Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: Giannis is Unfair
There were quite a few blowouts on Sunday’s five-game slate, but there was still a lot of excitement and drama. LeBron James destroyed the Clippers, Giannis Antetokounmpo posted another triple-double and tensions have never been higher in Sacramento with DeMarcus Cousins and coach George Karl feuding again. We also learned on Sunday that Pau Gasol is going to miss some time due to swelling in his knee, but I will be breaking that specific story down along with some other injury news on Monday afternoon in my Week Ahead column. If you guys need fantasy advice, click here to follow me on Twitter!
Cavaliers 114, Clippers 90
LeBron James led the Cavs to their third straight win, scoring 27 points with five assists and three triples in just 31 minutes. Cleveland will be back in action on Monday against the Jazz, but coach Tyronn Lue said that he expects LeBron to play since he was able to rest in the fourth quarter. The Cavs are 2.5 games ahead of the Raptors for first place, so LeBron’s owners should be pulling for Toronto to keep things close at the top so he doesn’t have too many rest days. Kevin Love (leg) returned from a one-game absence and played decent in limited minutes (25), scoring 12 points with nine boards. His leg isn’t an issue and the Cavs were just being cautious. Kyrie Irving could’ve played a little better with 17 points and five assists, but going up against Chris Paul is never easy. Irving played 31 minutes, but it’s still possible that he is rested against Utah. J.R. Smith was awesome with 17 points and five assists, while Tristan Thompson (10 points, 11 boards) posted his third straight double-double off the bench. Channing Frye came off the bench and had 15 points and five treys, but I’m still not picking him up in any league.
Chris Paul did his part for the Clippers with 17 points, 10 assists, two steals and three treys, recording his third straight double-double. The big story of the week is that Blake Griffin’s timetable to return has been pushed back due to his troublesome quad and not his broken hand, so CP3 is locked in as a top-10 player and that’s being very conservative. The Griffin news is also great for DeAndre Jordan (11 points, 11 rebounds, one block) and J.J. Redick (19 points, two 3-pointers). Jeff Green was coming off two strong performances and coach Doc Rivers said before the game that he wants the forward to be more consistent, so of course he scored just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. Green is too annoying to own in my opinion. Paul Pierce (toe) sat out again, so Wes Johnson had a nice game with 11 points, five boards and two treys. Jamal Crawford was quiet once again with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and the return of Austin Rivers has shattered his value. It’s time to move on.
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Hawks 104, Pacers 75
Yes, you read that score correctly. Atlanta got off to a strong start with a 30-17 first quarter and never looked back which allowed the Hawks to rest their starters down the stretch. Paul Millsap had one of the lines of the night with 18 points, nine boards, four assists, three steals, three blocks and two treys, solidifying his status as a top-10 player the rest of the way. Al Horford added 18 points with four boards, while Kyle Korver had 15 points, five boards and four 3-pointers. As inconsistent as Korver has been this season, he’s a must-own guy if you’re targeting 3-pointers. Kent Bazemore posted his second dud in a row with eight points, two triples and two steals in 18 minutes, and he even got into a heated exchange with his head coach on the sidelines. It was probably nothing serious, and I’m still not dropping Bazemore considering he has mid-round upside. Jeff Teague scored six points with nine assists, but only played 22 minutes due to the blowout. Dennis Schroder was back in the rotation tonight after he played just three minutes in his previous outing, scoring eight points with five assists in 19 minutes. He’s probably not in the doghouse anymore, but he’s too hard to trust with Teague healthy and playing well.
Paul George had arguably his worst game of the season with seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, but the Hawks’ defense deserves a lot of credit for holding him in check. PG-13 was averaging 24.8 points in his 12 previous games since the break, so there’s nothing to worry about here. George Hill was considered questionable to play due to a toe injury and admitted after the game that he didn’t feel comfortable, and it showed as he posted just five points in 23 minutes. Hopefully his toe will be feeling better before the Pacers play the Celtics on Tuesday, especially with Ty Lawson (foot) still out. Rodney Stuckey (two points in 10 minutes) tweaked his right foot again which has been an issue since November, so he may need to miss some time which will benefit C.J. Miles (eight points, two treys). Myles Turner finally made some noise again with 19 points, five boards, two steals and a block, so hopefully this is a sign that he’s moved past the rookie wall. He’s still a must-own guy. Monta Ellis added 10 points with four assists and Ian Mahinmi scored eight with seven boards and one block. Mahinmi has quietly been one of the most improved bigs in the NBA and his head coach loves him.
