The Big Three is clicking in Cleveland, Dallas coasts to another victory and Anthony Davis enters beast mode again. Just another day in the NBA and another day for the Box Score Breakdown.
ADD ME! ADD ME!
Don't look now, but Jameer Nelson is put up some valuable lines, in limited minutes. Maybe saying valuable isn't the right word, but if you need assists off you waiver-wire, there won't be many better options than Nelson sitting out there. He's owned in 12 percent of ESPN leagues and 37 percent of Yahoo leagues, but is averaging 4.3 assists per game for the season and 6.0 dimes in his last four. In the easy victory over the Hornets, Nelson scored 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 3Pt) with two rebounds, eight assists, and two steals in 25 minutes. Throw in the fact that Devin Harris left Monday's game with an ankle injury and Raymond Felton is still injured and waiting to serve his suspension, Nelson may get some increased burn in the next couple of games at least. His overall value isn't through the roof, but in a head-to-head league specifically, Nelson's assists could be a boon off the wire.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Monday's action, for one reason or another.
- Nuggets
- J.J. Hickson (rest)
- Cavaliers
- Matthew Dellavedova (knee)
- Mavericks
- Raymond Felton (ankle)
- Richard Jefferson (DNP-CD)
- Hornets
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (foot)
- Gary Neal (concussion)
- Suns
- P.J. Tucker (personal)
- Celtics
- Marcus Smart (ankle)
- Magic
- Aaron Gordon (foot)
- Kyle O'Quinn (ankle)
- Pistons
- Jodie Meeks (back)
- Heat
- Dwyane Wade (hamstring)
- Luol Deng (wrist)
- Josh McRoberts (toe blister)
- Nets
- Andrei Kirilenko (DNP-CD)
- Rockets
- Terrence Jones (leg nerve bruise)
- Spurs
- Tiago Splitter (calf)
- Marco Belinelli (groin)
- Pelicans
- Omer Asik (back)
- Blazers
- Nicolas Batum (knee)
- Bulls
- Pau Gasol (calf)
- Derrick Rose (hamstring)
CASUALTY WARD
Both Devin Harris and P.J. Hairston were forced to leave the Mavericks/Hornets game due to twisted ankles. Both players are considered questionable. As mentioned above, Nelson gets a boost with no Harris and for the Hornets who are already with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Gary Neal, reluctantly, I'll say Gerald Henderson gets a boost, but his fantasy value resides solely in the points category.
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
When Anthony Davis plays, it's safe to assume he's going to be featured in this section. It may just be more time economical to assume he wins it and move on. Against the Blazers, Davis was sensational again, with 31 points (14-20 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 3-4 FT), 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks in 38 minutes. Imagine if he had hit those two three-pointers!
ROOKIE OF THE NIGHT
The Brooklyn Nets' Bojan Bogdanovic led his team in scoring with 22 points (8-11 FG, 4-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT), and added three rebounds, one assists, and one steal in a team high 41 minutes against the Heat. He's a guy you need to consider owning in 12 team leagues at the moment as Lionel Hollins is definitely giving him the minutes to be successful. There'll be some ups and downs, but as long as his role is consistent, the cumulative fantasy value will be there.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
For once coach Brian Shaw decided to give his starter decent minutes. Well, all starter except Kenneth Faried, who played just 22 minutes for eight points, one rebound, one assist, one steal, and one block. When Darrell Arthur is playing 26 minutes and scoring 13 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 3Pt) with 11 rebounds and two steals in preference to Faried, your fantasy faith in the Team USA member is shaken. There's nothing to do but hold Faried at this stage.
Dion Waiters had his best night of the season, scoring-wise, dropping 20 points in 28 bench minutes, adding two steals, but with the array of talent in Cleveland, Waiters is hard to own in standard leagues.
Joe Harris played another 24 minutes off the bench, lending some credence to reports he could be in line to be the starter at shooting guard. Just remember, he'll have to compete with Waiters, Shawn Marion and the returning Matthew Dellavedova for playing time, so the minutes may not reflect the role as such.
The general malaise effecting the Charlotte Hornets continues, suffering another beat down at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Lance Stephenson continues to struggle, scoring just six points , with six rebounds, and seven assists. Stephenson is a decent points league player as he can accumulate numbers in those three categories, but he does almost nothing for you in the other areas and appears to be negatively effecting Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker's value. If you get a deal for Stephenson, I'd be taking it.
Alex Len once again outplayed Miles Plumlee, scoring 19 points (8-10 FG, 3-3 FT) with seven rebounds and one steal in 29 minutes, compared with Plumlee's 19 minutes. At some stage this season, it feels inevitable that Len will replace Plumlee as the starter and when that happens, he should be owned in 12 team leagues. For now, he's a stash option if your league format allows it.
Markieff and Marcus Morris both set career highs, Markieff for scoring with 30 points and Marcus with his seven assists. Markieff is in the midst of his best season and feels like he can still get better and is heading for a top 50 finish this season.
Kelly Olynyk struggled with fouls, accumulating four in just 13 minutes, thus accounting for his poor night of just four rebounds. He'll bounce back, but hat it did show was that if he was to go down, Tyler Zeller becomes a guy to own in 12 tram leagues with 19 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and one block in 27 minutes. Keep that in the back of your mind.
The entire starting five of the Orlando Magic, Tobias Harris, Evan Fournier, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, and Channing Frye should be owned in pretty much all leagues and started in most formats, given how well they are playing. Elfrid Payton was reduced to just six minutes with Fournier and Oladipo starting and scored just two points with one assist and he can be dropped in most 10 and 12 team leagues at this stage.
Brandon Jennings is looking a lot more comfortable under Stan Van Gundy, scoring 18 points (6-13 FG, 5-7 3Pt, 1-2 FT), with three rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Jennings is the poster child as to why it's not a good idea to panic in the first week of the season and conversely, why that time is the best time to pounce on other owner's itchy trigger fingers.
Andre Drummond was still bothered by fouls (four in 28 minutes), but was at least valuable with 12 points (5-12 FG, 2-4 FT), 10 rebounds and three blocks. You can do nothing but sit tight or buy low, if your team is suited to his particular talents.
In 26 minutes, Caron Butler drained 20 points with six rebounds, but he is so inconsistent, that he can only be owned in deep formats, despite big nights like this.
With no Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng, Mario Chalmers stepped up, scoring 22 points (5-12 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 11-13 FT) with three rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 34 minutes. Although Wade's return will hurt his value, he is the point guard to own over Shabazz Napier and Norris COle no matter who is the starter going forward.
Danny Granger made his first start in a Heat uniform, playing 20 minutes for four points. If this was 2009, Danny Granger returning to action would mean your team had its best player back. In 2014, you should barely register a sigh and a shrug.
Brook Lopez played just 22 minutes for five points, one rebound, two assists, one steal, and one block and wasn't really bothered by foul trouble. Like with Faried, all you can do is hold if you happened to draft Lopez as we know he is better than this.
James Harden had his worst scoring output as a member of the Rockets, registering just six points (1-8 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 4-5 FT) with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. As Yazz once sang, the only way is up.
With news that Terrence Jones may be out another month with the nerve bruise in his leg, we have to look at bit closer at Kostas Papanikolaou and Donatas Motiejunas. Motiejunas has been starting, but Papanikolaou's multi-categorical diversity makes him more appealing, particularly the 3.0 assists he is averaging as a power forward in 23 minutes. He had five against the Grizzlies to go with eight points, four rebounds, and two blocks, but is likely only valuable in 14 team leagues.
Kosta Koufos did his best Anthony Davis impersonation, scoring 10 points (5-6 FG) with six rebounds, one assist, three steals, and three blocks in 17 minutes. This was an easy win, so not much should be read into here, except that Koufos can have value if Marc Gasol goes down.
Tony Wroten copped another taste of life with Michael Carter-Williams, struggling to finish with eight points (4-14 FG, 0-3 3Pt), one rebound, three assists, and one steal in 30 minutes. Give him another week, but if this continues, he's a drop in 10 and 12 team leagues, especially when MCW starts.
The Spurs won by 25 points with Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each playing less than 20 minutes. In other words, don't believe in the 18 points Matt Bonner scored.
With no Omer Asik due to back stiffness, Alexis Ajinca drew the start and was productive in limited minutes. He scored six points (3-5 FG) with seven rebounds and one block in 16 minutes, which isn't 12 team relevant, but in a deep league, hes a guy that can produce when someone goes down.
Chris Kaman continued to challenge Brandan Wright for the per-36 MVP award, posting a double-double in 21 minutes, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. At this point, despite the limited minutes, Kaman is the perfect streaming option in all leagues if you need a rebound bump on one day.
I'm developing a theory that ankle sprains are not as short an injury as as we commonly believe. Tobias Harris' season was ruined last season by an ankle as we can see by how he is playing this season, free of the encumbrances of the lower extremely malady. Someone else who is balling at a ridiculous level is Jimmy Butler, who also was bothered by an early season ankle injury last season. Butler scored 22 points (6-17 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 9-10 FT) with six rebounds, eight assists, and two steals in 45 minutes and is perhaps the most surprising member of the fantasy top 20. It gives me pause as to how David West, Ricky Rubio and to a lesser extent, Kyle O'Quinn will fare when they return from their respective ankle sprains.
With no Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson predictably went off and it will be the case all season if one of the frontcourt three misses time. Noah had 11 points (5-8 FG, 1-2 FT) with 16 rebounds, and six assists, while Gibson went for 20 points, five rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks. All guys should be owned in all leagues, obviously.
DeAndre Jordan continues to do what he does best, that is rebounds, block shots and shoot a great field goal percentage. He had 10 points (5-6 FG, 0-2 FT) with 17 rebounds and three blocks in 36 minutes and as that's what you drafted him for, you;d be pleased with what he's giving you.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 31 points
- Markieff Morris, F, PHX, 30 points
- Jeff Green, F, BOS, 28 points
Rebounds
- DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 17 rebounds
- Joakim Noah, C, CHI, 16 rebounds
- Nikola Vucevic, C, ORL, 14 rebounds
Assists
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 12 assists
- Rajon Rondo, G, BOS, 9 assists
- Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 8 assists
- Kyrie Irving, G CLE, 8 assists
- Jameer Nelson, G, DAL, 8 assists
- Evan Fournier, G, ORL, 8 assists
- Tyreke Evans, G, NOP, 8 assists
Steals
- Tobias Harris, F, ORL, 5 steals
- Markieff Morris, F, PHX, 4 steals
- Deron Williams, G, BKN, 4 steals
Blocks
- Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 3 blocks
- DeAndre Jordan, C, LAC, 3 blocks
- Kosta Koufos, C, MEM, 3 blocks
- Danny Green, G, SAS, 3 blocks
- Andre Drummond, C, DET, 3 blocks
- Tristan Thompson, F, CLE, 3 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Brandon Jennings, G, DET, 5-7 3Pt
- Eight players tied with 2 3Pt
Minutes
- Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 45 minutes
- Taj Gibson, F, CHI, 41 minutes
- LeBron James, F, CLE, 41 minutes
- Bojan Bogdanovic, F, BKN, 41 minutes