Fantasy Spin: Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Eve saw one of the busiest days of the NBA season, with all but four teams in action. The Spurs suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of the Thunder in Oklahoma, with Kevin Durant/OKC and Serge Ibaka/OKC doing the heavy lifting. The Phoenix Suns avenged a slim defeat earlier this season in Portland by ending the Trail Blazers’ winning streak in style. Goran Dragic/PHO and Channing Frye/PHO were unstoppable. The Bulls were led by Luol Deng/CHI and Taj Gibson/CHI and surprised the Pistons in Detroit. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.

Top Fantasy Performers

1) Nikola Vucevic/ORL. He took advantage of the soft Sixers interior. 10 of 13 FGA, 1 of 1 FTA, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 TO, 21 points.
2) LeBron James/MIA. You knew he would play well in front of his former fans, the only concern was how many minutes he’d get. 9 of 19 FGA, 9 of 11 FTA, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 1 TO, 28 points.
3) Goran Dragic/PHO. Phenomenal two-way performance. I regard him as a top-five point guard. 10 of 18 FGA, 7 of 8 FTA, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 block, 4 TO, 31 points.
4) Luol Deng/CHI. When he plays like this, which isn’t often, the Bulls are to be feared. 11 of 17 FGA, 4 of 4 FTA, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 0 TO, 27 points.
5) Channing Frye/PHO. 10 of 12 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 0 TO, 25 points.

Honorable Mention: Serge Ibaka/OKC, Marcin Gortat/WAS, Andrea Bargnani/NYK, Stephen Curry/GSW.

Top Sleepers

1) Mizra Teletovic/BKN. Led a Nets comeback against the Lakers that fell short. 4 of 8 FGA, 5 of 6 FTA, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 TO, 17 points.
2) Aaron Brooks/HOU. Goy extra minutes due to Lin/HOU getting injured. 7 of 12 FGA, 3 of 3 FTA, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 TO, 21 points.
3) Taj Gibson/CHI. 11 of 13 FGA, 1 of 2 FTA, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO, 23 points.
4) Francisco Garcia/HOU. Lots of bench minutes in an easy win over the Hawks. 9 of 14 FGA, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO, 21 points.
5) Michael Beasley/MIA. He was on my radar, but I wasn’t expecting over 25 minutes. 5 of 10 FGA, 7 of 7 FTA, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 TO, 17 points.

Biggest Busts

1) Jeremy Lin/HOU. Left early with a bruised right knee. 0 of 1 FGA, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 0 TO, 0 points.
2) Damian Lillard/POR. Badly outplayed by Dragic/PHO. 5 of 12 FGA, 3 of 3 FTA, 1 assist, 3 TO, 16 points.
3) Greg Monroe/DET. 2 of 5 FGA, 1 of 2 FTA, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 TO, 5 points.
4) Josh McRoberts/CHA. It’s never easy for any interior player against the Pacers. 2 of 4 FGA, 0 of 4 FTA, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 TO, 4 points.
5) Jeff Teague/ATL. Has too many bad games to be among the elite point guards. 0 of 5 FGA, 4 of 4 FTA, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 TO, 4 points.

I had three entries in the massive $5/2,200 entry GPP but the best I could do was 397th out of the 2040 registered teams. My team scored 224.50 DraftStreet points, about 11.00 points shy of making the money. Seven of my eight players did well, including Kosta Koufos/MEM (27.25 points), the second “worst” on my team. I was done in by my cheap guy, Gerald Wallace/BOS, who I chose based on his success in his previous game. Victor Oladipo/ORL would have had a monster game if not for his 8 turnovers. The winner of the $1,600 first prize was “goaliedave” with an amazing 296.00 DraftStreet points. That’s what happens when you bullseye seven of your eight picks.

I entered one other league, the $2/1,100 max entry GPP. I hit with Goran Dragic/PHO and Nikola Vucevic/ORL and they carried me to 46th place out of 1016 entrants, good for $10.

NBA contests at DraftStreet

There are no NBA contests starting today at DraftStreet, as the NBA takes a well-deserved day off. I’ll remind you that tomorrow we have our weekly freeroll, and you can register by clicking any DraftStreet text link, registering and submitting your team. There are plenty of vouchers to be won.