The Lakers held off the Hawks in the most exciting finish of the night. Reserve Jordan Hill/LAL secured key offensive rebounds down the stretch and Pau Gasol/LAL made the winning free throws and blocked Kyle Korver’s/ATL attempt to tie the game in the closing seconds. Gasol kept pace (16 points, 13 rebounds) with Al Horford/ATL (12 points 16 rebounds). Promoted to the starting lineup, Xavier Henry/LAL led the Lakers with 18 points but had little other fantasy production. Korver made all six of his three-point attempts for 22 points in total.
Westbrook Activated out of the Blue
A surprise appearance by Russell Westbrook/OKC helped the Thunder win in comeback fashion over the Suns. The Suns were hampered by Goran Dragic’s/PHO early exit due to an ankle injury, and a poor performance from Miles Plumlee/PHO. Westbrook’s return meant that Reggie Jackson/OKC returned to the sixth man role, but he nevertheless got plenty and minutes. Normal service from Kevin Durant/OKC was resumed.
John Wall’s/WAS back spasms weren’t an issue, but his Wizards were not able to hang with the Miami Heat. Once again, LeBron James/MIA disappointed from a fantasy perspective, as the Heat’s big three were relatively equal contributors in the win.
The Knicks had no answer for Kevin Love/MIN. The Timberwolves’ versatile big man has a tremendous first half (34 points, 15 boards and 5 assists total) as his team built a big halftime lead. Ricky Rubio/MIN had another solid effort, dishing out 10 helpers. Carmelo Anthony/NYK rallied his team, amassing 22 points and 17 rebounds, but also turned the ball over 5 times. The fundamentally sound Wolves had too much fire power and secured a well-earned road victory. Love (34 points, 15 boards, 5 assists) has been among the very best fantasy performance in the young season.I’ll be watching for signs of fatigue as he plays his first second of back-to-back games, after racking up 40 minutes in New York.
Brook Lopez/BKN (21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks) was one of the few bright spots for the Nets as the hometown Magic dominated the game. Victor Oladipu/ORL came off the bench and took over the game in the third quarter (finishing with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), while Arron Afflalo/ORL (16 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Nikola Vucevic/ORL (19 points, 12 boards) had solid games.
The Celtics couldn’t handle the Pistons’ big men in the first half: Andre Drummond/DET (15 points, 12 boards) and Greg Monroe/DET (15 points, 10 boards) dominated in the paint to help the Pistons build a 10-point lead at halftime. Detroit was boosted by the return of Brandon Jennings/DET, who played 31 minutes off the bench and tallied 14 points, 4 assists, 4 assists. Surprise rookie Vitor Faverani/BOS started well, but faded quickly. He saw little action in the second half (just over 18 minutes in total), as Kelly Olynyk/BOS (26 minutes, 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) took over and helped Boston rally in the third quarter. The comeback sputtered in the fourth quarter and Detroit closed out a well-earned victory.
In yesterday’s Fantasy Spin, as is my custom, I provided a recommended lineup for DraftStreet leagues. I should make a concerted effort to reduce my tinkering, as that lineup turned out to be better than any the adjusted one I made. And yes, I wrote the same thing yesterday (when will I learn).
I dug up Arron Afflalo/ORL (32.00 Draftstreet points) and Brook Lopez/BKN (36.00) to get off to a good start. Reggie Jackson/OKC (21.00) produced as expected despite relegation to sixth man status, and Brandon Bass/BOS (21.50) more than justified his low salary. From there it gets a bit iffy. I thought Carmelo Anthony/NYK (35.75) would dominate but he couldn’t get things going in the first half. Instead of investing in Kevin Love/MIN or Kevin Durant/OK, I went with LeBron James/MIA(29.25) as my anchor. In retrospect, LeBron wasn’t a good choice, given that the Heat had shown a balanced attack so far and there was a high risk of blowout conditions. The Lakers’ posse of guards slowed down Jeff Teague/ATL (24.00), while Trevor Ariza/WAS let down a lot of DraftStreet players, producing only 16.75 points.
Still, that team would have accumulated 226.25 points, good enough for 63rd in the 1100-entry (the median was only 192.25). The winning team scored 261.00, despite having Miles Plumlee/PHO (4.25 points) weigh down their team.
Monday NBA contests at DraftStreet
With the closing of NFL leagues until Thursday, I expect an influx of daily fantasy players into NBA leagues at DraftStreet today. It’s a great time to play the NBA leagues, as DraftStreet’s amazing voucher promotion continues. All you have to do is enter NBA leagues through November 14th and work your way towards vouchers of increasing value, the top one allowing entry to a $109 contest.
There are multi-entry GPPs at every price level, from the $2/300-entry/$600 GPP to the $109/$4,000 GPP. There are six Double-Up GPPs on available, including the $5/110-entry that I have my eye on. There are even Pick’em GPP, such as the $2/165 multi-entry. Don’t forget about the smaller 10-entry and 20-entry non-guarantee contests: most of them eventually fill up and you have a better shot at finishing first.
Three Undefeated Teams in Action
A look at tonight’s games from a daily fantasy perspective. Dollar figures are DraftStreet prices. An asterisk (*) indicates a team is playing the their second game on back-to-back nights.
Golden State Warriors at Philadelphia 76ers (7pm EST)- Over/Under Total=211.5; Warriors -7
Slowly but surely, the betting line is gaining respect for the Sixers. Take note: the Warriors are only the third most talented team the Sixers have played this year so far. G Michael Carter-Williams/$14,462/PHI will have another tough test against elite point guard G Stephen Curry/$18,075/GSW. The Warriors’ frontcourt will seek to exploit the Sixers’ interior weakness just as the Bulls did in the first half of their game. This figures to be a high scoring affair, so maxing out on Golden State is a sensible idea. Expect a big game from versatile F David Lee/$15,518/GSW. F Draymond Green/$5,675/GSW is the bargain play of the day.
Minnesota Timberwolves* at Cleveland Cavaliers (7pm EST)- Over/Under Total=196.5; Cavs -2
The betting line isn’t giving the undefeated T-Wolves much respect, but is perhaps factoring in the heavy minutes F Kevin Love/$21,123/MIN and G Ricky Rubio/$14,320/MIN bore last night in New York.
Boston Celtics* at Memphis Grizzlies (8pm EST)- Over/Under Total=186.5; Grizzlies -11.5
This figures to be a blow out. That means bargain are there to be had among the reserve squads on both teams. F Mike Miller/$5,962/MEM and C Kosta Koufos/$6,722/MEM are intriguing sleeper picks.
Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Clippers (10:30pm EST)- Over/Under Total=207.5 ; Clippers -5
G Chris Paul/$20,827/LAC has confirmed his place at the top of fantasy point guard heap, and I see him continuing his dominance with a mid-40 DraftStreet point night. F Blake Griffin/$17,145/LAC is a high variance pick.
I am changing gears today and instead of giving you a solid 8-man lineup for Salary Cap leagues, I will focus on the first five tiers of the NBA Pick’em leagues. For those unfamiliar with the format, Pick’em players have no salaries; instead, they are grouped into tiers and your task is to pick one player from each of the eight tiers. It sounds easy, but when you take note of some of the razor-thin edges one player has over another you will realize that it isn’t.
Tier 1: Stephen Curry/GSW, Dwight Howard/HOU, Chris Paul/LAC and Kevin Love/MIN
Curry has the better matchup against the Sixers, but I like Paul a little bit more. Love is due for an off game and Howard will have his hands full with DeAndre Jordan/LAC. Best Bet: Chris Paul.
Tier 2: Kyrie Irving/CLE, David Lee/GSW, James Harden/HOU, Blake Griffin/LAC, Michael Carter-Williams/PHI
Irving has the broadest base of skills, but hasn’t put it all together yet this year. Lee is set to exploit the Sixers’ interior weaknesses, while Carter-Williams will do battle with one of the game very best (Curry). Harden has the most upside. Best Bet: David Lee or James Harden.
Tier 3: Nikola Pekovic/MIN, Spencer Hawes/PHI, Thaddeus Young/PHI, Zach Randolph/MEM, Marc Gasol/MEM
Hawes looked great against the Bulls, but Randolph has the easier matchup (versus Boston). Best Bet: Zach Randolph a nose in front of Hawes.
Tier 4: Jeff Green/BOS, Andre Iguodala/GSW, Klay Thompson/GSW, Ricky Rubio/MIN, Evan Turner/PHI, Mike Conley/MEM
Green has been an afterthought this year. Iguodala is solid but lacks upside. Rubio will be tired and Thompson is too hot and cold. Best Bet: Mike Conley
Tier 5: Vitor Faverani/BOS, Tristan Thompson/CLE, Andrew Bogut/GSW, Jeremy Lin/HOU, Chandler Parsons/HOU, DeAndre Jordan/LAC, Kevin Martin/MIN.
Thompson was unusually quiet and Jordan will have his hands full with Howard. Martin and Parsons are coming off excellent efforts, but I shootout conditions in Philly gives Bogut the edge here. Best Bet: Andrew Bogut.
Tiers 6-8, best bets: Brandon Bass/BOS, Dion Waiters/CLE (spec play), and Omer Asik/HOU.
The Fantasy Spin is here every day, around noon EST. Follow me @robdudek for breaking news and pre-game thoughts relevant to NBA daily fantasy.