#EverybodyUp! The NBA is back and it didn't take long for us to see monster performances, near triple doubles, blowouts and of course, horrific injuries. Let me break it all down for you, in Tuesday's Box Score Breakdown.
ADD ME! ADD ME!
Although he didn't have the most spectacular night, it's what happened during the late game Tuesday that necessitates adding Carlos Boozer universally. When rookie Julius Randle went down, things looked nasty, and when the Lakers later confirmed that he had indeed suffered a right tibia fracture, it was a huge dampener to the excitement of opening night. Now, Boozer will be the unquestioned starter for the majority of the season unless something cataclysmic happens and with his ownership sitting at 68 percent on ESPN and 78 percent on Yahoo, you must make a beeline to your league's free agency list and see if he is still available. Boozer had 17 points (7-13 FG, 3-3 FT) with seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal in just 27 minutes Tuesday and although he isn't going to blow our minds, on a talent starved Lakers roster, the numbers will come.
DROP HIM LIKE HE'S HOT
It's way too early to panic and cut bait on anyone, but if you are one of the people who own Randle in a redraft league, there's not a lot of point in holding onto him, unless you're going 30 teams deep. I feel sorry for the rookie from Kentucky and let's hope he's able to make a full recovery and have a successful NBA career.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Tuesday's action.
- Magic
- Victor Oladipo (face)
- Channing Frye (knee)
- Mo Harkless (DNP-CD)
- Andrew Nicholson (DNP-CD)
- Pelicans
- Darius Miller (DNP-CD)
- Mavericks
- Raymond Felton (ankle)
- Charlie Villanueva (DNP-CD)
- Gal Mekel (DNP-CD)
- Spurs
- Kawhi Leonard (eye)
- Tiago Splitter (calf)
- Patty Mills (shoulder)
- Kyle Anderson (DNP-CD)
- Jeff Ayres (DNP-CD)
- Austin Daye (DNP-CD)
- Rockets
- Clint Capela (DNP-CD)
- Nick Johnson (DNP-CD)
- Joey Dorsey (DNP-CD)
- Francisco Garcia (DNP-CD)
- Lakers
- Steve Nash (back)
- Nick Young (thumb)
- Wayne Ellington (concussion)
- Ryan Kelly (hamstring)
CASUALTY WARD
I spoke about it above, but the biggest injury news is Julius Randle's fractured right tibia. We'll know more after he is evaluated Wednesday, but he is facing several months on the sideline, as the tibia is the weight-bearing bone in the leg.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
The NBA is back and it's time to delve a little deeper into the stats that our favorite, (and not so favorite) players put up.
Nikola Vucevic looked dominant from a statistical standpoint at least, scoring 15 points (7-15 FG, 1-2 FT) with 23 rebounds, one steal, and four blocks in 35 minutes. The recently extended big man looked like the Magic's best player and his owners must be hoping he stays healthy after missing 25 games last season.
Tobias Harris led the team in scoring, pouring in 25 points (9-18 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 6-6 FT) with eight rebounds and is another guy who took advantage of Frye's absence. But it's not like Harris will drop off when Frye returns as he started at the three, next to Kyle O'Quinn and Vucevic, with Mo Harkless getting an odd DNP-CD. Could it be that his substandard 2013-14 was solely due to a lingering ankle injury? It's looking a little that way at this early juncture.
Rookie Elfrid Payton started at the point, but was a little overwhelmed. He scored just four points (2-8 FG) with five rebounds, seven assists, and one steal in 31 minutes and will only get better. While Oladipo remains out, Payton is a nice head-to-head play, but in roto leagues, his efficiency makes him hard to go near.
Joining in the block party in the Pelicans' paint, Omer Asik had five to go along with Anthony Davis' nine. He also added 14 points (7-10 FG, 0-3 FT) with 17 rebounds in 33 minutes and is possibly available on your waiver wire. If it's boards and blocks you want, he'll be hard to overlook, but just be aware of the horrible free throw shooting, and it's unlikely he plays 33 minutes every night, relinquishing Ryan Anderson to only 22 minutes.
Jrue Holiday was underwhelming, scoring just eight points (4-11 FG, 0-3 3Pt) with four assists, three steals, and one block in 27 minutes. I wouldn't panic after one poor outing, but it was interesting to see Tyreke Evans handling the ball as much as he did. If Holiday's owner is a little worried, now's the time to throw a buy-low offer at him to snag a discount on an upper-echelon fantasy player.
Monta Ellis starred as the Mavericks narrowly lost to the champion Spurs, pouring in 26 points (11-21 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 3-4 FT) with four rebounds, six assists, and one steal in 37 minutes. He was a guy who dropped in a lot of drafts, but Tuesday, looked like the Mavericks' best and most important player.
In his Mavericks' debut, Chandler Parsons wasn't at his best. He scored just five points (2-10 FG, 1-4 3Pt) with four rebounds, two steals, and one block in 34 minutes. There is zero reason to worry and let's just put this down to an off night.
Manu Ginobili turned back the clock and scored 20 points (6-13 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 6-7 FT) with six assists and two steals in 28 minutes in his customary sixth man role. He's available in a ton of leagues and you can grab him now and ride him until the inevitable injury occurs and get some decent value from the veteran.
Marco Belinelli started into place of Kawhi Leonard and performed admirably, scoring 15 points (5-8 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 2-2 FT) with three assists in 31 minutes. When Leonard returns, Belinelli's value shrinks and with Kawhi expected back for Friday, I wouldn't be rushing out to snag the Italian of any standard league waiver wires.
For a guy who averaged just 0.4 three-pointers made last season, seeing Tony Parker drill four from deep was definitely a surprise. So much of a surprise that it was a career-high for the All-Star point guard. Parker went quite late in drafts in part due to his inability to hit three-pointers and grab steals, so this was a pleasant bonus for his owners. Parker finished with 23 points (9-15 FG, 4-4 3Pt, 1-2 FT) and three assists.
If Anthony Davis hadn't had happened, James Harden would've been the best fantasy player of the night. Harden scored 32 points (7-17 FG, 3-6 3Pt, 15-16 FT) with six assists, and one steal and looks primed for a monster year.
Terrence Jones looked very good, especially with Dwight Howard playing only 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Jones had 16 points (8-16 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 0-1 FT) with 13 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 30 minutes and I've heard of leagues where he is available in the waiver wire. If that describes your league, rectify it immediately.
Kobe Bryant made his long-awaited return to regular season basketball, scoring 19 points (6-17 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 7-8 FT) with three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. Interestingly, coach Byron Scot played no-one over 30 minutes, emulating the Spurs of last season. They also attempted only 10 three-point attempts for the game, making three, so it appears not all of coach Gregg Popovich's philosophies have filtered west to the Staples Center.
With Randle's injury, Ed Davis will get more run backing up the four and the five and looked solid on Tuesday, even before Randle's unfortunate exit. Davis scored 11 points (5-7 FG, 1-2 FT) with six rebounds, one steal, and two blocks in 21 minutes and will be a nice deeper league guy to own.
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
I challenge anyone to tell me that it was anyone other than the Pelicans' Anthony Davis. Davis looked ridiculous against the Magic, repaying his owners, for one night at least, who took him with the first overall pick in their drafts, and if he slid and you got him at four or five, well, you must be thinking you're pretty good at this fantasy basketball game right about now. The third-year big man dropped 26 points (10-22 FG, 6-9 FT) with 17 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and nine blocks in 36 minutes, going oh so close to an opening night triple-double. Pelicans games are going to be close to must-see TV this season if Davis keeps playing at this insane level.
ROOKIE OF THE NIGHT
Although he was taken at number four in this year's draft, not a lot was expected of Aaron Gordon this season. With Channing Frye out with an MCL sprain, Gordon played 29 minutes, scoring 11 points (5-8 FG, 1-2 3Pt) with three rebounds, one steal, and one block and looked fairly impressive. Frye's return will squeeze some minutes from Gordon, but in a medium sized league, his ability to get steals and blocks, if you ignore his efficiency deficits, could be valuable. A great start to a promising NBA career.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- James Harden, G, HOU, 32 points
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 26 points
- Monta Ellis, G, DAL, 26 points
Rebounds
- Nikola Vucevic, C, ORL, 23 rebounds
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 17 rebounds
- Omer Asik, C, NOP, 17 rebounds
Assists
- Elfrid Payton, G, ORL, 7 assists
- Six players tied with 6 assists
Steals
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 3 steals
- Jrue Holiday, G, NOP, 3 steals
- Nine players tied with 2 steals
Blocks
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 9 blocks
- Omer Asik, C, NOP, 5 blocks
- Nikola Vucevic, C, ORL, 4 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Trevor Ariza, F, HOU, 5-8 3Pt
- Tony Parker, G, SAS, 4-4 3Pt
- James Harden, G, HOU, 3-6 3Pt
- Ryan Anderson, F, NOP, 3-6 3Pt
- Marco Belinelli, G, SAS, 3-6 3Pt
- Danny Green, G, SAS, 3-6 3Pt
- Jameer Nelson, G, DAL, 3-6 3Pt
Minutes
- Monta Ellis, G, DAL, 37 minutes
- Tobias Harris, F, ORL, 37 minutes
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 36 minutes