Raja Bell returned to the Utah starting lineup, but “demoted” Gordon Hayward was terrific off the bench with 23 points on 8-11 shooting, plus 4 REB and 5 AST in 28 minutes. As the Jazz won, I’d expect the new rotation to continue, but Devin Harris left early with a sore knee. The Cavs were no match for Al Jefferson (25 & 13) and Paul Millsap (13 & 9) — they miss Anderson Varejao. In Other News GSW @ WAS: New starting
Over the flu and with no apparent ill effects from sore ribs, Kevin Love torched the Blazers for 42 points on 15-27 shooting, including 5-8 from downtown, as the T-Wolves won on the road. Ricky Rubio had only six points but chipped in a dozen assists. With Wesley Johnson in foul trouble, Martell Webster was terrific in 34 minutes off the bench. Nicolas Batum had 29 and Gerald Wallace 23 for Portland, but recently demoted Raymond Felton shot a brutal
As the second half of the season looms, the contenders to finish “in the money” in fantasy hoops leagues have been established. Most likely your league’s standings look like the following: a few teams at the top battling to earn first place; a handful of teams scrapping to essentially win back their entry fee and finish third; and lowly bottom-feeders desperate to avoid the dubious distinction of finishing last. As of the All-Star Break, my 9-CAT squad is locked in a
A chance to win a 12th consecutive game was not as important to the Spurs as getting a night of scheduled rest for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. With rookies Cory Joseph at PG and Kawhi Leonard at PF, they lost to the Blazers by 40 points. Even D-League callup Eric Dawson played 31 minutes off the bench for San Antonio in one of those games that should be completely ignored by astute fantasy owners. It did mark the first
Before we look at last night’s games, you might want to add J.R. Smith to your team. It’s being reported that he will sign with the Knicks, and play on Sunday. It’s a great fit; instead of trying to guess between Bill Walker, Steve Novak and Iman Shumpert, you can be fairly confident that Smith will soon be the primary bench scorer. In addition to threes, he’s a decent source of STL and REB. Don’t go overboard dropping a productive
What Happened on Monday? The Magic beat the Timberwolves, though not because Dwight Howard dominated Nikola Pekovic. Pek double-doubled (16-13) and stayed out of foul trouble, D-12 settled for 11 and 7 with no blocks while playing just 28 minutes due to five fouls. The Minny wings (Wes Johnson and Martell Webster, starting for absent Luke Ridnour) were outplayed by veterans Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu. Philly had little trouble winning by nine in Charlotte. Run to the waiver wire for Corey