The Daily Dose: Dose: Steph-tacular!

Stephen Curry set some records, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and James Harden went off, and unknowns like Mirza Teletovic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Donald Sloan, Ronnie Price and Markel Brown all played very well on Thursday. Follow me on Twitter by clicking here!

Warriors 130, Magic 114

It was, as usual, the Stephen Curry show as he dropped 51 points, just missed a triple-double and hit 10 3-pointers. He broke Kyle Korver’s NBA record by hitting a 3-pointer in 128 straight games and scored 24 points in the decisive third quarter. He also hit a ridiculous 20-of-27 shots from the floor, made just one free throw and is sitting on 276 3-pointers on the season, which is already good for second all time. He also became the first player in NBA history with two 50-point, 10 3-pointer games. Wow. With Curry doing it all, Draymond Green (12 points, 8 assists, 5 steals), Harrison Barnes (10 points, 5 rebounds) and Andrew Bogut (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steals, 2 blocks) were all serviceable, while Klay Thompson (9 points, 1 3-pointer) struggled to get going in Curry’s wake. Bogut dinged up his leg tonight, but played through it. There wasn’t much to see off the Warriors bench, other than Marreese Speights scoring 14 points in 12 minutes, and Anderson Varejao playing 14 minutes. Andre Iguodala played 26 minutes, but hit just 1-of-2 shots for two points, four rebounds, seven assists and a steal. Iguodala has scored seven or fewer points in four of his last five games, and is very tough to use as long as Barnes is healthy.

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The Magic got strong numbers from all five starters, while Brandon Jennings appears to already be in Scott Skiles’ doghouse. Aaron Gordon stayed hot with 19 points, eight boards, a block and a 3-pointer (and a nasty dunk), Nikola Vucevic had 17 points, nine boards and two blocks, Elfrid Payton played 29 minutes and had 12 points, six assists and two 3-pointers, Evan Fournier scored 20 points with four steals and three 3-pointers, and Victor Oladipo had 14 points, six boards, two steals and two 3-pointers. All five starters should be owned. Jennings got just 12 minutes and didn’t score until the fourth quarter, and is at the mercy of Skiles. Sure, Jennings could get hot again and even end up stealing Payton’s job, but it doesn’t appear all that likely to happen anytime soon. He’s basically been benched for two straight games and if you want to cut Jennings for a hot free agent, do it. Ersan Ilyasova played just 16 minutes and is also taking a hit with the strong play of Gordon and Fournier, and is another guy that looks like a serious cut candidate. Mike Gallagher and I disagree on the value of Payton, but as long as Jennings is riding the pine, I’m good with rolling with Payton.

Pelicans 123, Thunder 119 – The Pelicans got a much-needed win as Anthony Davis poured in 30 points, six boards, a steal, four blocks and two 3-pointers. He appeared to suffer a left knee injury, but was able to play through it. As usual with AD, keep an eye on his status going forward. Norris Cole scored the Pel’s first nine points and finished with 21 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four 3-pointers. He was pretty bad in his previous two games but was also dealing with an illness. He looked perfectly healthy tonight and is worth a look if he was dropped in your league. Ryan Anderson had 26 points, six boards and two 3-pointers off the bench, and has played very well in three of his last four games, hopefully ending his recent slump. He had scored seven or fewer points in four of six games on either side of the All-Star break. Jrue Holiday had 22 points, nine dimes and two 3-pointers off the bench, And Alonzo Gee was scoreless in a start for injured Bryce Dejean-Jones, who’s out indefinitely after wrist surgery. Forget about both of them for now. Alexis Ajinca started again and had two points, seven rebounds and two blocks, but played just 19 minutes, making him a tough fantasy play despite the absence of Omer Asik (ankle). Perhaps the most interesting development of the night was Dante Cunningham, who started and played a season-high 42 minutes. He had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two 3-pointers. He’s not a must-own player, but is certainly worth keeping an eye on, as he’s going to get some extra run when Davis slides over to center in the absence of Asik. And with Ajinca being, well, Ajinca, look for Davis to play a lot of center over the next couple weeks.

The Thunder took a tough loss and fought until the end, as Russell Westbrook had 44 points, nine assists and three 3-pointers, and Kevin Durant added 32 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and three 3-pointers. They’re the DFS Dynamic Duo every time they play. Serge Ibaka was solid with 15 points, five rebounds, a steal and two blocks, Steven Adams was quiet with eight points, five boards and a block, and Andre Roberson didn’t score in 22 minutes and a start. Enes Kanter was also very quiet in this one, but when Westbrook and Durant are doing everything, their teammates are going to have problems on most nights.

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Celtics 112, Bucks 107 – The Celtics starting five all played very well last night, while the bench was very quiet. Amir Johnson, who came in struggling for minutes, played 25 of them and hit 7-of-9 shots for 15 points, eight boards, a steal and a block. I’m not all that impressed, as he simply had a hot hand. Jae Crowder had 20 & 8 with two 3-pointers, Jared Sullinger double-doubled with 14 points and 10 boards, Avery Bradley scored 18 with two steals and a 3-pointer, and Isaiah Thomas led the way with 27 points, seven assists and two 3-pointers. I like Sullinger as long as he’s starting, and all of these guys should be owned except for Johnson. Marcus Smart struggled off the bench with just three points on 0-of-4 shooting in 25 minutes, and Evan Turner was quiet with eight points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals on 2-of-9 shooting. Turner is still a player I want to own and Smart had been playing very well before this disaster. Smart’s dealing with a thumb injury, but I’m not ready to blame the bad night on it. Turner and Smart should bounce back.

Jabari Parker stayed hot for the Bucks and led the team in scoring with 22 points and six boards. He’s averaging 21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.8 blocks on 52 percent shooting over his last five games. Hopefully he keeps this up the rest of the way. Giannis Antetokounmpo flirted with a triple-double (14-7-8) and Khris Middleton added 21 points, five boards, six assists, three steals and a 3-pointer. Middleton is a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award. O.J. Mayo had just three points on 1-of-4 shooting and I’m just not into him, even though he’s starting. Michael Carter-Williams isn’t great, but had 12 points, three boards and three assists off the bench, and is always worth a look when Jerryd Bayless (knee) isn’t playing. Miles Plumlee (annoyingly) started over Greg Monroe again and had just five points, one rebound and one block in 14 minutes, while Monroe came through with 20 points, eight boards, four dimes, a steal and two blocks on 9-of-13 shooting. After a dud last Friday, Monroe is rolling again, averaging 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks over his last three games.

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