The one game I expected to be a “rout” last night was instead a classic. What an effort by Kevin Love, who scored 51 points in the double-overtime loss, including seven 3-pointers. J.J. Barea had his first career triple-double for Minnesota (25 PTS, 14 AST, 10 REB) while playing 47 minutes — off the bench! Russell Westbrook (45) and Kevin Durant (40 PTS, 17 REB, 5 AST. 3 STL) were terrific for the Thunder, and although Derek Fisher missed nine shots, he played 36 minutes for his new team.
In Other Action
CLE @ ORL: Wrong again. Instead of being completely overwhelmed by the size disadvantage or his relative inexperience, Tristan Thompson put up a surprise double-double (15 & 11) against Dwight Howard (16 & 13) and although the Magic won the game, my DraftStreet “sure thing” was disappointing. Predictions are hard.
MIL @ CHA: Gerald Henderson did all he could with 29 points, but the Hornets were no match. In the middle of three games in as many nights, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute led the Bucks with 20 off the bench.
NYK @ TOR: While nobody is going to vote for Dwane Casey as Coach of the Year, his Raptors have won twice as many games as many of us thought they would, and ambushed the Knicks last night. DeMar DeRozan had 30 — though he limped off at the very end — and a livelier Andrea Bargnani 21, with Gary Forbes (temporarily the backup PG while Jerryd Bayless is out) adding 19 in 20 minutes.
PHO @ IND: I’d pegged the Suns as homers, but they came up with a huge road win against a pretty good team. Steve Nash (12 PTS, 17 AST) kept feeding Marcin Gortat (23) and Grant Hill (22) in a surprisingly close and entertaining game. Danny Granger had 28 and Roy Hibbert 19 for the Pacers.
NJN @ ATL: Deron Williams (20 PTS, 8 AST) did all he could, but Gerald Wallace went just 3-14 in 42 minutes and the Nets lack finishers. They also couldn’t stop Josh Smith (30 PTS, 12 REB, 4 AST, 2 BLK) who is averaging 23 PPG since being snubbed as an all-star.
MIA @ DET: As expected, LeBron James had a “quiet” game (17 PTS, 10 AST, 6 REB, 4 STL) that most players would envy. Dwyane Wade picked up the slack with 24 PTS as the Heat ran up a big halftime lead and cruised to victory. Nobody expected Ben Gordon to score 45 again; he settled for 10 and turned it over seven times against the smothering Miami D.
BOS @ PHI: Ray Allen was a surprise late scratch, and his replacement Mikael Pietrus suffered a head injury that looked quite scary. The shorthanded Celtics got blown out in the third quarter. Elton Brand led Philly with 20, Spencer Hawes (12 & 10) played well and Lou Williams (19) outscored the whole Boston bench.
DAL @ SAS: No Tony Parker, no problem. Manu Ginobili started at PG, Matt Bonner hit 4-5 from deep and the Spurs won by 17 in what looked like a tossup on paper. It was a tough shooting night for Dirk Nowitzki, who missed 16 of 21 attempts.
POR @ LAL: Ramon Sessions double-doubled in his first Laker start (20 PTS, 11 AST) and Andrew Bynum had 28 points as Kobe Bryant (18) was relatively quiet. J.J. Hickson made his Blazers debut with 14 in 22 bench minutes and may start seeing even more floor time.
DEN @ UTA: The Nuggets are still getting used to newcomers JaVale McGee (11 PTS off the bench) and Wilson Chandler (13 as the starting SF) while the Jazz, now winners of six straight, are playing as a team. Al Jefferson (23) led the balanced attack.
Saturday Night’s Alright
MEM @ LAC: The “night” begins at 3:00 Eastern, so don’t wait too long to set daily lineups. Neither team is going great; the Grizzlies have yet to see the best of Zach Randolph and the Clippers lost three road games in 72 hours this week amid rumors of a coaching change.
ATL @ WAS: Nene was very good in his Wizards debut, then quiet the next night. He should have an easy time of it with Zaza Pachulia hurt, but the Hawks have an edge in too many other positions. Trevor Booker has really cooled off; he’s playing despite a painful heel.
CHA @ NJN: Who cares about this game? Fantasy owners, of course. As poorly as the Bobcats played at home last night, this is an opportunity for some Nets to stuff the box score.
DET @ NYK: Nobody thought the Knicks would go undefeated for Mike Woodson, but few expected last night’s lethargic effort in Toronto. Will they bounce back 24 hours later? I’ll say yes, if only because the Pistons are just as tired and not as talented.
SAS @ NOH: As soon as Jason Smith regained his starting job, he picked up a 2-game suspension. Chris Kaman and Jarrett Jack will try to keep the Hornets close, but even with their injuries, the Spurs are deep and someone always seems to step up. Boris Diaw scored only two points for his new team last night, but was +20 in 16 minutes while guarding Dirk.
TOR @ CHI: The Bulls turned it on in the fourth to beat the Raptors on Wednesday and will be even harder to handle at home. C.J. Watson continues to run the offense as the return of Derrick Rose remains indefinite.
DAL @ HOU: Despite the extended absence of Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin, the Rockets are playing well. The Mavs simply don’t match up in the middle without Brendan Haywood, so I’m bullish on the Houston bigs tonight.
IND @ MIL: Both of these teams are playing for the third straight night. It may not be pretty, but the slight edge goes to the Bucks at home, off that fairly easy win in Charlotte.
SAC @ GSW: The Warriors surprised the Kings in Sacramento last week, but have lost five of six since then. I like Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton tonight; red-hot Jason Thompson tweaked an ankle and may not be 100% for this one.
The Spin is here every morning before 8:00 Eastern except for Sundays, when we post by noon. I try to keep Twitter followers updated with breaking news in between.
Out In DraftStreet
| Sure Things | Over $14,000 |
| D. Lee | $15,308 |
| Jo. Smith | $18,802 |
| D. Williams | $14,352 |
| J. Noah | $14,166 |
| Bargains | Under $9,000 |
| C. Lee | $8,538 |
| C. Watson | $8,445 |
| G. Neal | $7,298 |
| G. Green | $7,076 |
| Hunches | $9,000 to $14,000 |
| C. Boozer | $13,605 |
| G. Dragic | $12,901 |
| L. Scola | $12,062 |
| D. Green | $9,617 |
One of these weeks, I hope to win the Freeroll. There were 569 teams entered last night, and I finished a very respectable 22nd. Ironically, it was the one “cinch” who tripped me up. I was expecting Dwight Howard to have 20 and 20, at least. He was merely OK. Congratulations to “dgalin89,” whose inspired pick of J.J. Barea for just $6,889 paid off with the $150 first prize.
The rest of my evening went no better. So far in Week 3, I’m down $70 from the original $100 bankroll and have yet to win even a consolation prize. Nobody said this would be easy. Tonight, I’m in the $5 Salary Cap league with a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000 and a $2 GPP for $600.
The plan is to avoid the highest- and lowest-priced players this evening and try to get good bang for the buck from eight guys in the medium price range. I could have listed several other “Hunches” in the chart today.
Draft Street is free to join and it’s easy to get started. They offer free games that are just as much fun, and as challenging, as the cash leagues. see you there!