LeBron was back, but he was overshadowed by none other than Mo Williams, who set the Timberwolves' franchise scoring record with 52 points. The man he knocked off the number one perch was none other than renowned scorer Corey Brewer. The NBA is a strange league.
JUNIOR SMYTHE
No, I haven't lost my mind. I am aware that isn't the correct way to pronounce J.R. Smith's name, but I'll never be able to think about in my head any other way after hearing YouTube user runforthecube pronounce players names.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxGizJGd718
Regardless of pronunciation, Smith was electric for the Cavs, scoring 29 points (10-19 FG, 8-14 3Pt, 1-1 FT) with one rebound, two assists, and four steals in 39 minutes in yet another start. Smith has now started the last three games for Cleveland and averaged 37 minutes per contest and is a real chance to stick as the starter, at least until Iman Shumpert returns. Only owned in 31 percent of ESPN leagues, Smith is hot and should be owned if you are desperate for scoring on your team.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Tuesday's action, for one reason or another.
- Timberwolves
- Nikola Pekovic (ankle)
- Ricky Rubio (ankle)
- Kevin Martin (wrist)
- Shabazz Muhammad (abdominal)
- Pacers
- George Hill (groin)
- Hawks
- Jeff Teague (rest)
- DeMarre Carroll (rest)
- Paul Millsap (rest)
- Pero Antic (DNP-CD)
- Spurs
- Kawhi Leonard (hand)
- Marco Belinelli (groin)
- Cavaliers
- Iman Shumpert (shoulder)
- Warriors
- Shaun Livingston (DNP-CD)
- Jazz
- Trevor Booker (illness)
- Rodney Hood (foot)
- Mavericks
- Raymond Felton (DNP-CD)
- Kings
- Ramon Sessions (back)
- Omri Casspi (knee)
- Heat
- Udonis Haslem (DNP-CD)
- Lakers
- Robert Sacre (DNP-CD)
- Wayne Ellington (DNP-CD)
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
Mo Williams. 52 points. I'm going to be saying it in my sleep. Williams was on fire, hitting 19-of-33 shots, going 6-for-11 from deep and 8-for-9 from the line. He also added four rebounds and seven assists and while he will never do this again, until Ricky Rubio returns, Williams has value in most leagues assuming you aren't dropping a ton of value to get him. He's averaging 6.6 assists per game on the season and not many teams can't deal with those sort of numbers.
ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS
C.J. Miles replaced Rodney Stuckey in the Pacers' starting lineup and was effective again, scoring 22 points with two more three-pointers. He is averaging 3.4 three-pointers in his last eight games, averaging 16.8 points in that time frame, which is useful enough for pretty much every league if you can stomach his poor field goal shooting. With such a paucity of scoring on this team, Miles should continue to get significant run on the wings. With Roy Hibbert was effective in just 21 minutes before getting ejected and with a suspension perhaps on the horizon, Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi may come into play.
With the Hawks resting Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll, the Hawks rotation was a bit of a mess and there's nothing to read into for fantasy value going forward. You just know that when Teague sits, in particular, you want Dennis Schröder in lineups as a streaming option.
Tony Wroten sprained his knee and could be sitting on the pine for a few games at least and that means we'll see more production for Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels, as we saw in this game. MCW hit over 60 percent of his shots for 20 points and added nine rebounds, four assists and one steal in one of his best performances in recent times. If you own MCW and are sick of what he's been doing, brace yourself in for a huge uptick and a potential sell-high moment with Wroten out.
Austin Daye started again, but played just seven minutes. He can safely be ignored. Tony Parker played 31 minutes, the most since his return from the hamstring injury, but was largely ineffective, scoring 14 points with two assists. In shallow leagues (eight team), Tony Parker is no longer a must-own.
Kevin Seraphin put his hand up into the big man rotation, getting 20 minutes to complement Kris Humphries, Nene, and Marcin Gortat. Seraphin had 17 points, eight rebounds and one block in that time and while he's not someone to pounce on yet, he's worth looking at with Nene's chequered injury history.
Timofey Mozgov played only 16 minutes in his second start for the Cavaliers, but he did accumulate a few early fouls, allowing Tristan Thompson to get 32 minutes, scoring 10 points. I still think Mozgov's value will be capped by Thompson's presence a little, but in 12 team leagues, he's a must-own and Thompson isn't.
Alex Len's minutes rose again, playing a career-high 37 minutes. Oddly, since Brandan Wright arrived via a trade, Len is playing more minutes than before, further solidifying his value in all leagues. Len had his second consecutive double-double and has now blocked 15 shots in his last five games.
The Warriors got an easy victory over the Jazz and Draymond Green and David Lee essentially split the minutes at the four, with both guys productive. The two steals and two blocks from Lee are a little like fool's gold, but he can still be productive in limited minutes. He's not a must own, but will fit certain teams.
Enes Kanter returned to the starting lineup, pushing Rudy Gobert to the bench, but all three Utah big men (including Derrick Favors) double-doubled in at least 30 minutes each. Now, before we get too excited, Trevor Booker sat out with an illness, but for now, all three of Kanter, Gobert and Favors should be owned in all leagues. Gobert had a career high 16 points with 11 rebounds and three more blocks and is just excelling this season, but you all know that.
Rudy Gay lasted just 10 minutes before spraining his knee and is now considered day-to-day, with Derrick Williams getting 36 minutes in his stead, scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds. He's a desperation play if Gay misses time and shouldn't be snapped up in most standard leagues.
We were told Hassan Whiteside would start the second half. That didn't happen, but it didn't matter as Mr. Whiteside scored 25 points with nine rebounds and five blocks in 21 minutes. He's a must-own for now, but a drop off can come at ay time, especially considering how good Chris Andersen looked in 27 minutes, going for 12 and eight with three blocks.
Kobe Bryant returned, shot horribly, handed out seven assists and forced Wayne Ellington from the rotation entirely. The Lakers are a weird team and the fantasy value on that squad is thin on the ground.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
Andrew Wiggins scored another 20 points keeping scoring average over 20 in 2015. A drop off is likely coming when Kevin Martin returns, but not a huge enough one to remove his fantasy value. Gorgui Dieng had three steals and two blocks and continues show his value and I think will remain fantasy valuable even when Nikola Pekovic returns.
C.J. Watson scored 17 points without George Hill in the lineup, but realistically, his value is capped and is a short-term guy only.
Al Horford had his first career triple double, with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, beating up on a weak Sixers team and taking advantage of a Hawks lineup without Millsap and Teague. Kyle Korver had four three-pointers, four rebounds and four assists and continues his solid fantasy value.
Robert Covington shot an abysmal 2-for-13 for just seven points, but if you can deal with his one major weakness, field goal percentage, he's a must own and is available in way too many leagues.
Patty Mills and Cory Joseph played 25 and 24 minutes respectively, with both guys providing productive lines. Realistically, it's hard to roster either guy with the return of Kawhi Leonard and Marco Belinelli on the horizon. Mills scored 12 points, all from deep and that's where all of his value comes from.
John Wall blocked two shots to go with his 25 points and eight assists, his first 20 point scoring performance since Christmas Day. He's being offered around in fantasy trades like crazy from what I'm hearing, and you can still likely buy him low.
LeBron James returned to action with 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists. So, back to normal, really. Let's hope there are no more injuries to LBJ. Kevin Love struggled, with only nine points and nine rebounds. With James back, any sell high window has slammed shut.
Markieff Morris was fire, hitting 15-for-21 for 35 points with seven rebounds and acted like the Suns' best player down the stretch. Jeff Hornacek ran his starters big minutes and it paid off for his fantasy owners, with Eric Bledsoe scoring 12 points with seven rebounds and six assists and Goran Dragic dropping 18 points.
Monta Ellis had a huge 28 points, 10 assist, four steal night as the all the Mavericks' starters filled up the box score. Tyson Chandler grabbed 17 rebounds before rolling his ankle, but he said after the game he'll be okay to play Wednesday. Even Rajon Rondo scored 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, truly an odd day in the NBA.
DeMarcus Cousins got close to the second big man triple double of the day, scoring 32 points with 16 rebounds and nine assists. He also had nine turnovers, but we'll sweep that under the rug for now. Boogie is straight ballin' at the moment. Darren Collison nabbed another three steals and has been a massive surprise this season It doesn't look like it is going to end anytime soon and could put up monstrous lines if Gay misses any time.
With Dwyane Wade playing only 15 minutes due to a hamstring tweak, Mario Chalmers did what he's done all season in Wade's absence - go off. He dropped 19 points with eight assists and two steals, his first double-digit scoring performance since December 23rd. If Wade misses time, which is a distinct possibly, Chalmers gets a ton value and you could get a week's worse of big lines in standard leagues.
Kobe Bryant hit just three of his 19 shots for 12 points. He added seven assists, but with a shut down being talked about already, he is an alarm-ringing sell candidate.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- Mo Williams, G, MIN, 52 points
- Markieff Morris, F, PHX, 35 points
- LeBron James, F, CLE, 33 points
Rebounds
- Tyson Chandler, C, DAL, 17 rebounds
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 16 rebounds
- Tim Duncan, F, SAS, 12 rebounds
Assists
- Steph Curry, G, GSW, 11 assists
- Monta Ellis, G, DAL, 10 assists
- Al Horford, C, ATL, 10 assists
- Shelvin Mack, G, ATL, 10 assists
Steals
- Justin Holiday, G, GSW, 5 steals
- Monta Ellis, G, DAL, 4 steals
- J.R. Smith, G, CLE, 4 steals
- Rajon Rondo, G, DAL, 4 steals
- Thaddeus Young, F, MIN, 4 steals
Blocks
- Hassan Whiteside, C, MIA, 5 blocks
- Rudy Gobert, C, UTA, 3 blocks
- Chris Andersen, C, MIA, 3 blocks
Three-Pointers
- J.R. Smith, G, CLE, 8-14 3Pt
- Mo Williams, G, MIN, 6-11 3Pt
- Steph Curry, G, GSW, 4-9 3Pt
- Kyle Korver, G, ATL, 4-7 3Pt
- Patty Mills, G, SAS, 4-6 3Pt
Minutes
- Darren Collison, G, SAC, 45 minutes
- Mo Williams, G, MIN, 44 minutes
- Tyson Chandler, C, DAL, 44 minutes
- Kyrie Irving, G, CLE, 44 minutes