Much like the Golden State Warriors, I'm about to embark on a 23-0 run to close out today's Box Score Breakdown. Now, I don't know how that translates into the world of writing, but I had to find a way to mention that the Warriors are absolutely awesome, offensively and defensively and I hope that one done, I can show that sort of dominance at any stage of my life. Maybe I should just settle for being a D.J. Augustin level replacement writer, which is, mind you, very good.
HEY MR. D.J.
I'm sure for many of you, D.J. Augustin was a no-brainer add as soon as Brandon Jennings went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. But, by looking at his 62 percent ownership on Yahoo, that isn't the case for everybody. The fact that Augustin is still available in 38 percent of leagues is flat out wrong. The former lottery pick dropped 25 points (8-14 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 7-7 FT) while adding four rebounds, 13 assists, and one steal in 35 minutes, his second consecutive 20 point and 10 assist night. In his five games as a starter, Augustin has scored at least 19 points in four of the five games, with the one outlier being the abomination against the Sixers. He's also shot the ball at over 50 percent in those four games and is an elite fantasy option at the moment. If, for some reason, you haven't grabbed him yet, please avail yourself of this opportunity and add him immediately.
M.I.A.
These guys all sat out Tuesday's action, for one reason or another.
- Heat
- Shawne Williams (hip)
- Dwyane Wade (hamstring)
- Celtics
- Kelly Olynyk (ankle)
- Knicks
- Amar'e Stoudemire (knee)
- Cole Aldrich (shin)
- Jazz
- Rodney Hood (foot)
- Trail Blazers
- Thomas Robinson (DNP-CD)
FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT
There is almost literally no stopping DeMarcus Cousins. Even in a blowout against the powerhouse Warriors, Cousins was a fantasy animal, scoring 26 points with 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and four blocks and has no solidified himself as a top five fantasy talent for the remainder of the season. Given he is so young, there appears to be no way he falls out of the first-round in any fantasy draft for the next five years and is still only scratching the surface of his potential. Over his last six games, Cousins is averaging a ridiculous 3.0 steals as a center. Let that sink in for a minute.
ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS
Kenneth Faried returned from his illness, all to give us just five rebounds and zero points. Ugh. He played just 19 minutes, so maybe he was still feeling the effects of the malady that struck him down, but it was definitely not a triumphant return. Expect more moving forward. Danilo Gallinari was fantastic for the second straight game, playing 26 minutes off the bench and scoring 22 points. He took advantage of Faried's struggles, but remember, that before this latest knee set back, Gallinari was a valuable standard league player. He's a flier for 12 team leagues, but don't expect him to retain this value for long.
Jusuf Nurkic played just 13 minutes, but racked up four fouls in that time. It's his first game under 20 minutes in his last five, but he yet to top 30 minutes this season. The upside and per-minute production is still enormous, but with foul trouble and Brian Shaw in the mix, he may not realise his potential this season.
Michael Carter-Williams recovered from his ankle and shin issues to take his place in the starting lineup, and almost triple-doubled with 15 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists while Hollis Thompson played 31 minutes off the bench. He's now scored in double-digits in three straight games, averaging 3.3 three-pointers and 1.3 steals. He is fully recovered from his lengthy illness and is now limiting K.J. McDaniels' minutes, who just played 18 minutes today.
Shabazz Napier got another start, but played just 15 minutes and if you added him in standard leagues with Dwyane Wade going down, you can probably afford to drop him in most formats. Luol Deng returned to the lineup, played 30 minutes, but was underwhelming with 10 points and five rebounds.
Jared Sullinger made his triumphant return to the starting lineup after a one game benching, scoring 22 points with nine rebounds and six assists, sending Tyler Zeller back to the bench, playing only 11 minutes. The other interesting move the Celtics made was replacing Jae Crowder in the starting lineup with Marcus Smart, moving Evan Turner to small forward. For the first time this season, the Celtics run out a starting five that made sense (excluding Brandon Bass starting over an injured Kelly Olynyk). Smart had 13 points with three assists and two steals and now must be owned in nearly all formats. Turner still played 33 minutes, adding five assists and eight rebounds, but his value is lower than Smart's moving forward.
Rudy Gobert started the second half over Enes Kanter, but both guys were productive. Gobert had seven points, 15 rebounds, one steal and two blocks in 33 minutes, while Kanter had 16 points and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes. Both guys, regardless of starter designation, should be owned in all leagues. Dante Exum started again, played 20 minutes and went scoreless. I can't get behind owning him in standard leagues, especially when Trey Burke is available in so many and is constantly getting over 30 minutes off the bench. Burke dropped another 18 points with six assists and should be owned in most leagues.
Robin Lopez returned from his broken hand, started and played a conservative 25 minutes, scoring 11 points with six rebounds and two blocks. He should be looked at in all roto leagues, and in most head-to-head leagues, depending on needs. With Lopez's return, Thomas Robinson was a DNP-CD.
With the Warriors pounding the Kings, minutes were limited on the league leaders as they literally didn't need their big names out there for long. Don't think of this as a trend at all, but there will always be a bit of risk in these blowout scenarios.
Derrick Williams did not get into the game at all Saturday, but started Tuesday. Such is life with Ty Corbin as the coach. Neither Williams or Jason Thompson has any fantasy value in leagues up to 14 teams.
BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES
Ty Lawson took just four shots, his lowest total for the season and it's now back-to-back games with less than 10 shots. He still added 14 assists and six rebounds, but is averaging just 7.3 points in his last four games. If you own Lawson, you have no choice but to hold through this slum, but it's clear, from some of Lawson's own comments, that things are far from peachy in Denver.
Robert Covington kept on going, adding 17 points with eight rebounds, two steals and one block to his already impressive resume, and I implore you, if he isn't owned, he must be.
Once again, Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside were the only Miami players to shoot the ball over 10 times, with Bosh ending with 34 points. Whiteside double-doubled with five blocks and these two guys are basically carrying the Heat at the moment, one of the oddest sentences I've ever written. Tyler Johnson got another 20 minutes, but scored just five points and couldn't capitalise on his nice game against the Celtics. He remains a watch list guy, except in very deep leagues.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18 points and is now averaging 16.7 points with 2.3 three-pointers in his last three games. If I had to choose someone from the Pistons shooting guard cluster, I'm going KCP over Jodie Meeks, seven days a week. Be aware, he is a horrible percentage drain though.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points with six rebounds in 33 minutes, but it was a very average performance. A reminder, do not accept a deal for Melo giving up any value and if you own him, you need to rid yourself of the baggage, no matter how well he may appear to be playing. Tim Hardaway scored an impressive looking 14 points, but he is literally incapable of helping in any other category bar three-pointers, making his usefulness as a fantasy option very limited.
Nicolas Batum showed us what we hope he can provide for the season's second half, scoring 10 points with eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and two blocks, but we've seen that all too often. In saying it, he should not be on any waiver-wire, despite his horrid shooting.
Ben McLemore had his best night in a while, scoring 18 points with four triples and three steals, but his inconsistency is a bugbear that will keep him off most fantasy rosters. He is worth watching though, because the playing time is definitely there for the second year guard.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Points
- Chris Bosh, F, MIA, 34 points
- Gordon Hayward, F, UTA, 27 points
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 26 points
- Avery Bradley, G, BOS, 26 points
Rebounds
- Rudy Gobert, C, UTA, 15 rebounds
- Andre Drummond, C, DET, 14 rebounds
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 11 rebounds
- LaMarcus Aldridge, F, POR, 11 rebounds
Assists
- Ty Lawson, G, DEN, 14 assists
- D.J. Augustin, G, DET, 13 assists
- Michael Carter-Williams, G, PHI, 12 assists
Steals
- Draymond Green, F, GSW, 4 steals
- Jameer Nelson, G, DEN, 4 steals
- Seven players tied with 3 steals
Blocks
- Hassan Whiteside, C, MIA, 5 blocks
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 4 blocks
- Ten players tied with 2 blocks
Three-Pointers
- Wilson Chandler, F, DEN, 5-10 3Pt
- Hollis Thompson, G, PHI, 4-6 3Pt
- Ben McLemore, G, SAC, 4-5 3Pt
Minutes
- DeMarcus Cousins, C, SAC, 42 minutes
- Ben McLemore, G, SAC, 40 minutes
- Damian Lillard, G, POR, 37 minutes
- LaMarcus Aldridge, F, POR, 37 minutes
- Darren Collison, G, SAC, 37 minutes
- Rudy Gay, F, SAC, 37 minutes
- Marcus Smart, G, BOS, 37 minutes