WAS @ CHI: Well rested, at home and with Richard Hamilton (9 PTS in 14:42) back from a tear in his foot, the Bulls won handily. Luol Deng (11 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST) also returned to the lineup and Marco Belinelli (17 PTS in 33+ minutes) will continue to have value as a scoring sixth man. Washington got 11 PTS, 18 REB and 2 BLK from Emeka Okafor, who has really come to life since Nene (10 PTS, 9 REB in a back-to-back) rejoined the starting lineup. In deep leagues, grab new starting PG Garrett Temple (8 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST) though he won’t get 41 minutes when Jordan Crawford (ankle) returns.
CLE @ BRK: Despite a miraculous effort by C.J. Miles — 33 points including 8-11 from 3-point range — the Cavs fell just short. Brook Lopez (35 PTS, 11 REB) asserted himself against rookie Tyler Zeller (12 PTS, 7 REB) to lead Brooklyn to its second win in a row under (interim?) coach P.J. Carlesimo. Don’t get your hopes up too high, Nets fans. Their next two are in San Antonio and Oklahoma City against real teams.
DEN @ MEM: Someone with time on their hands (not me) should check out how often a parlay of the Grizzlies and the under has paid off. Holding Denver to 72 points does not seem possible. Rudy Gay (19 PTS, 6 REB) has the only fantasy-friendly line on either team, as the shooting woes of Mike Conley (3-for-12) continued and neither Marc Gasol (6 PTS, 9 REB, 2 BLK) nor Zach Randolph (12 PTS, 7 REB) played 30 minutes.
PHO @ MIN: That was nearly a huge upset, as Goran Dragic (16 PTS, 12 AST, 5 REB) played through his assortment of bruises and Luis Scola (33 PTS, 10 REB) had his best game in ages. Nikola Pekovic (28 PTS, 11 REB) and Kevin Love (23 PTS, 18 REB) led the Wolves, who were without Ricky Rubio (back spasms, not the knee). The Russian Connection of Alexey Shved (12 PTS, 10 AST, 4 REB) and Andrei Kirilenko (20 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST) helped Minnesota shoot 50.6% on the night.
MIA @ MIL: We told you yesterday that if any Bucks big man got hot, they would win. Larry Sanders — who I call “Hey Now” in my best Hank Kingsley voice — had 16 PTS, 11 REB and 4 BLK against Chris Bosh (12 PTS, 16 REB) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute added 19 PTS, 7 REB and 2 BLK in what became a rout. Brandon Jennings (25 PTS, 7 AST, 4 STL) and sixth man Mike Dunleavy (18 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST) were also stellar. For Miami, the return of Dwyane Wade (24 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST) from a one-game suspension couldn’t prevent a second road loss in as many nights.
PHI @ POR: A near triple-double by Jrue Holiday (29 PTS, 9 REB, 9 AST) went for naught as the shorthanded Blazers prevailed. Nicolas Batum (22 PTS, 8 AST, 7 REB, 2 BLK) was even better than those numbers; he made Evan Turner (4 PTS in 34:37) disappear, then blanketed Holiday in crunch time. J.J. Hickson (16 PTS, 13 REB) bounced back nicely from a poor game against Dwight Howard, and Damian Lillard scored 20 as Portland made up for the continued absence of Wesley Matthews (hip) with a tenacious team effort.
three things: First is that Indiana needs a new coach, badly. Vogel’s junior high school offense isnt cutting it, and his rotations are incoherent. It feels like a fearful coach looking for answers. Where is miles plumlee by the way?? Beecause they could use a banger inside since Hibbert is up for the Softest Man in the NBA (with fellow finalists jeremy linn and andrreas bargnani)…………..
second: how much better is toronto with bargs gone? and why did everyone on the planet know this except dwayne casey?
Third……Larry Sanders should seriously be in the DPOY discussion. He has been beyond good. But bucks are so much better with Luc Moute back……night and day. This is a team to fear in the weak east.