The top story of the day was undoubtedly the first half swoon by the Miami Heat. The Wizards blitzed them to build a 30+ point lead before the Heat rallied to cut it to 21 by half time. That deficit was too large to overcome and the Heat lost 114-97 to continue one of their worst stretches of recent years. The Raptors were cooled off by Jared Sullinger/BOS and the Celtics as Boston utilized a bit of “post-trade” magic. Both Zach Randolph/MEM and Marc Gasol/MEM had poor games, but the Grizzlies had enough to beat the tanking Bucks. The Kings held off a Timberwolves rally to hand Minnesota yet another close game defeat. The Lakers lost another shootout, this time to the Suns, and the Nuggets surprised the Warriors 123-116 in Oakland. An unusual afternoon game adds a twist to the usual Thursday Night national double header. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
Fantasy Boom and Bust
Top Performers:
Joakim Noah/CHI. Three overtimes, a higher scoring game than predicted, and the continued interior weakness of the Magic propelled Noah to a fat stat line. 9 of 16 FGA, 8 of 10 FTA, 19 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 TO, 26 points.
Jared Sullinger/BOS. Asserting himself as perhaps the most talented Celtic (aside from Rondo/BOS).
LaMarcus Aldridge/POR. One of my recommendations.
Rudy Gay/SAC. The catalyst for the Kings offense, and less inconsistent than when he was a Raptor.
Victor Oladipo/ORL.
Honorable Mention: J.J. Redick/LAC, Eric Gordon/NOP, Jameer Nelson/ORL, Terrence Jones/HOU, Kevin Love/MIN
Sleepers:
James Johnson/MEM. While the Grizzlies big guns were flat, he had an omnivorous game and steered Memphis to the expected win. 7 of 13 FGa, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 6 blocks, 0 TO, 15 points.
Gerald Green/PHO, Tobias Harris/ORL, Nene Hilario/WAS, Enes Kanter/UTA,Kyle O’Quinn/ORL, Markieff Morris/PHO.
Disappointments:
Zach Randolph/MEM. Normally very consistent. 2 of 10 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TO, 6 points.
Marc Gasol/MEM. Not entirely unexpected, due to this being his second of back to back games. Played less than 15 minutes.
O.J. Mayo/MIL, Kenneth Faried/DEN, Gerald Henderson/CHA.
DraftStreet NBA Leagues
If you followed my recommended picks last night, you had a good day at DraftStreet. The lineup amassed 249.00 DraftStreet points, good enough to cash in almost all of the guaranteed standard payout leagues and all the double up leagues. My team was led by Joakim Noah/CHI, Al Jefferson/CHA and Kawhi Leonard/SAS, totaling almost 140 points combined. The lone brick was Terrence Ross/TOR, who was held down to only 9 DraftStreet points.
The action gets started early today at DraftStreet, with a 3 PM deadline for most leagues. That is because of a rare Thursday afternoon game (Eastern Time) in London, with the Hawks hosting the Nets. Although a quiet night in the NBA, DraftStreet has a number of interesting leagues on offer, led by the affordable $5/$4,000 GPP standard payout contest.
If you are new to daily fantasy NBA, now is a great time to make your first deposit at DraftStreet, as huge contests are on tap for a busy Friday. The highlight of the night is a $5/$10,000 guaranteed prize pool contest with a whopping $2,000 for first place. New DraftStreet players can get up to $200 in bonus money on their first deposit and join those who have shared over $80,000,000 in prize money since 2010.