There were several interesting developments that piqued our interest over Easter Sunday night’s games. For those of you who do celebrate Easter, or are New York Knick fans, or own Derrick Rose… Happy Easter to ya!
Line of the Night: Carmelo Anthony (2.65) broke out of his slump in style, in pretty much the only way he knows how; by scoring a ton of points, well 43 to be exact. Two of his four treys for the game came at clutch times and the last one was even the game winner that took New York to an overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls. Melo added seven boards to his line. His heroics, however, could not completely overshadow the return to action of Chicago’s very own Derrick Rose (0.89), whose EIGHT turnovers soured his comeback a bit, but his 29 points, six boards and four threes showed that he’s back with a vengeance. It’s just a shame that his owners waited this long for his return only to get him for three games this week. Nonetheless, it’s good to see him healthy and on the court once again.
Honorable Mentions:
Kevin Durant (2.04) meanwhile, led the Thunder to an easy victory over the Toronto Raptors. It wasn’t his usual stat-stuffing line, but even a “soft” night for him still netted his owners with 23 points, four rebounds, 4 treys, and two blocks for their fantasy basketball appreciation.
While most eyes are now focused on which guard to grab over in Cleveland (Hudson or Sloan) for this week’s five-game week, it was solid veteran, Antawn Jamison (1.77) who still wound up bringing on an A+ fantasy game. He was very efficient, scoring his 34 points by making four threes to go along with completing 12 of 19 shots from the field.
Unfortunately for Toronto, they lost Andrea Bargnani, who once again went down due to tightness in his calf. Jose Calderon (1.73) served as the lone consoling fantasy performer for the team with 19 points, six dimes, two steals and three shots from downtown.
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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: In Houston’s convincing win over the Sacramento Kings, we saw the return to action of Kyle Lowry, who gave his owners a quiet 17:45 on the floor. It wasn’t too bad for his first game back after battling a bacterial infection for almost a month. Whether his return had anything to do with it or not, Courtney Lee (2.36) sure seemed like he was in the mood to celebrate by exploding for 25 points (3 threes). It was as if he couldn’t miss as he converted 11 of his eighteen shot attempts. He rounded out his line with four juicy steals which his owners surely appreciated.
Pick Up Lines: Even though New Jersey has only three games slated this week, Gerald Green (2.27) just made a case to be a tempting add. Gerald Wallace only played 17 minutes as he injured his leg after a put-back slam. This opened the flood gates for Green who unleashed 32 points (5 threes) on the fantasy hoops world. If Wallace will miss any time this week, look to “the other Gerald” to step in and be in for some explosive games.
Miami rested Dwyane Wade and his sore ankle. And while his missing the game was more about him getting some extra rest rather than anything serious, James Jones (2.23) took advantage of the need for extra production and delivered it in a timely fashion. Jones has been too inconsistent this season to even count on him as stream material, so simply consider his 18 points, six treys and 4 steals as a rare surprise that won’t likely be replicated any time soon. (2% owned)
Danny Green (2.20) who has been doing quite well as starter for the Spurs lately, looks like a sneaky add for this week, especially since San Antonio is slated to have five games on tap. He brought some solid mid-round value via his 14 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. (15% owned)
Iman Shumpert (2.09) once again returned to the fantasy spotlight via a solid performance. Both he and J.R. Smith are worthwhile adds for the Knicks’ four-game stint this week due to Amare Stoudemire’s being far from a return. Shumpert brought a diverse line to the table as he scored 15 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and got 4 steals on the defensive end. (39% owned) Just don’t expect all of his four upcoming games to be like this, and your expectations are probably in the right zone.
Speaking of Cleveland’s guards Lester Hudson (1.78) was just signed to another 10-day contract by the Cavaliers. And why wouldn’t they? He’s scorching hot, scoring yet another game above twenty points (26). He nailed six treys and looks like he just might carry this over through the Cavs’ five-game week. If you’re in need of assists though, Donald Sloan is your man as he dropped 14 dimes for the night.
Biggest Loser:
Paul Millsap (-1.22) should be excused for having an off night due to his fighting through a stomach virus. While his two points and three boards were underwhelming, expect him to bounce back to his regular fantasy-friendly form this week.
Tyreke Evans (-0.96) showed once again, why the Kings may want to part ways with him next season. He only managed to score six points, grabbed no rebounds and only managed one assist. Perhaps a change in scenery will do his fantasy game some good next season. For now, he remains one of the season’s bigger disappointments.
Rodney Stuckey (-0.82) killed a few field goal percentages by missing nine of his thirteen shots from the field to finish with only 11 points and 0 assists. It’s likely that he wasn’t 100% healthy. Either that, or he just got stifled by Miami’s tight defense.
The Sixers are in funk and their frontcourt tandem of Elton Brand (-0.74) and Spencer Hawes (-0.68) led the parade of awful performances for the night. Both men performed way under par and look like they need some kind of inspirational jolt or a full month’s rest. Brand had six points and two rebounds while Hawes only managed two points and five rebounds.
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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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