It’s another Freeroll Friday for Sheridan Hoops readers. We’ll have full details later this morning in the DraftStreet Diary, but most of you already know the drill — it’s free to enter a team, you pick eight players for tonight’s NBA games and the best team wins $100 cash. There’s another $200 in consolation prizes for second ($60) through 15th ($5) and there are no strings attached. See you there!
January 10 Games
NYK @ IND: Man, that was ugly. Neither team shot 40% and the Knicks sorely missed Carmelo Anthony (1-game suspension) as Chris Copeland (8 PTS, 6 REB) couldn’t solve the Pacers’ D and a rusty Amare Stoudemire (9 PTS, 8 REB) is still on a minutes limit. Paul George again looked like an all-star, with 24 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST and 6 STL, and the unsung hero was Ian Mahinmi (13 PTS, 6 REB), who filled in capably for Roy Hibbert, limited to 19 minutes by back spasms. J.R. Smith scored a game-high 25, though he missed 19 shots, and Tyson Chandler (12 PTS, 15 REB, 3 BLK) was outstanding in defeat.
DAL @ SAC: The Mavs dug deep, with a 33-point fourth quarter, and won it in overtime. They saw the good DeMarcus Cousins (29 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST) and the bad — his sixth foul was an elbow to the head of Vince Carter that was ruled a flagrant 2, suggesting yet another suspension is imminent. Carter (23 PTS, 5 REB) stayed in the game and drained his free throws to clinch it. O.J. Mayo (24 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST) was outstanding and Shawn Marion (19 PTS, 10 REB) had his best game since before Christmas. Playing 40 minutes in a back-to-back is a great sign that Dirk Nowitkzi (17 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST) is healthy. For the Kings, Tyreke Evans (20 PTS, 7 REB, 2 STL, 3 BLK) played 32 minutes off the bench and Isaiah Thomas (18 PTS, 4 AST) regained the upper hand in the ongoing PG timeshare with Aaron Brooks (4 PTS in 17 minutes.)