Beast of the Night: Boris Diaw paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. by putting up 25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal, two blocks and four threes in an overtime loss. In addition to his triple-double, he shot 57 percent (8-14) from the field, 83 percent (5-6) from the charity stripe and had just one turnover. Diaw has been a roller coaster all season long but remains capable of filling the stat sheet each night.
Lines for Discussion:
Derrick Rose: 7-20 FG (35%), 7-9 FT (78%), 1 three, 22 Pts, 10 Reb, 12 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 1 TO; He owned the Grizzlies, despite shooting poorly from the field. Rose is scoring more than he did in December, but his rebounding, assists and steals are down.
Andray Blatche: 8-15 FG (53%), 5-7 FT (71%), 21 Pts, 11 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl, 4 Blk, 3 TO; Blatche doesn’t usually block too many shots, but he’s averaging 1.4 blocks to go along with his 1.9 steals, 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds so far in January. He continues to struggle with his shooting from the floor, but if he stays healthy, Blatche could put things together by season’s end.
Vince Carter: 11-20 FG (55%), 2-2 FT (100%), 5 threes, 29 Pts, 12 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 TO; Look who came out to play. Truth be told, Carter is doing well for himself in Phoenix, averaging 18.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.6 threes in his 10 games in a Suns uniform. Don’t forget that he considered having knee surgery once he landed in Phoenix, and that DNPs are surely in his future.
Amar’e Stoudemire: 15-25 FG (60%), 11-12 FT (92%), 41 Pts, 6 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 TO; This was like the old Amar’e we once knew – lots of points, not much else. He’s averaging 26.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 blocks per game in January, so he’s not really struggling too badly, but these numbers are down from his huge December marks. Part of this might be that he’s playing more than four fewer minutes per game, partly due to foul trouble.
Chris Paul: 1-8 FG (12.5%), 4-4 FT (100%), 6 Pts, 3 Reb, 11 Ast, 3 Stl; CP3 is having a sluggish month, averaging 14.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game, despite playing more minutes. His averages have mostly trended downward from November in spite of his rising minutes, and his owners have to be concerned that his knee, ankle and hip will force him to either play fewer minutes or sit out games down the line.
Blake Griffin: 19-24 FG (79%), 9-11 FT (82%), 47 Pts, 14 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Blk, 4 TO; He absolutely dominated the Pacers. The rookie (it doesn’t even feel right calling him that) is averaging a healthy 27.6 points, 14.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists so far in January. Though he doesn’t steal or block too much, he’s managed to lift his free-throw shooting to 70.2 percent so far in 2011. If Griffin keeps that up, it’ll be an absolute delight for his fantasy owners.
Darren Collison: 10-17 FG (59%), 8-8 FT (100%), 2 threes, 30 Pts, 1 Reb, 8 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO; Collison continues to roll along and is finally averaging the minutes he deserves. His January averages are strong and coach Jim O’Brien‘s fickle schemes are the only thing standing in between Collison and a fully recovered season.
Al Horford: 10-16 FG (63%), 3-4 FT (75%), 23 Pts, 9 Reb, 6 Ast, 7 Blk, 2 TO; Kudos to owners who were able to buy low on Horford, who is averaging 2.3 blocks per game in 2011 so far.
LaMarcus Aldridge: 15-24 FG (63%), 7-9 FT (78%), 37 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk, 2 TO; Aldridge snapped his two-game streak without double-digit rebounds with this stellar line. He continues to develop into a prime-time big man and has been one of the more pleasant surprises in fantasy basketball so far this season.
Serge Ibaka: 4-7 FG (57%), 3-4 FT (75%), 11 Pts, 10 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 TO; He’s fallen off since his hot start to the season and no longer starts for the Thunder, but his ceiling remains high. Ibaka’s value will surge whenever there’s an injury to his team’s frontcourt.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Kyle Korver: 22 Pts, 6 threes, 4 Reb, 2 TO; He’s off to a slow start this month, but Korver is always capable of pouring in threes when he’s on a hot streak.
Kwame Brown: 15 Pts, 16 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; That’s back-to-back double-doubles for Brown, who looks like a mildly appealing big man for deep leagues for the moment.
Lou Williams: 23 Pts, 1 threes, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 TO; This is his fourth 20+ point game this month. He’s had just two of those before January. Williams is a suitable replacement for any dead spots on your roster.
Ed Davis: 11 Pts, 12 Reb, 2 Blk; He’s grabbed 28 rebounds and blocked five shots in his last three games, and is worth a gamble if you really need a big man.
Chuck Hayes: 6 Pts, 7 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Blk; Hayes has been solid since his return from missing eight games with an ankle injury. He and Jordan Hill (10 Pts, 10 Reb, 1 TO) could be the two-headed monster in the middle for the Rockets going forward.
Greg Monroe: 16 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 Stl; His hot streak continues. Monroe won’t block many shots, and Ben Wallace’s eventual return could dent his minutes, but he’s close to being a must-own player right now in most leagues.
Sasha Vujacic: 16 Pts, 1 three, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 TO; Vujacic really deserves more consideration than he’s getting, especially for owners who need threes.
Reggie Williams: 12 Pts, 2 threes, 4 Reb, 1 Ast; Another night with good minutes for Williams, whose defense is pushing him into the Warriors’ rotation.
Ryan Anderson: 16 Pts, 4 threes, 8 Reb, 2 Blk; He’s averaging 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 2.8 threes in his eight games so far in January.
Injuries:
Joakim Noah (thumb): the pin in his thumb will be removed Jan. 25
Anthony Parker (back): out about another week
Daniel Gibson (ankle): says he will “definitely” be back Wednesday
Sasha Pavlovic (nose): left Monday’s game with a broken nose
Tyson Chandler (illness): day-to-day
Dwyane Wade (knee): didn’t practice Monday but remains likely to play tonight
Chris Bosh (ankle): didn’t practice Monday, check his status
LeBron James (ankle): questionable tonight
Ronny Turiaf (hip): day-to-day
Francisco Garcia (calf): day-to-day
Matt Bonner (knee); missed Monday’s practice, monitor his status
Linas Kleiza (knee): day-to-day
Gordon Hayward (flu): day-to-day
Antonio McDyess (knee): tweaked it Sunday, check his status
Marcus Camby (knee): will have an MRI today, not considered serious but check his status
For Tonight:
Mike Miller could get a shot at a relevant night if Wade, Bosh and/or James can’t go tonight.
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