Line of the Night/Waiver Wire Line of the Night: It’s a fairly simple equation: Orlando Magic â€" Dwight Howard â€" Ryan Anderson â€" Jameer Nelson = Loss to Detroit + Glen Davis (2.09) with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Davis took 22 of the Magic’s 72 shots. Here’s a corollary (a proposition inferred immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof): Don’t count on Davis to do it again. Additional proof: Dwight Howard is day-to-day in a much more positive sense than usual, so if he returns against the Knicks, Davis will go back closer to his normal stats.
Honorable Mentions: Another simple equation: Miami Heat + Dwyane Wade “knee injury†= LeBron James (2.09) scoring 41 points (15-25 from the field) with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Harder to get those assists without Wade to pass to… I’m sure Carmelo Anthony (1.98) would agree. I mean, that’s why he had to take 31 shots right? Sure, he made 17 of them and ended with 39 points, plus 10 rebounds, and 2 steals, but that’s 31 of 83 shots (37%). Although, snarkiness aside, if I had Baron Davis (2-8) and JR Smith (3-11) on my team, I’m not sure I’d pass much either. If Tyson Chandler could have done better than 6-11 from the line, he’s probably be up here with Melo with his 12 points and 14 rebounds.
DeMarcus Cousins (1.82) must have seen LeBron’s total at half time of the Kings game and decided he wanted to do that too. He scored 41 points (16-25 from the field), and doubled LeBron’s rebound total with 12. He made up for it by only getting half as many assists, but he did have 2 steals.
Kris Humphries (1.74) had a better WARP score than any of the Lakers, but in spite of his 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 steals, the Nets still lost. Kobe Bryant (1.37) led the fantasy lines for the Lakers with 24 points (3 threes, 10-16 from the field), 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Hmmmm… if only someone had passed the pass last night they could have had a monster fantasy line… Oh wait!
Steve Nash (1.66) had 12 assists to go with his 18 points and 6 rebounds. Unfortunately, no steals for Nash on a night when it seemed like everyone had at least 2. Actually, Danny Granger (1.65) didn’t have any steals either, but he led the night with 5 threes en route to 27 points and 7 rebounds. Let’s remember, though, Ryan Anderson didn’t play or certainly he would have had at least 5 threes.
Marcin Gortat (1.47) combined with Nash for a Phoenix win, putting up 20 points (7-11 from the field), 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. That’s some nice defense, but all he really needed was 2 more steals and another block and he could have had only 8 points like Elton Brand (1.31) did. That’s right, in one of the stranger high-rated lines I’ve seen, Brand ended with 8 points (granted, he was also 6-6 from the line), 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks to round out the Top 10 from last night.
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Pick Up Lines: Ben Gordon (1.19) returned from a 3 game absence to put up 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals (43% owned). Rodney Stuckey didn’t play in the one and with 2 sets of back-to-backs, Gordon looks like he might be a good short-term add. If you can get him in daily leagues, you’ll get 3 more games this week and if Stuckey is still out, Gordon plays 4 next week.
With Jeremy Lin out and Iman Shumpert (and Baron Davis and JR Smith) struggling, it might be time to add Landry Fields (1.13) again. The Knicks only have 2 more games this week, and this was Fields’s first positive WARP game in a while, so I wouldn’t rush out go grab him, but if he can repeat last night’s 15 points (2 threes, 5-8 from the field), 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block, then he’s probably worth picking up for the Knicks 4-game week starting on the 9th (36% owned).
Ye Gods, if it isn’t Danny Green (1.13) again. Green actually led the Spurs in minutes played last night (since they beat the Cavs by 35) and was very efficient in getting to 19 points (4 threes, 7-11 from the field) with 2 steals (13% owned). Like, Fields before him, this was Green’s first positive WARP game in a while, and his stats are kind of all over the place (see his player page), so I wouldn’t add him unless someone on the Spurs gets injured again (Manu only played 18 minutes).
Klay Thompson, Chrales Jenkins, and Dorell Wright didn’t fare well against the Grizzlies last night, giving Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, and Nate Robinson (0.90) more minutes off the bench. Robinson was the only of of the three who really capitalized with his 18 points (8-17 from the field, 2 threes), 5 assists, and 0 turnovers (27% owned). Unfortunately, Jenkins is still the starter for the Warriors and they have a lot more reason to continue playing and developing him than they do to let Robinson run around firing shots.
With Jameer Nelson out, Glen Davis wasn’t the only one who stepped up: Chris Duhon (0.80) had 13 points (3 threes), and 5 assists (1% owned). It sounds like Nelson’s injury isn’t too bad, though, so in order to take advantage of Duhon, you’d have to be in a daily league and add him on Thursday if Nelson is scratched from that game as well. Even then, if Dwight Howard comes back, Duhon’s opportunities will be more limited.
Biggest Loser: I’ve kind of mentioned it already in this post, but Iman Shumpert (-1.19) wasn’t doing a lot of favors for New York Knicks fans nor for himself… He had 5 points on 2-6 from the field and 1-3 from the line with 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 3 turnovers. Of course he’s only 45% owned, which just barely puts him over our arbitrary 40% mark.
The guy that probably hurt a lot more teams was Jrue Holiday (-0.92) with his 8 points on 4-11 shooting. He did have 2 rebounds and 6 assists, but canceled that out with 6 turnovers. Maybe you’re already giving up FG% and TOs (and with Holiday on your team, that’s probably a good idea), but still… only 8 points and 6 assists? Jrue’s been real up and down the past week or so… Owning him certainly hasn’t been a holiday. {Rimshot FTW!} I humbly accept this award for Worst Pun of the Year on behalf of people everywhere with lame senses of humor.
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Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.
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