and in points formats he’s a stud. No one on the roster in Philly is going to mess with Smith’s minutes, so his value will be safe moving forward.
Nerlens Noel appears to be over whatever it was that was plaguing him for the beginning of the year (no point guard?) and he put up 12 points, nine boards, one steal, three blocks, three assists and one turnover over 34 minutes on Sunday. Since Ish joined the team (who Noel has openly praised as one of his favorite players), Noel has been a top-15 play in standard leagues. He was a slow starter last year as well, but then exploded after the All-Star break, putting up second-round value. Perhaps the knee injury earlier in the year was affecting his play a lot more than he was letting on, but either way, he’s been fantastic since December and I’m not really pushing to sell-high here.
Isaiah Thomas went off for 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting (9-of-9 from the stripe), adding eight assists, four 3-poitners, three boards, one steal and two turnovers. He’s been a third-round guy this season, and is easily crushing his draft day ADP of 74.1. He appears to have finally found a home in Boston, and there’s no reason to be selling high, this is who he is.
Mario Chalmers started again on Sunday with Mike Conley (Achilles) on the sidelines and went off for 18 points (3-of-8 FGs, 11-of-13 FTs), five boards, four assists, two steals, one 3-pointer and five turnovers in 33 minutes. Chalmers can be solid guy to target on the days Conley is out, but with Conley on track to be back on the court Tuesday vs. the Rockets, Chalmers isn’t a great add in standard leagues.
Paul George swiped away a career-high seven steals during Indiana’s overtime loss to the Rockets, to go with 20 points, six boards, four assists, three 3-pointers, two swats and four turnovers in 41 minutes. While George is shooting just 41.4 percent from the field on the season, he’s still been a top-15 guy due to his ability to stuff the stat sheet.
James Harden stuffed the stat sheet during Sunday’s overtime victory, putting up 21 points, nine boards, nine assists, two 3-pointers, one steal and five turnovers through 43 minutes of play. With Stephen Curry going bonkers, Kawhi Leonard on another planet, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook healthy, and Kyle Lowry having himself a career-year; Harden ranks just No. 7 overall this year. However, his owners don’t have much to complain about given his averages of 28.1 points (career-high), 2.7 three-pointers (career-high), 6.0 boards (career-high), 6.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 4.6 turnovers per game on 42.0 percent shooting from the field and 86.8 percent from the charity stripe. His No. 7 overall distinction has more to do with the ridiculous talent level in the league right now rather than a downward trend in play, and there’s also plenty of time for him to establish himself as a top-5 option.
Greg Monroe bounced back from Friday’s disappointing 3-of-10 outing against the Mavs on Sunday, going off for 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting with 10 boards, two assists, one block and two turnovers in 33 minutes. Monroe might not be happy about the Bucks current 15-23 record, but owners that drafted him have to be happy about his current top-30 value on the year.
Carmelo Anthony joined the almost triple-double-club on Sunday night, tallying 24 points (10-of-16 FGs, 3-of-4 FTs), 10 boards, eight assists, one block, one 3-pointer and one turnover in 37 minutes. He’s putting up third-round value on the year.
Danilo Gallinari’s phenomenal January continued on Sunday, as he powered the Nuggets to a win over the Hornets behind 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting (11-of-13 from the line) with six boards, two treys, one steal, one block and two turnovers in 34 minutes. Gallinari has upped his shooting percentage to 46.3 percent through five games in January, to go with averages of 25.8 points, 6.4 boards, 2.4 assists, 1.8 three-pointers and 1.2 turnovers per game, which has him churning out third-round value in standard 9-cat leagues.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant did their thing on Sunday, combining for 53 of OKC’s 110 points, although they still fell to the Blazers behind Damian Lillard’s game-high 31 points. Westbrook and Thrillard probably had the most eye-popping stat lines of the evening, and there’s not much to break down about them other than both players are amazing, so I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves.
Westbrook: 25 points, 15 assists, nine boards, three steals, two 3-pointers, four turnovers (fourth-best player in fantasy hoops)
Lillard: 31 points, nine assists, seven boards, two steals, eight 3-pointers, seven turnovers (ranked 24 overall in 9-cat leagues)
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