Line of the Night: Danny Granger (2.21) got revenge against himself one night after being the Biggest Loser. Granger came up with 25 points (3 threes, 6-6 from the line), 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in Indiana’s win over Washington.
Honorable Mentions: Russell Westbrook (1.84) scored 17 of his 36 points (9-10 from the line) in the 3rd quarter, adding 6 assists, and 2 steals to help Derek Fisher and the Thunder win over the Lakers. I appreciate Derek Fisher and what a gentleman he is (though it seemed like he could have tried harder with the whole negotiation thing), but I call BS on him not knowing that the Lakers were going to trade him. If you’ve been around the league that long and you know the Lakers want to trade for a younger, more offense-oriented point guard, where do you think that money is going to come from? Kevin Durant (1.19) put the nail in the coffin with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. On the other side of the ball, Andrew Bynum (1.69) racked up 25 points (10-15 from the field), 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the loss.
Meanwhile there was some kerfuffle about Paul Allen wanting to sell the Blazers. Well, maybe LaMarcus Aldridge (1.45) heard that and decided to showcase the team with his 25 points (11-18 from the field), 12 rebounds, and 5 assists in a win over New Orleans. I’d buy that for a dollar.
Mario Chalmers (1.33), I guess, led the Miami Heat (at least from a fantasy perspective) to a big win over Dallas in the two teams’ first meeting since the Finals last season. Chalmers had 12 points (on only 4-11 shooting with 2-2 from the line), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. I guess it must have been the 4 steals, which tied for the highest total in that category for the night. It also didn’t hurt that the Big Three actually played like a team allowing Bosh and Chalmers (and Udonis Haslem) to take some shots instead of just having Wade and LeBron each score 35. Dirk Nowitzki (1.11) had 25 points (7-7 from the line), and 6 rebounds in the game, but Dallas’s next best players were Vince Carter and Lamar Odom. Not a good sign for repeat title hopes when you’re relying that much on a guy surprises people when he actually shows up… and Vince Carter. (Boom, Roasted)
Nene Hilario (1.30) is kind of The Man now in Washington, leading them to another loss with 16 points (6-6 from the line), and 13 rebounds. Just because the Wizards can’t win doesn’t mean Nene isn’t a fantasy winner.
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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Marco Belinelli (1.84) must be getting his revenge on somebody with his second straight WWLotN… I mean, I know teams don’t really give him a chance so maybe his 27 points and 7 threes are just kind of a middle finger to the NBA in general (20% owned). Eric Gordon is still “close to coming back” though, so Belinelli’s value will only last so long… make it good, Marco, enjoy it.
Pick Up Lines: Speaking of Hornets, but not speaking of someone you don’t want to pick up (confused yet?): Jason Smith had (1.50) 13 points (5-5 from the line), 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (6% owned). Yep, time to scoop up that big man. Oh, you want another big man? Happy to oblige: Carl Landry (0.90) – another Hornet – had 24 points (9-13 from the field), and 7 rebounds. He’s up to 39% owned, but he’s also had 4 games of double-digit scoring with high single-digit rebounds. What, you want another big man? How about J.J. Hickson (0.70)? First big man off the bench, he might as well be starting after playing 28 minutes and scoring 12 points (6-10 from the field) with 6 rebounds and 2 steals (29% owned).
FLuke Babbitt (1.44) had 16 points on 4 threes, and 5-8 from the field, despite playing only 17 minutes (0% owned). I’m pretty sure there’s a typo in that sentence somewhere… Nope, I don’t see it.
Finally, Kendrick Perkins (0.73) has started to put together a stretch of decent games, adding last night’s 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks to give himself a positive WARP over the last two weeks (29% owned). I have to imagine it’s pretty easy to get blocks and rebounds when the only time you have to worry about scoring is when one of Westbrook or Durant’s misses falls into your outstretched hands.
Biggest Loser: Jason Terry (-1.21) is still owned in 92% of leagues, and luckily is starting for one of the teams I’m playing this week. His -1.21 is exactly what Danny Granger had last night before turning things around. Hopefully Terry doesn’t improve on his 3 points, 0 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1-10 from the field shooting.
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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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