Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: John Wall Messin' Around
Thursday brought with it a busy eight games and Bojan Bogdanovic stayed hot. John Wall triple-doubled, Bismack Biyombo came through in a pinch and Josh Richardson kept it going. Friday’s Dose breaks it all down. Follow me on Twitter by clicking here!
Raptors 101, Pacers 94 – This was a tight game, but the Raptors got the win in overtime. In my dumbest move in a long time, I ignored the fact that Jonas Valanciunas was sitting with a hand injury and didn’t play Bismack Biyombo in DFS. Of course, he and his miniscule salary went nuts with 16 points, a career-high 25 rebounds and two blocks in a whopping 42 minutes. As long as JV is out, Biyombo is your man. And to make matters worse, I started Brook Lopez, who did nothing against the Bulls, and had an otherwise stellar lineup. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan each scored 28 points, while Luis Scola and Norman Powell didn’t do much with their starts. The bench was also useless for the Raptors, but Biyombo, Lowry and DeRozan did enough to get the win last night.
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The Pacers got 18 a piece from Paul George and George Hill, Myles Turner just missed a double-double (9 & 10), and Monta Ellis struggled with just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. He did have seven dimes and four steals, so it wasn’t a total loss. Jordan Hill started for Ian Mahinmi (sore back) and had 11 points, six boards and three blocks, which is fine until you look at Biyombo’s line. Solomon Hill scored 12 with seven rebounds, a steal and a 3-pointer, and C.J. Miles had 13 points and three 3-pointers in just 12 minutes, but you don’t want to mess with any Pacers except the starters right now.
Wizards 99, Sixers 94 – John Wall went off for 16 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season. All five starters (Markieff Morris, Otto Porter, Marcin Gortat and Garrett Temple) scored in double figures, and Gortat overcame his sore back for a 16-13 double-double. Bradley Beal sat this one out for precautionary reasons, which is why Temple started. Gortat and Wall were great, but the rest of the starters were pretty quiet. Marcus Thornton had 18 points, five boards, a steal and two 3-pointers off the bench in 22 minutes, which was his first meaningful line in quite a while. If Beal continues to sit, Thornton could make some noise, but there’s no need to rush out and pick him up.
Like the Wizards, all five Sixers starters scored in double figures. Ish Smith led the way with 20 points, seven assists, three steals and two 3-pointers, Isaiah Canaan and Hollis Thompson scored 15, Nerlens Noel had 14 points, 16 rebounds and seven steals, and Jerami Grant got back in action for 13 points, five boards, a steal and three blocks. I told someone in Thursday’s live chat that Noel was about to go off and he really came through. With Grant back in action, Carl Landry failed to score in 11 minutes. It’s safe to move on from him now and pick up Grant. Canaan has been playing well and is also worth a pickup, while Thompson will disappear as soon as Robert Covington is back from his neck/concussion injury.
Hornets 109, Heat 106 – Kemba Walker had 21 points, seven boards, seven assists and four 3-pointers, Nicolas Batum had 19 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two 3-pointers, and Courtney Lee had 13 points and two 3-pointers in the win. Marvin Williams finally cooled off with 12 points and five boards, but also had two steals and four 3-pointers, and Cody Zeller played just 14 minutes for six points and three rebounds. Al Jefferson got hot and had 21 points and 10 rebounds, while the rest of the Charlotte bench did nothing. I still don’t trust Big Al farther than I can throw him, but he was very solid last night. Jeremy Lin played just 17 minutes and hit 1-of-6 shots, and he’s only putting up stats on nights when he gets hot early. Pick up Jefferson if you want, but beware that he had scored 10 or fewer points in his previous three games. Fluky.
The Heat were led by Luol Deng’s 22 points, nine boards and fun stat line, Goran Dragic had 16 points, seven boards, eight assist and two steals, and Joe Johnson had 13 points, four assists, a block and two 3-pointers. Dwyane Wade played, but hit just 3-of-13 shots for 11 points and two blocks. Hassan Whiteside came off the bench again for 17 points, seven rebounds, a steal and a block, and red-hot Josh Richardson hit 7-of-9 shots for 18 points, four boards, a block and three 3-pointers in 25 minutes off the bench. Richardson is so fun right now, averaging 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.0 blocks and 3.0 3-pointers on 66 percent shooting over his last five games. I don’t care who is playing for the Heat, as long as Richardson’s salary is so cheap in DFS, I’m not afraid to use him. Justise Winslow played 31 minutes, but only scored three points on two shots. Richardson is the Heat reserve you want to own and he’s doing things that can help you win it all.
Hawks 116, Nuggets 98 – All five Hawks starters hit double digits and Paul Millsap had a 16-11 double-double, and Jeff Teague had 16 points and eight assists. Kent Bazemore sat this one out with a knee injury, so Tim Hardaway started. He went off to lead the team with 21 points, seven boards, four assists and two 3-pointers on 6-of-11 shooting, and is worth a look any time he’s starting. But Bazemore’s injury isn’t said to be serious, so it looks like last night was your chance with Hardaway. Al Horford wasn’t great last night, but he’ll be fine, and Kyle Korver had 11 points and three 3-pointers. Thabo Sefolosha, Kris Humphries and Dennis Schroder all scored in double digits off the bench, but none of them were impressive enough to be added in most leagues. The Hawks are rolling, winning nine or their last 11 games.
Joffrey Lauvergne (16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block) and D.J. Augustin (17 points, 7 assists) led the way for the Nuggets, but both of them came off the bench. DJA is hot, averaging 14.8 points, 7.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 3-pointers over his last four games. If you need a point guard in a deep league, DJA’s your man. The starters were lacking in this one and Nikola Jokic, Emmanuel Mudiay, JaKarr Sampson and Gary Harris all underwhelmed. And with Kenneth Faried sitting out with a sore back, a hot Darrell Arthur disappeared with six points and one rebound in a start and 18 minutes. Big man Jusuf Nurkic had 10 points, seven boards, a steal and a block, and the only Nugget you can trust right now is Augustin, and on most nights Mudiay, Jokic, Harris and Faried. Will Barton is still messy, finishing with six points, six boards and six assists on 2-of-7 shooting in 31 minutes. Nurkic and Lauvergne are also worth a close eye right now, but it’s anyone’s guess which big man will show up for the Nuggets right now.
