CHI @ MIL: You have to hate Scott Skiles if you play fantasy hoops, and you probably don’t like him much if you’re a Bucks fan. Out of nowhere, he benched Samuel Dalembert, dusting off little-used (and utterly useless) Joel Przybilla to start at center. Apparently unaware that Ersan Ilyasova has become a complete stiff, Skiles left him out there for six points in almost 30 minutes. The ultimate insult was to deploy red-hot rookie John Henson for 1:18 — that burned a valuable GP if you started him in Roto leagues; a DNP-CD would have been so much better. It’s as if Skiles extended his middle finger to Henson and his fantasy owners. Right back at ya, coach. Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 19 rebounds as the Bulls snapped a 4-game losing streak. Brandon Jennings had 23 for Milwaukee before spraining his ankle late, making him questionable for Monday night.
UTA @ SAC: For the last week, we’ve been mentioning Tyreke Evans quite a bit. He’s been the clear beneficiary of the PG shuffle. Aaron Brooks (13 PTS in 31:44) has won that job over Isaiah Thomas (scoreless in 7 minutes off a DNP-CD the night before) but it’s Evans who controls the ball. His 27 points were a season high, with 5 REB, 5 AST and 2 STL padding the stat sheet. The Jazz seemed satisfied about winning at home on Friday and let the rematch slip away in the second half. Derrick Favors missed all six of his shots and picked up five fouls in less than 16 minutes, while Gordon Hayward was 1-for-8 from the floor with three TO. Jamaal Tinsley (14 PTS, 7 AST) filled in capably for Mo Williams (ankle) but didn’t get much help.
MIN @ GSW: After missing only nine games and returning way ahead of schedule from his broken hand, Kevin Love had to play three times in four nights . He still managed 15 PTS and 15 REB in a losing cause, and his 3-point shot hasn’t begun to fall, now 3-for-16 for a guy who hit 203 of them (at a 39% clip) in the last two years. The T-Wolves’ starting backcourt was horrible; Luke Ridnour shot 1-for-7 and Malcolm Lee was scoreless. The Warriors got 20 from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (24) would have had a huge game if he’d hit more than one of his eight 3-point attempts. Carl Landry (18 PTS, 9 REB) made a nice contribution off the bench.
LAL @ DAL: It wasn’t my night for predicting game outcomes. I said here yesterday that the Lakers were in big trouble after their loss the night before, and touted Darren Collison for a “decided edge” at PG. Well, DC shot 1-for-10 (2 PTS, 4 TO) and the Mavericks collectively stunk, so it was an absolute rout for the visitors. Antawn Jamison has really come to life since the coaching change; his 29:45, 19 points and 15 rebounds were all season highs. Metta World Peace (19) hit five triples and Dwight Howard (15 PTS, 7 REB, 5 STL, 2 BLK) atoned for two quiet games. Elton Brand (scoreless with five fouls in 17:15) was horrible and Chris Kaman had a night to forget; 2-for-12 shooting and fouling out in just 23:33 off the bench, as Brandan Wright (6 PTS in 13:27) was a surprise starter.
November 25 Games
DET @ NYK: The Knicks are the better team, unbeaten at home. The Pistons are 1-7 on the road. While I like Greg Monroe every single night, and teenage rookie Andre Drummond has oodles of talent, this is a day for Carmelo Anthony to show off for the MSG failthful, and coach Mike Woodson will be preaching a return to the solid defense that his team forgot to bring to Texas in their last two losses.