It's almost here. The light at the end of the tunnel. We have just two nights of preseason basketball remaining until the curtain goes up on the NBA regular season and that's when our stats start counting for real on our teams. Fantasy heaven. But for now, let's breakdown those box scores.
STOCK RISING
Otto Porter Jr. -- Lost in the overall malaise of last season's rookie class was the deplorable output that Washington got from the number three overall pick, Porter. The Georgetown product averaged just 2.1 points in nine minutes a game last season, but things have started to click. Without Bradley Beal for a portion of the beginning of the season, Porter looks to get big run and he's showing his skills in the preseason. Against the Knicks, he dropped 22 points (9-15 FG, 4-7 3Pt) with two rebounds, one assist and three steals in 31 minutes. Aside from his scoring, which has been at least 12 points in four of the five games, Porter has tallied 12 steals in the last four contests. He's worth a late round flier, because for when Beal is out and if Pierce misses time, he becomes a very valuable fantasy talent.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Wednesday's action.
- Los Angeles Clippers
- DeAndre Jordan
- Jordan Farmar (back)
- Jamal Crawford
- Orlando
- Channing Frye (knee)
- Victor Oladipo (knee)
- Houston
- Dwight Howard
- Jason Terry
- Trevor Ariza
- Brooklyn
- Kevin Garnett
- Brook Lopez (foot)
- Jarrett Jack
- Deron Williams
- Joe Johnson
- Boston
- Rajon Rondo (hand)
- Washington
- Martell Webster (back)
- Paul Pierce (knee)
- Bradley Beal (wrist)
- Glen Rice Jr. (ankle)
- New York Knicks
- Quincy Acy
- Andrea Bargnani
- Jose Calderon (calf)
- Toronto
- Lou Williams
- Cleveland
- LeBron James
- Memphis
- Courtney Lee
- Jordan Adams
- Minnesota
- Corey Brewer
- Mo Williams
- Kevin Martin
- Andrew Wiggins
- Milwaukee
- Kendall Marshall
- Larry Sanders
- Zaza Pachulia
- Atlanta
- John Jenkins
- San Antonio
- Kawhi Leonard (eye)
- Tiago Splitter (calf)
- Portland
- LaMarcus Aldridge
- Nicolas Batum
- Robin Lopez
- Wesley Matthews
- Steve Blake
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Jordan Hill
- Xavier Henry (knee)
- Ryan Kelly (hamstring)
- Steve Nash (back)
- Nick Young (thumb)
- Kobe Bryant
CASUALTY WARD
Terrence Jones was forced to the locker room with a neck injury and did not return. Thankfully, it was not serious as Jones looked very good, scoring nine points (4-11 FG, 1-2 3Pt) with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and four blocks in just 28 minutes. As a mid round target, Jones should give very nice value.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
It's the preseason, so there are a ton of lines that don't always add up, but here, I'll touch on a few that stood out Wednesday.
Marcus Morris appears to be the leader in the clubhouse for the Suns' starting small forward job and has made a good fist of it in his last few games, really balling out against the Clippers. Morris had 17 points (4-9 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 7-7 FT) with eight rebounds, two assists, and one block in 29 minutes and has averaged 12.7 points, 1.7 three-pointers, 5.7 rebounds, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks in just 28 minutes a night. If he plays the same amount in the regular season, you'll take that value as a guy who you likely can grab off the waiver wire.
Donatas Motiejunas, who would likely start if Jones was to miss time, had a horrendous showing against the Magic, putting up a goose egg, missing all 11 of his field goal attempts, including five from downtown. In fact his shooting has been deplorable all preseason, hitting just 33 percent of his attempts. He's also only blocked one shot in seven games and his value is dropping considerably.
With the Nets sitting out nearly all of their starters, Mason Plumlee took over, recording a double-double of 15 points (5-11 FG, 5-8 FT) with 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks in 29 minutes.That's two straight double-doubles for Plumlee starting in place of Brook Lopez and with Lopez already injured, it's hard to skip over Plumlee at the end of your draft.
Kyrie Irving had another super-efficient outing, hitting over 50 percent of his shots in his last three games. Against the Grizzlies, Irving had 16 points (7-11 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 1-2 FT) with one rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal in just 24 minutes. Even with LeBron James and Kevin Love in town, Irving could be on the cusp of a breakout season and could very well be a steal where he is currently going in drafts.
Quincy Pondexter started for Memphis at small forward and had his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game. He poured in 15 points (3-7 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 7-9 FT) with five rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals in 30 minutes and could be a viable option given the dearth of talent on the wings in Memphis. He is probably not worth considering in standard league drafts, but make sure you add him to your watchlist.
Shabazz Muhammad led all Wolves in scoring, dropping 19 points (6-13 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 6-8 FT) with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 33 minutes in the start. The oddity to note here is that Muhammad had three assists in 33 minutes, considering he had just six assists in 290 minutes last season. The minutes and the production will not translate to the regular season unless a bevy of tragedies strike down the other Wolves' wings.
The Greek Freak looked more like the Greek Eeek with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring just a solitary point (0-7 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 1-2 FT) with five rebounds, three assists, four steals and three blocks, along with a whopping eight turnovers. You have to take the god with the bad sometimes and the combined seven steals and blocks in magnificent, but the scoring and turnovers make you want to shield your eyes. To get the upside on Antetokounmpo, be prepared to draft him inside the top 100.
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
Chris Paul -- After resting in the Clippers last game, Paul looked like dynamite in the contest against the Suns which the Clippers snuck home, 108-105. Paul scored 34 points (12-18 FG, 4-7 3Pt, 6-6 FT), which didn't even lead the team, grabbed five rebounds, dished nine assists, swiped four steals and threw in a block for good measure in 37 minutes. He now has at least nine assists in his last four games and I see no good reason why he should fall outside the top five in drafts this season as he tries to lead the Clippers to championship glory
ROOKIE OF THE NIGHT
Julius Randle -- Randle showed signs of life, leading the Lakers in scoring with 17 points (7-10 FG, 3-4 FT) with eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 24 bench minutes. This comes on the heels of four straight single digit scoring games however, so don't run and pay too much for Randle in your drafts this weekend as he'll be stuck behind Carlos Boozer for most, if not all of the season.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- Blake Griffin, F, LAC, 35 points
- Chris Paul, G, LAC, 34 points
- Carmelo Anthony, F, NYK, 30 points
Rebounds
- Jared Sullinger, F, BOS, 17 rebounds
- Nikola Pekovic, C, MIN, 13 rebounds
- Mason Plumlee, C, BKN, 11 rebounds
Assists
- Chris Paul, G, LAC, 9 assists
- J.J. Barea, G, MIN, 9 assists
- John Wall, G, WAS, 7 assists
- Tony Parker, G, SAS, 7 assists
Steals
- Chris Paul, G, LAC, 4 steals
- John Wall, G, WAS, 4 steals
- Ricky Rubio, G, MIN, 4 steals
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, MIL, 4 steals
Blocks
- Gorgui Dieng, C, MIN, 4 blocks
- Terrence Jones, F, HOU, 4 blocks
- Ed Davis, F, LAL, 4 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Kyle Korver, G, ATL, 6-10 3Pt
- Chris Paul, G, LAC, 4-7 3Pt
- Otto Porter, F, WAS, 4-7 3Pt
- Troy Daniels, G, HOU, 4-13 3Pt
Minutes
- Sergei Karasev, G, BKN, 43 minutes
- Blake Griffin, F, LAC, 40 minutes
- Chris Paul, G, LAC, 37 minutes