Sunday Daily Dose: Dose: The Young Wolfpack
After it was looking like Saturday night’s marquee matchup was set to disappoint, the NBA world got the game it deserved in an exciting showdown between Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry as the Warriors took down the Thunder.
Unexpectedly, the Lakers gave the Spurs a wire-to-wire battle that nobody was expecting, the Hornets have strung together a couple of very impressive wins and the Jazz may be ready to make some very real noise in a crowded Western Conference.
Start your Super Bowl Sunday with the NBA Dose. I’ll even offer a prediction:
Cam dabs on ‘em.
Portland @ Houston: Blazers 96, Rockets 79
How is this season going for Houston? The Rockets believed they’d contend in the West, the Blazers admittedly embarked on a rebuild, but just two wins and a single loss separate these two teams. Remember when Kevin McHale was the problem? Me neither.
Playing without Noah Vonleh and Allen Crabbe, Portland was in control all afternoon with six different players in double-digit scoring, led by Damian Lillard’s double-double and C.J. McCollum chipping in 16 points, seven boards and four steals. While struggling with his shot over his last six contests, Lillard has become more of a facilitator and remained very productive, averaging 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 triples during that stretch. Al-Farouq Aminu flashed his fantasy upside with a stat-stuffing line, but he has a real consistency problem and has shown no indication he’s prepared to shake it. Mason Plumlee, who had a solid but unspectacular 10 points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks, caught an elbow from Montrezl Harrell and was forced to depart early, but he should be fine for Monday vs. Memphis.
This was an ugly, embarrassing game for the Rockets, and nobody except Dwight Howard and James Harden showed up to play. Those two were the only Houston players to score at least 10 points with Howard faring better than (17 pts, 14 reb, 4 stl) Harden, who had the wrong kind of double-double with 33 points (15-of-18 FT) and 10 turnovers to pair with eight boards, three steals and four triples. Houston keeps playing with fire given the big minutes for Howard and Harden—who suffered a minor right middle finger injury—and all it’s resulted in is a mediocre team. The only other Rockets player I’d want on my fantasy team is Trevor Ariza, who salvaged a bad offensive night with four steals.
Detroit @ Indiana: Pacers 112, Pistons 104
You really would have liked to see more than 10 points, 13 boards and two blocks with five turnovers and a 2-of-8 performance at the charity stripe from Andre Drummond in a favorable matchup, but at least playing time (37 minutes) wasn’t the problem. The same can be said for both Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson, who are seeing big boosts with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sidelined until the other side of the All-Star break. Johnson shouldn’t be on the waiver wire in any format, and his tantalizing potential will keep churning out production even when KCP is back on the floor. Ersan Ilyasova, who played 18 minutes, is a prime candidate to lose playing time. Anthony Tolliver got hot for 17 points, five threes and three steals off the bench, so at least that will be fun to talk about in the Pistons locker room.
Returning from his back injury without restrictions, Ian Mahinmi struggled to get anything going with more fouls (five) than points (four). That gave Jordan Hill another life, which he took advantage of with 12 points, eight boards and four steals. But between Mahinmi’s return and Myles Turner’s emergence, Hill is not a worthwhile option in standard formats. Paul George clearly has it all right now, averaging 30.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.5 triples over his last two games, but Monta Ellis does not have anything cooking over his last four, checking in with just 11.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.3 3-pointers and 4.3 turnovers on 37.8% shooting. Now would be a good time to float a buy-low offer.
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Washington @ Charlotte: Hornets 108, Wizards 104
After dropping 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine dimes with three triples, it’s safe to say Nicolas Batum’s toe injury is officially behind him. Assuming health, I have no hesitation calling him a top-25 asset the rest of the way. The same goes for Kemba Walker and his knee—which hasn’t been an issue since he had it drained on Wednesday—who had 23 points, five boards, five assists and four triples after going for 20/5/6 on Friday. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s return has reinvigorated this team, and although Cody Zeller has filled in well, it’s fun to imagine this group if Al Jefferson can provide them anything. Marvin Williams now has more double-doubles this season than he had in the last four years combined. That’s an excellent illustration of how surprising his consistency has been.
The Wizards blew a 19-point lead, wasting Otto Porter’s best game in over a month the process. Although OP’s final line (20 pts, 8 reb, 4 stl, 1 blk, 2 3PM, 7-of-14 FG) looks quite nice, a 17-point second quarter fueled his fire, and it’s still fair to wonder about his long-term durability. My concern level isn’t high enough to trade him—there shouldn’t even be questions about dropping him—but Porter’s health will be a hot topic as the Wizards lean on him down the stretch. His 39 minutes on Saturday were the most he’s played in nearly two months.
A night after registering a triple-double, John Wall nearly did it again with 23 points, six boards and 10 assists…Bradley Beal’s return to the starting lineup lasted just one game, and it’s clear he still has some playing limitations on him when the Wizards have back-to-back sets. Beal played 20 efficient minutes, scoring 22 points with three triples on 8-of-13 from the field, and it’s unclear what the plan will be after the All-Star break when the Wizards play 10 games between Feb 18-Mar 4, including three back-to-back sets. The good news: Beal looks healthy and capable of returning top-50 value the rest of the way.
New Orleans @ Cleveland: Cavs 99, Pelicans 84
Things are going south quickly for the now 18-32 Pelicans, and there is every reason to believe Tyreke Evans—whose knee will keep him sidelined through at least the All-Star break—will be a strong shut down candidate. That means Jrue Holiday and Norris Cole will each continue to have bigger roles, and while Holiday could flirt with top-40 value so long as Evans is out, Cole’s role shouldn’t be overlooked. Coming into Saturday’s game in which he went for 26 points, Cole was averaging 12.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 triples as a starter. It was another wasted 20/10 game from Anthony Davis, who finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, but failed to get any significant help from his frontcourt teammates with Ryan Anderson having nearly twice as many shots (12) as points scored (six).
There is no indication that Kevin Love’s quad injury is of any kind of concern, but it kept him out of this one, so it was predictably all about LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith. The only three players in double digit scoring, the trio combined for 76 of Cleveland’s 99 points. While LeBron’s value is anchored in his versatility, Smith’s is all about his ability to hit the long ball, and he’s now hit 19-of-42 attempts over his last four games. Irving doesn’t get the attention he used to with James running the show, but he’s definitely found his footing with improved health under Tyronn Lue, averaging 24.7 points, 6.0 assists and 1.0 steals on 53.2% shooting.
Brooklyn @ Philadelphia: Sixers 103, Nets 98
One night after blowing out the Kings, this was a predictable letdown for a Nets team that has been filled with them in the Mikhail Prokhorov era. Thaddeus Young’s resurgence continued with 22 points and 10 boards on 10-of-15 shooting, but after a recent stretch where Brook Lopez had double-digit rebounds in six of seven games, he’s now failed to collect at least 10 in three of his last four. At least he’s still scoring the rock. We can overlook Joe Johnson’s dud with how much better he’s been of late, while the only people still invested in the Donald Sloan–Shane Larkin pairing probably also enjoy banging their the smell of wet cat food in the morning.
The Sixers finally got good games from both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor on an evening where both started, and the Sixers have no choice but to try and find ways in which to make this work. When the twin towers can combine for 40 points, 21 rebounds, five steals and six blocks on 17-of-27 shooting, the Sixers look like a completely different kind of NBA team. I’m much higher Noel (18 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 3 blk, 8-of-11 FG) than Okafor (22 pts, 17 reb, 3 blk, 9-of-16 FG) for fantasy purposes this season, and Jahlil’s career-best game in rebounds is a nice sell-high opportunity. The matchup vs. Brooklyn’s frontcourt wasn’t exactly the toughest test the NBA has to offer.
T.J. McConnell started at point guard for Ish Smith—who sprained his left ankle on Friday—and got hot for 17 points, six assists, two steals and two triples on 7-of-10 shooting, but he’s a non-option with Ish serving his dishes all over the floor. Robert Covington struggled to find his offense for the second straight games, but even a bad game (9 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl, 2 3PM, 0 TO) shows why he deserves a longer leash than some want to give him. Neither Hollis Thompson nor Jerami Grant provides what Covington can.
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