Daily Fantasy Diagnosis: 2.24

Beast of the Night: Dwight Howard posted 31 points, 17 rebounds, two steals and two blocks last night against the Kings. He shot 59 percent (10-17) from the field, 92 percent (11-12) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Howard’s averaging a career-high 23 points and 1.2 steals per game this season. He remains a stud, so long as you can handle his poor free-throw shooting.

Lines for Discussion:
John Wall: 8-19 FG (42%), 4-5 FT (80%), 1 three, 21 Pts, 5 Reb, 12 Ast, 2 Stl, 4 TO; He’s started off the second half of the season with back-to-back double-doubles. With Kirk Hinrich set to leave town, Wall should get all the minutes he can handle down the stretch, which is both a good and a scary thing for his owners.

Ramon Sessions: 8-14 FG (57%), 3-5 FT (60%), 1 three, 20 Pts, 3 Reb, 12 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 TO; Sessions continues his strong month and should continue to roll for the foreseeable future. It isn’t a crime if they want to just ride the wave, though.

Joakim Noah: 3-7 FG (43%), 1-2 FT (50%), 7 Pts, 16 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 TO; This was a nice first game back for Noah, who played 24:36. He’s safe to insert back in your starting lineups.

Jose Calderon: 3-5 FG (60%), 6 Pts, 1 Reb, 17 Ast, 3 Stl, 4 TO; Calderon’s really doing a fine Jason Kidd impersonation these days. He’s averaging 6.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 12.2 assists and 1.4 steals in nine games this month, while shooting 30.3 percent from the field. It’s not the greatest set of stats out there, but his assists are sure nice.

Beno Udrih: 7-13 FG (54%), 3-3 FT (100%), 1 three, 18 Pts, 3 Reb, 10 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; With Tyreke Evans out a while, Udrih should be able to piece together a solid run during this final stretch of the season for his fantasy owners.

Carmelo Anthony: 10-25 FG (40%), 6-7 FT (86%), 1 three, 27 Pts, 10 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; Anthony benefited from an off-night and an early ejection for Amar’e Stoudemire, so take this line with a small grain of salt, but this was about as good a line as his owners could expect on his first night in New York.

Chauncey Billups: 4-12 FG (33%), 12-12 FT (100%), 1 three, 21 Pts, 6 Reb, 8 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; This was a great line from Billups, all things considered. As this game hints at, his assists should creep up now that he’s a Knick.

Kobe Bryant: 14-31 FG (45%), 6-7 FT (86%), 3 threes, 37 Pts, 9 Reb, 6 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; Solid line from Bryant, who should turn things up a notch for the remainder of the season. His owners should, of course, watch for how much he rests at the tail end of the season.

Brandon Roy: 2-5 FG (40%), 1 three, 5 Pts, 1 Reb; He played 15:34 and put up just about what owners should’ve expected. His minutes will be capped and Roy just won’t be the valuable player he once was. He belongs on benches for now, and probably for the remainder of the season.

Waiver-Wire Watch:
Greg Monroe: 27 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO; That’s two straight double-doubles for Monroe, who remains a solid big man to stash if you have room on your roster.

Tyler Hansbrough: 21 Pts, 12 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; Psycho-T busted out the big guns for this game. This is more of an aberration, but Hansbrough remains a decent source of points and rebounds on most nights, especially for owners in deeper leagues.

Paul George: 10 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 TO; George and Brandon Rush (nine points, one three, four rebounds, one assist, one steal) are worth monitoring now that Mike Dunleavy is out for a while.

Chase Budinger: 30 Pts, 4 threes, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl; He has a tendency to fade in and out, and while this was a huge game, Budinger isn’t worth a look unless you’re in a deeper league.

Chuck Hayes: 12 Pts, 17 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; He started at his more natural power forward spot and thrived. Hayes remains a very helpful big man to own and should be picked up if you can spare the room.

Manny Harris: 21 Pts, 3 threes, 9 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 TO; Harris and Anthony Parker (19 points, four threes, five rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block, four turnovers) deserve consideration right now. However, it’ll be tough to guess which of these guys will produce on any given night.

Jermaine Taylor: 21 Pts, 1 three, 5 Reb, 1 TO; Marcus Thornton’s arrival will be a downer for Taylor, but he still deserves a look in deeper leagues.

Toney Douglas: 23 Pts, 3 threes, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 TO; Douglas played 29:16 last night and should have his nights backing up Billups, but he won’t be this good that often.

Gary Neal: 19 Pts, 4 threes, 3 Ast, 1 TO; Neal’s been hot lately and is worth adding if you need points and threes.

J.J. Barea: 13 Pts, 1 three, 1 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 TO; Barea continues to produce and is worth owning in many leagues at the moment.

Injuries:
Kendrick Perkins (knee): expected to miss the Celtics’ next three games

Stephen Jackson (hamstring): didn’t practice Wednesday; monitor his status

Mo Williams (ankle): he’s been dealt to the Clippers in exchange for Baron Davis; monitor his status

Tayshaun Prince (back): monitor his status

Mike Dunleavy (thumb): out indefinitely with a broken thumb

Baron Davis (knee): see the note for Mo Williams above

Martell Webster (back): day-to-day

Andray Blatche (ankle): check his status

For Tonight:
The Nuggets unveil their new lineup tonight as they host the Celtics. See how Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton split minutes and mesh on the floor. Also keep an eye on how J.R. Smith is affected by Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler.

Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @fbasketballblog.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×