As expected, Rajon Rondo was on a mission against Jeremy Lin, with a triple double (18 PTS, 20 AST and an amazing 17 REB) and Paul Pierce was superb with 34, as the Celtics needed overtime to beat the Knicks. Lin had 14 & 5, Carmelo Anthony (25) and Amare Stoudemire (16 & 13) were solid and the New York bench outscored Boston’s 45-15, only to fall short. It was a great tipoff to a Sunday of hoops on TV.
Elsewhere
NJN @ CHA: Bismack Biyombo missed another game with a sore shoulder, but I was wrong about Brook Lopez taking advantage, as he left early with an ankle injury and is iffy for Tuesday’s game. With DeSagana Diop starting at C and Byron Mullens coming off the bench, the Bobcats surprisingly led at halftime, but they couldn’t stop Deron Williams, who scored a career-high, new Nets record 57 points — most in the league this year.
MIA @ LAL: Kobe Bryant had 33 points and Metta World Peace a very surprising 17 as the Lakers led almost all the way in the mid-afternoon feature. Dwayne Wade was relatively quiet, perhaps suffering from a headache, while LeBron James had 25 PTS, 13 REB and 7 AST. Udonis Haslem went scoreless in a spot start as Chris Bosh (personal leave) missed another game.
GSW @ TOR: Playing all but two minutes, DeMar DeRozan had 25 points to lead the Raptors’ second-half comeback. Leandro Barbosa stayed hot off the bench with 18. David Lee had 22 & 12 for the shorthanded Warriors, who shot 36%. Ekpe Udoh got the start at C, but had only 7 PTS in 32 minutes.
LAC @ HOU: The Clippers prevailed in overtime, with Chris Paul (28 & 10) leading the way. Kyle Lowry (25 PTS, 8 AST) nearly matched CP3, and the Rockets got a rare inspired effort from Samuel Dalembert (17 PTS, 12 REB, 3 BLK) only to come up short.
CHI @ PHI: Naturally, the two best defensive teams in the NBA scored 187 points, 35 from Derrick Rose. Helping out with 11 PTS and 18 REB was Joakim Noah, as the Bulls won in Philly. The Sixers’ bench is often a difference-maker, but Louis Williams shot 0-7 from the floor.
SAC @ PHO: Steve Nash had 19 points, Marcin Gortat 14 (plus 17 boards) as the Suns held off the Kings. It’s possible that Isaiah Thomas is tired; not used to playing so many minutes in so many games, he went just 3-13 on Sunday.
DEN @ SAS: Nene took one more game off; he and Danilo Gallinari are aiming to return tonight. Ty Lawson was great, with a near triple-double (22 PTS, 11 AST, 9 REB) as the Nuggets won in Texas. For the Spurs, Manu Ginobili player almost 24 minutes but DaJuan Blair left early with a knee bruise.
Monday, Monday
UTA @ CLE: The Jazz have lost six straight road games and the Cavs are on a 5-game slide of their own. Something’s gotta give. I like Kyrie Irving and Antawn Jamison to put up big numbers and am interested to see if Ryan Hollins can take advantage of his new role as a starter.
GSW @ WAS: As long as Stephen Curry sits with a strained tendon in his right foot, it won’t be easy for the Warriors. Meanwhile, Jordan Crawford has been great for the Wiz, and Andray Blatche has returned.
ORL @ TOR: On Saturday, the Magic shot 14-27 from downtown, and they have Dwight Howard in the paint. It’s a very tough matchup for the Raptors, who continue to be scrappy underdogs without Andrea Bargnani.
IND @ CHI: The Pacers have been blowing out easier opponents and getting extra rest for their starters. They’ll need a max effort from everyone tonight, as the Bulls will be trying to avenge a Jan. 25 home loss. Game of the night, not to mention a possible playoff preview. My hunch plays are Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert.
PHI @ MIL: One day after a tough, emotional home loss, the Sixers must regroup on the road. However, the Bucks have lost 9 of their last 11 and will need big nights from Drew Gooden and Ersan Ilyasova to prevail.
LAC @ MIN: Great matchups, with Chris Paul vs. Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love vs. Blake Griffin. This one could be entertaining and high-scoring.
DAL @ OKC: Speaking of playoff previews, Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 in his latest, Kevin Durant is averaging over 30 since the break and this could be a dandy. Lamar Odom returned to the team and played fairly well after a 4-game personal absence. Let’s see if he can put two games together before dusting off the bandwagon.
SAC @ DEN: Both teams played last night in other cities. Check the updates on Twitter near game time to see if Danilo Gallinari and/or Nene will suit up.
NOH @ POR: Things are not good in Portland, where former starters Raymond Felton and Wesley Matthews are coming off the bench. Tonight is an opportunity to regroup, end a 3-game losing streak and get some momentum for the new lineup. The Hornets have been getting great play from Chris Kaman, and Jarrett Jack has regained the starting PG job from Greivis Vasquez.
Positively Draft Street
| Sure Things | Over $14,000 |
| K. Durant | $21,058 |
| K. Love | $18,316 |
| D. Howard | $20,613 |
| C. Paul | $17,804 |
| D. Nowitzki | $16,383 |
| Bargains | Under $9,000 |
| A. Gee | $8,391 |
| J. Redick | $7,295 |
| L. Barbosa | $8,314 |
| G. Hill | $6,196 |
| R. Hollins | $4,824 |
| Hunches | $9,000 to $14,000 |
| Jo. Crawford | $10,814 |
| N. Batum | $12,640 |
| D. Granger | $11,372 |
| K. Irving | $13,707 |
There’s a new “Pick ‘Em” game that’s easy to learn and takes very little time to enter; you select one player from each of eight tiers. I’m in a $2 league with nine other players for a $17 prize pool.
There are 220 teams in my $5 Salary Cap league, vying for $1,000 in prize money. On the right are some of the the players I’m considering. That’s a $7 investment today from my $100 weekly bankroll.
Teams you pick during the day can be edited until the 7:00 deadline. If there’s news of an injury, you definitely don’t want to play a man short. I’ll try to make note of those late changes on Twitter, alerting my dozens of followers.
“Sure Things” is a tongue-in-cheek heading, as even these expensive stars can have off nights. “Bargains” are critical to success in this game. There are usually plenty of choices in the medium price range, so my “Hunches” are exactly that: players who have good matchups and might perform well.
It’s free to sign up at Draft Street and there are free versions of the various league types. They are all games of skill, though it never hurts to have a little luck.