Beast of the Night: Tyreke Evans had another big game, putting up 27 points, five rebounds, 12 assists and two steals against the Nuggets last night. He shot 61 percent (11-18) from the field, 100 percent (5-5) from the free-throw line and had just one turnover. In other news, Evans is opting to stay home instead of play in the Rookie-Sophomore game during All-Star weekend to rest his feet. Owner beware.
Lines for Discussion:
Shawn Marion: 12-17 FG (71%), 1-2 FT (50%), 25 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO; He’s benefiting from two things: the absence of Caron Butler and the absence of Dirk Nowitzki. One of those things is long-term, while another isn’t. Owners should wait to see how his value is affected by Nowitzki’s eventual return before getting to excited about Marion’s flashes of solid play lately.
Tyson Chandler: 3-5 FG (60%), 8-10 FT (80%), 14 Pts, 18 Reb, 2 Blk, 1 TO; That’s three straight double-doubles for Chandler, who seems to have broken out of the mini-slump he encountered in December. Continue to play him as you would.
Nene: 6-9 FG (67%), 5-6 FT (83%), 17 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Blk, 2 TO; He’s usually productive, but almost never in an eye-popping way. It’ll be interesting to see how his production is affected by Carmelo Anthony‘s “possible” departure.
Chauncey Billups: 6-12 FG (50%), 3-3 FT (100%), 1 three, 16 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 TO; Yep, that’s right folks – 35:28 of run, zero assists and four turnovers. If you own Billups and were giddy about Ty Lawson‘s knee injury, it’s time to come back to earth: Lawson played last night. Billups’ fantasy value, while somewhat resurrected lately, remains shaky.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Jose Juan Barea: 14 Pts, 2 threes, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 5 TO; Barea stands to benefit from Butler’s absence and given that Rodrigue Beaubois appears far from returning, he’s worth a look in deeper leagues.
Francisco Garcia: 14 Pts, 4 threes, 4 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk; If you trust any player on the Kings, you have optimism that I just don’t have the stomach for. But if you’re willing to take a flier on a short-term solution, give Garcia a look.
Omri Casspi: 13 Pts, 3 threes, 6 Reb, 2 TO; See above.
Injuries:
Daniel Gibson (ankle): he’s out for at least the next five games
Dirk Nowitzki (knee): could be out Saturday as well
J.R. Smith (toe): sprained his left big toe and is day-to-day
Kenyon Martin (knee): day-to-day, will be held out of the second game of back-to-backs
Aaron Brooks (ankle): questionable tonight, monitor his status
Lamar Odom (shoulder): expects to play tonight
Kris Humphries (thigh): limited in Thursday’s practice but will play tonight
Gani Lawal (knee): surgery to repair a torn ACL and partially torn MCL ends his season
For Tonight:
See how the Pacers’ approach to small ball affects Roy Hibbert, along with guys like Brandon Rush, Danny Granger and Darren Collison.
Some big lines could be had as the Knicks visit the Suns. Watch guys like Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Toney Douglas.
For Next Week:
4 games: CHA, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, LAL, SAC, SA
3 games: ATL, BOS, CLE, DAL, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NJ, NO, NY, ORL, PHO, POR, TOR, WAS
2 games: GS, OKC, PHI, UTA
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
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