I was curious to see how the Thunder would react to the news of the loss of Russell Westbrook/OKC for the next few weeks. The Bobcats did their best, but could not stop Kevin Durant/OKC once he found his outside shot. Durant is the best I’ve even seen at making short range shots after driving to the hoop. When his outside jumper is working no defense can stop him. In the nightcap, Stephen Curry/GSW almost had a triple-double in the first half and Golden State rolled to an easy win over the Suns. Kyrie Irving/CLE and the Cavs visit the Boston Celtics for an early afternoon game. The rest of the action starts at 7:00 EST. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
Yesterday in the NBA
Top Performers:
Kevin Durant/OKC. Now that the offense will run through him, he will have even more frequent appearances on this list. 14 of 28 FGA, 4 of 6 FTA, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 TO, 34 points.
DeMarcus Cousins/SAC. Another example of a talented center exploiting the Heat defense.
LeBron James/MIA. Played through an injury but his the Heat fell to the Kings.
Gordon Hayward/UTA.
Stephen Curry/GSW. Would have topped the list if the game had been closer.
Sleepers:
Beno Udrih/NYK. 6 of 11 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, 1 To, 15 points.
Shaun Livingston/BKN.
Jordan Farmar/LAL. In his first game back his shooting was off, but he did much better in his second.
Victor Oladipo/ORL. This is what the Magic had in mind by pushing Oladipo to the second unit.
Chris Kaman/LAL. Played well in place of Pau Gasol/LAL
Biggest Busts:
Eric Bledsoe/PHO. Foul trouble and poor play resulted in a catastrophic game. 3 of 9 FGA, 1 of 1 FTA, 3 TO, 7 points.
Wes Johnson/LAL.
Josh Smith/DET.
Caron Butler/MIL.
Saturday Contests at DraftStreet
I entered the $2/$4,000 GPP twice and neither team did much more than finished a but above average. One of my teams had Kevin Durant/OKC, Stephen Curry/GSW, and Serge Ibaka/OKC, but the other five guys were mediocre. This added up to 207.75 points, about 30 DraftStreet points short of making the money. The winner of the top prize of $800 was “DoubleUp211” who scored 277.75 by hitting on seven of eight picks (the lone dud being Kevin Martin/MIN).
My focus today will be the $5/$5,000 GPP which starts at 7:00 PM EST. Most of the bigger contests start in the evening, ignoring the lone afternoon game. The biggest GPP of the night is the $215/$10,000. If you feel like investing a little for a chance to win a lot, there are two winner-take-all sub-qualifiers to the upcoming $215 DraftStreet Basketball Championships Qualifier, requiring the sum of $2 and/or $5 to enter. Among the early start leagues, the $2/$1,000 GPP still has plenty of room.
Saturday in the NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics (1:00 pm EST); over/under 196; Celtics -4. INJURIES: CLE: none ; BOS: Gerald Wallace (P), Jared Sullinger (Q), Rajon Rondo (OUT) .
Kyrie Irving/CLE remains the go-to guy for Cleveland, though Dion Waiters/CLE returned from injury and shared ball handling duties with Irving and performed well. I question Waiters’ consistency, but when he plays well, the Cavaliers can surprise many teams. Boston has a balanced attack and good athletes, but don’t have consistent big man play despite the best efforts of Jared Sullinger/BOS.
Detroit Pistons* at Washington Wizards* (7:00 pm EST); over/under 202.5; Wizards -3. INJURIES: DET: Rodney Stuckey (D) ; WAS: Kevin Seraphin (D), Bradley Beal (OUT).
Though John Wall//WAS had a great first half, Ricky Rubio/MIN kept pace. When Rubio is on top of his game, the Timberwolves are tough to beat. Wall didn’t get much support from his teammates and Minnesota won easily. The Pistons played even worse, losing badly to the Magic.
Brooklyn Nets* at Indiana Pacers (7:00 pm EST); over/under ;. INJURIES: BKN: Andray Blatche (OUT), Andrei Kirilenko(OUT), Brook Lopez (OUT); IND: none.
The poor Nets will be without Andray Blatche/BKN once again. There is no way the Nets can stay with the Pacers if Indiana shoots reasonably well. The Nets will look to Joe Johnson/BKN to provide needed scoring. The chances of a blowout for Indiana are high.
New York Knicks* at Toronto Raptors* (7:00 pm EST); over/under; . INJURIES: NYK: Carmelo Anthony (OUT), Raymond Felton (OUT), Pablo Prigioni (OUT); TOR: .
A rematch across the border. The Knicks looked good until the fourth quarter when the Raptors took over the game. Andrea Bargnani/NYM has a very good game as a “power forward” and he’ll have to repeat that if the Knicks are to stay in this game. The Knicks, as currently constructed, won’t win many games without Carmelo Anthony/NYK.
Charlotte Bobcats* at Atlanta Hawks (7:30 pm EST); over/under ; . INJURIES: CHA: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (OUT), ; ATL: DeMarre Carroll (Q), Al Horford (OUT) .
The Hawks are reeling from the loss of their best player (Horford) for the rest of the season. Jeff Teague/ATL and Paul Millsap/ATL will take on added responsibility and earn extra fantasy points. The Bobcats play excellent team defense, so I anticipate a low scoring game.
New Orleans Pelicans* at Houston Rockets (8:00 pm EST); over/under; . INJURIES: NOP: Eric Gordon (Q), Jason Smith (Q); HOU: Dwight Howard (P), Greg Smith (Q), Patrick Beverley (OUT).
Tyreke Evans/NOP isn’t starting but is getting plenty of minutes and has been tremendously efficient with them. Ryan Anderson/NOP remains a tough matchup for most teams and Anthony Davis/NOP versus Dwight Howard/HOU will be a good battle if Howard plays and is healthy. Jrue Holiday/NOP won’t be able to stop James Harden/HOU, who is my top value pick among star players tonight.
Dallas Mavericks at Chicago Bulls (8:00 pm EST); over/under ; . INJURIES: DAL: Brandan Wright (Q) ; CHI: Joakim Noah (Q), Luol Deng (Q).
The situation at point guard for the Bulls is still murky. Kirk Hinrich/CHI is still not fully healthy but is the starter, while D.J. Augustin/CHI will likely be more efficient and could outperform Hinrich on an absolute basis if he gets enough minutes. The Mavericks strengths and weaknesses are opposite of those of the Bulls. Dirk Nowitzki/DAL will do well, and if he exceeds expectations the Mavericks should win easily.
Denver Nuggets* at Memphis Grizzlies (8:00 pm EST); over/under 194; Grizzlies -2. INJURIES: DEN: Kenneth Faried (Q), Darrell Arthur (Q), JaVale McGee (OUT); MEM: Marc Gasol (OUT).
Minnesota Timberwolves* at Milwaukee Bucks* (8:30 pm EST); over/under 201; Wolves -6.5. INJURIES: MIN: Chase Budinger (OUT); MIL: Zaza Pachulia (OUT) .
Kevin Love/MIN rested down the stretch in anticipation of tonight’s visit to Milwaukee. Larry Sanders/MIL is working himself back into game shape and will come off the bench. Though expensive, I am tipping Love to justify his DraftStreet salary.
Philadelpia 76ers at Phoenix Suns* (9:00 pm EST); over/under 215; Suns -12. INJURIES: PHI: ; PHO: .
Goran Dragic/PHO and Eric Bledsoe/PHO flopped against the Warriors but will have a much better time hosting the Sixers. Michael Carter-Williams/PHI lifts Philadelphia from basement dwelling to merely mediocre.
Miami Heat* at Portland Trail Blazers (10:00 pm EST); over/under; . INJURIES: MIA: Dwayne Wade (P), LeBron James (Q), Chris Andersen (Q), Ray Allen (Q) ; POR: .
The Heat are hoping Dwayne Wade/MIA can play and that LeBron James/MIA is well enough to be close to his usual self. If not , Portland will be heavily favored. Despite the Heat being a very good defensive team, I think they will have a difficult time matching up against LaMarcus Aldridge/POR.
Utah Jazz* at Los Angeles Clippers (10:30 pm EST); over/under 202; Clippers -13.5. INJURIES: UTA: Trey Burke (P) ; LAC: J.J. Redick (OUT).
Utah held on to beat a depleted Lakers team, on the back of Gordon Hayward’s/UTA brilliance, but despite Trey Burke’s/UTA turnover troubles. The Clippers don’t have great depth, but Blake Griffin/LAC and Chris Paul/LAC are so good, they should easily roll over the “fatigued” Jazz.
My Lineup
The following is my recommended lineup, subject to change, for the $5/$5,000 GPP at DraftStreet: ($99,553 spent of $100,000 max):
Stars Worth Starting: LaMarcus Aldridge/POR, Dirk Nowitzki/DAL, James Harden/HOU, Jrue Holiday/NOP
Bargain Plays: P.J. Tucker/PHO, Andrea Bargnani/NYK
Speculative Plays: Josh McRoberts/CHA, D.J. Augustin/CHI
Estimated DraftStreet Points: 210 (+- 50)
The Fantasy Spin is here every day, around 1 PM EST. Follow me @robdudek for breaking news and pre-game thoughts relevant to NBA daily fantasy.