Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: Crunch Time Decisions
James Harden, Hassan Whiteside, Julius Randle and Willie Cauley-Stein: Welcome to center stage. The Golden State tripod has a permanent place in the spotlight.
For the rest of the season, I’ll have analysis on the studs, duds, names that should be on your radar & how injury developments are expected to impact your team in crunch time. For box score summaries, hit the blurbs. I’m focusing more on analysis than recaps in this space.
Studs
MIN-WAS: John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter; Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng—After another massive double-double (22 pts, 16 ast) on Friday, Wall has as many triple-doubles this month as games with fewer than 10 assists: two. One very notable Beal takeaway: it was the first time he’s played 40 or more minutes in more than three months, and he responded well with a huge 26-point line that included four treys. Five more triples gives LaVine 23 in his last six games, averaging 23.0 points and 3.8 3PM on a ridiculous 56% shooting during that time. Towns & Dieng combined for 45 points, 19 boards and 10 dimes on 62.5% from the filed. Remember when Sam Mitchell was hesitant to play them together? Good times.
CHA-DET: Kemba Walker; Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope—All six of Walker’s 3-pointers came in the first half, but nobody is going to complain about that after Kemba’s recent three-game slump. Drummond looks ready to turn it up at the right time, averaging 24.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks on 67.6% shooting in his last two games. KCP (illness) stuffed the stat sheet in his return, and he’s now scored 20-plus in three of his last five games. With averages of 19.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.8 3PM on 48.8% shooting over his last eight games, there’s no role for Stanley Johnson on your fantasy team with Caldwell-Pope healthy and Marcus Morris (20 points) still logging big minutes.
MIL-ATL: John Henson; Paul Millsap—It was arguably Henson’s best game of the season with 17&10 to go along with three blocks, but it’s still hard to trust him as anything more than a blocks specialist. Millsap’s elite versatility has anchored rosters all season, and Friday’s roto-friendly special was just the latest example of why he was one of this year’s most valuable selections.
TOR-HOU: James Harden, Patrick Beverley, Michael Beasley; Jonas Valanciunas—Including Friday’s monstrous triple-double, Harden is enjoying an incendiary six-game stretch with averages of 28.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 3.0 3PM on 46.6% shooting, including 87.2% from the FT line. The Rockets record: 2-4. Flashing his fantasy upside, Beverley again filled the box score on Friday, tying his season high in triples (five) in the process. Although he’s traded good games with bad ones over his last seven, PB is still spreading jelly, averaging 11.0 points, 5.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.6 triples during that time. For the fourth straight time, Valanciunas recorded a double-double when getting at least 30 minutes of playing time with 16 points, 18 boards (tying his season high), two steals and a block. If (when) Kyle Lowry and/or DeMar DeRozan are again rested, JV’s role should only grow.
ORL-MIA: Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic—As his friend DJ Khaled would say, Whiteside—who abused the Magic for 26&12 with five blocks in just 29 minutes—has been a major key to success. Including an absolute dud vs. San Antonio, The Dragon is breathing fire over his last five, averaging 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.0 steals on 50.7% shooting, but the turnovers (4.0) need to come down.
MEM-SA: Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge— Without Kawhi Leonard, Aldridge delivered in a way most postal carriers wish they could with 32 points, 12 boards, two steals and three blocks on 12-of-16 shooting, including 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. He’s now got three In-N-Out specials in his last four, averaging 21.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks during that span. Duncan flirted with a triple-double (12/8/7) and has played 31 minutes in two of his last three games, so he’ll now go into hibernation (rest) over his last two. He’s really not someone I’d want to rely on for a fantasy championship with the Spurs preparing for the postseason.
PHO-SAC: DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein; Devin Booker—After going off for 26 points, six boards, three steals and two blocks on 11-of-19 shooting, Cauley-Stein has to be feeling trill after a career evening. The matchup vs. a terrible Phoenix team was near ideal, but the Kings should get a long look at WCS the rest of the way and is worth adding for his considerable upside and difference-making potential. The frontline pairing of Alex Len & Jon Leuer was never going to slow Cousins (knee) down, who went for 29&11 in just 28 minutes following his one-game absence. Thus far, there’s been no indication that DMC may be shut down prematurely. Phoenix’s season has gone horribly wrong, but their first-round pick was wonderfully correct in selecting Booker, who contributed in literally every category with 26 points, five boards, four dimes, two steals, a block, two triples and nine turnovers on 11-of-21 shooting. Cook Book is making meals over his last two, averaging 27.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.5 steals, a block and 1.5 triples on 53.5% shooting.
DAL-GS: Wesley Matthews, J.J. Barea, David Lee; Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson—With back-to-back six-triple performances and three straight games of at least 50% shooting, Matthews is (finally) playing well enough to warrant ownership. Barea got loose for 21 points and five triples without Deron Williams (abdominal) or Devin Harris (new baby), while David Lee nearly had a revenge triple-double (12/9/6) vs. his former team in place of Dirk Nowitzki (rest). As for Green, Curry and Thompson, the combined stat line of 92 points, 19 boards, 19 assists and 17 triples with just five turnovers speaks for itself in a season where all three have been yelling from atop the fantasy mountain.
DEN-LAL: D.J. Augustin, Jusuf Nurkic; Julius Randle, Kobe Bryant, Jordan Clarkson—A season-high five triples should come as no surprise for Augustin, who has torched the Lakers twice this month by averaging 23.0 points, 6.5 assists and 4.0 treys on 65% shooting against LA. Kobe nearly going off for 30 points would have been a story on any other night of his retirement tour, but Julius Randle’s first career triple-double will rightfully lead tomorrow’s headlines. The young bull has really taken advantage of good matchups over his last three games vs. Memphis, Phoenix and Denver with averages of 15.0 points, 15.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 blocks on 59.4% from the field.
Duds
MIN-WAS: Andrew Wiggins & Ricky Rubio: Minnesota Timberwolves—Rubio has recently let it fly from deep, making 12-of-32 (37.5%) from distance over his last seven games. Wiggins has twice as many games with at least 20 points (eight) than under (four) this month, so he gets a pass here for a mostly empty evening.
CHA-DET: Marvin Williams & Jeremy Lin— Williams (ankle) is back on the floor, and after surprising consistency all season long, the UNC product has gone cold at the wrong time with averages of 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 3PM, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks over his last four games. Despite a recent three-game hot streak, I’m not trusting Jeremy Lin in standard formats with the game on the line.
MIL-ATL: Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton; Kent Bazemore, Kyle Korver, Tim Hardaway Jr.—Max Money Monroe is moving in the wrong direction at the wrong time, and he’s got an emphatic lid on his ceiling while Jason Kidd rolls with a three-big rotation. Korver has scored four or fewer points in three of his last six games, while Bazemore has done very little to warrant any kind of continued trust since the All-Star Break.
TOR-HOU: Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard—Ariza and Howard are both struggling offensively of late, but contributions in desired categories (steals, threes, blocks) allows for a path to provide value until the other aspects of their games straighten out. Ariza finished with six points on eight shots, while Howard managed just two points, five boards and two blocks before fouling out.
ORL-MIA: Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja; Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade—I’m on Team AG, but with two total steals and two total blocks over his last five games, averages of 9.0 points and 7.6 rebounds just isn’t getting the job done. After a hot start to his Heat career, Johnson has turned to ice over his last three with 17 total points on 6-of-19 shots and just one 3-pointer.
MEM-SA: Tony Allen, Ray McCallum—Jordan Farmar, who has been back in the NBA for less than a week, is now starting ahead of McCallum.
PHO-SAC: P.J. Tucker, Jon Leuer—You should be looking for pickups with more upside than Tucker carries at this stage of the game. This was a bad matchup for Leuer, but his upcoming schedule is likely to present more than a few problems.
DAL-GS: Salah Mejri; Andrew Bogut—This wasn’t really a good matchup for either guy, but Mejri is worth giving another game to after his out-of-nowhere emergence.
DEN-LAL: Emmanuel Mudiay; Larry Nance Jr.—Nance really won’t be an option unless he joins the starting five and plays minutes in the mid-20s.
