As a good portion of the world was still easing themselves into the new year, the NBA obliged with a very light slate of only two games, and marquee matchups they weren't. That didn't stop Kenneth Faried from doing what he always...what he sometimes...what he can do when Brian Shaw decides that he deserves the minutes approximating that of someone who destroyed the FIBA World Cup, which has happened approximately four times this season. It was the usual suspects elsewhere, with big night from Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Derrick Williams. Wait, what? Yep, that Derrick Williams. Let's see what else messed with the time-space continuum in another Box Score Breakdown.
MANIMAL UNLEASHED?
Is this it? Is it finally the time that Brian Shaw realises that Kenneth Faried is, in fact, a better player than Darrell Arthur? Surely this latest explosion from the manimal means that there will be no more 'tinkering' with his minutes from the Denver coach and Faried is allowed to go full throttle. Against the Bulls, Faried scored 18 points (7-14 FG, 4-4 FT), grabbed a monstrous 19 rebounds, had three assists, two steals, and three blocks in 36 minutes. Excluding the insipid 21 minute, four points, four rebound effort against the Lakers, Faried has double doubled in four of his last five games and not just mild, 10 points, 10 rebound double-doubles either. He is averaging, in those four games, 20.3 points and 19.3 rebounds in 34 minutes a night. Who would've thought that a guy who is good enough to play for Team USA could have an impact in normal, starter's minutes? Crazy theory I know. But, if someone dropped Faried, and they had every right to considering how he was mismanaged and how he underperformed, you need to add him now. In fact, you probably needed to add him at the start of the week, but some leagues are a little slower off the mark than others.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Thursday's action, for one reason or another.
- Nuggets
- Darrell Arthur (DNP-CD)
- Randy Foye (quad)
- Danilo Gallinari (knee)
- Kings
- Omri Casspi (knee)
- Ramon Sessions (back)
- Timberwolves
- Ricky Rubio (ankle)
- Nikola Pekovic (ankle)
- Kevin Martin (wrist)
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
Jimmy Butler was at it again for the Bulls, posting yet another incredible fantasy night. Reveling in his new role as the Bulls' go-to offensive player, Butler scored 26 points (8-14 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 9-9 FT) with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and one block in 40 minutes and the difference between 2014-15 Jimmy Butler and 2013-14 Jimmy Butler is as stark as stark can be. It can pretty much be summed up by looking at a couple of advanced metrics PER and usage. Butler's PER is 22.1 for this season, whereas last season, he posted a 13.5 PER, which is below league average. That is a stark difference. His usage is up to 22.1, from 16.8 last season and that's with the addition of Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose. Comfortably entrenched as a second-round value fantasy player, Butler owners continue to be amazed and he seems a sure fire second-round fantasy pick in 2015-16.
ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS
Timofey Mozgov fouled out in 25 minutes, allowing rookie Jusuf Nurkic to play 21 minutes, notching his first NBA double-double with three blocks. Mozgov is always going to bothered by fouls given his playing style and Nurkic is definitely staking his claim for more minutes, regardless of Mozgov's status. While he's not someone to add in standard leagues, a situation where Nurkic assumes the starting role this season is not a pipe dream.
With Mike Dunleavy playing just 17 minutes after leaving in the third quarter due to a sprained ankle, Chicago decided to fill in his minutes with a slew of point guards, namely Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks, who played 23 and 27 minutes respectively. With Doug McDermott on the shelf, the Bulls don't really have anyone to play the three and the talk of Nikola Mirotic playing some there didn't eventuate, even with a Dunleavy injury.If Dunleavy misses, expect the Bulls to slide Butler to the three and play more two point guard backcourts.
Derrick Williams started in place of Ryan Hollins next to DeMarcus Cousins and went crazy, well, crazy for Derrick Williams, anyway. The former number two overall selection in the draft, scored an impressive 17 points with three three-pointers, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in 31 minutes. He's had other productive games this season, but inconsistency kills any value he could have. Let's see if he sticks in the starting five. If he does and can produce, and that's a big if, he may have some value. Not for now though.
Jason Thompson reentered the rotation at the expense of Hollins, playing 24 minutes off the bench for eight point and six rebounds. The playing time is actually more than he was getting as a starter, but that doesn't entice me, nor should it entice you.
Zach LaVine played 21 minutes, while Mo Williams got 27 minutes off the bench and with Ricky Rubio back sooner rather than later, there's no real value in either guy at this point.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
Arron Afflalo had a productive night, which hasn't been the norm for him lately, scoring 15 points with four rebounds, one steal, and one block. He's basically a points and three-pointers guy though, so in 10 team leagues, Afflalo isn't a must-own.
Pau Gasol probably turned the blocked shot category in many leagues with this one game, blocking an insane nine shots to go with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Joakim Noah chimed in with three of his own. Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic both played under 20 minutes again, and it's getting to a stage where Gibson's minutes render him a luxury few can afford to own in standard leagues.
Derrick Rose shot horribly again, going 7-for-25 to finish with 17 points, eight assists, two steals, and two blocks. Rose is now shooting 28 percent over his last four games, on 19.5 attempts per game. Goodbye field goal percentage.
It was the same old story for Sacramento, with big games from DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. Gay, in particular, was great, scoring 21 points with six rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block in 33 minutes.
Andrew Wiggins played a team-high 40 minutes, scored 27 points, grabbed nine boards and nabbed four steals and has now scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games. His value is on the rise, but there could be a hand-brake coming, with Kevin Martin set to return soon.
Troy Daniels hit another three triples and now has scored in double-digits in two of his five games as a member of the Timberwolves, hitting seven three-pointers in those two game. Unfortunately, he went scoreless in the other three games and holds deep league only value.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- Andrew Wiggins, F, MIN, 27 points
- Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 26 points
- Wilson Chandler, F, DEN, 22 points
Rebounds
- Kenneth Faried, F, DEN, 19 rebounds
- Joakim Noah, C, CHI, 11 rebounds
- Gorgui Dieng, C, MIN, 10 rebounds
- Jusuf Nurkic, C, DEN, 10 rebounds
Assists
- Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 8 assists
- Derrick Rose, G, CHI, 8 assists
- Mo Williams, G, MIN, 8 assists
Steals
- Andrew Wiggins, F, MIN, 4 steals
- Rudy Gay, F, SAC, 4 steals
- Zach LaVine, G, MIN, 4 steals
Blocks
- Pau Gasol, F, CHI, 9 blocks
- Kenneth Faried, F, DEN, 3 blocks
- Joakim Noah, C, CHI, 3 blocks
- Jusuf Nurkic, C, DEN, 3 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Derrick Williams, F, SAC, 3-6 3Pt
- Troy Daniels, G, MIN, 3-7 3Pt
- Wilson Chandler, F, DEN, 2-5 3Pt
- Aaron Brooks, G, CHI, 2-4 3Pt
- Mo Williams, G, MIN, 2-5 3Pt
- Kirk Hinrich, G, CHI, 2-2 3Pt
- Mike Dunleavy, F, CHI, 2-3 3Pt
Minutes
- Jimmy Butler, G, CHI, 40 minutes
- Andrew Wiggins, F, MIN, 40 minutes
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 40 minutes
- Arron Afflalo, G, DEN, 40 minutes