Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry owned the Jazz last night, finishing with 29 points, five boards, 12 assists, three steals and a pair of threes. He shot 71 percent (10-14) from the floor, 88 percent (7-8) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. This was a nice bounce-back game for Curry, who had just 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting in his previous two games. For the season, he’s averaging top 10 numbers, which is right in line with expectations. Now let’s hope his ankles stay intact.
Lines for Discussion:
Derrick Rose: 12-26 FG (46%), 6-9 FT (67%), 2 threes, 32 Pts, 4 Reb, 13 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO; Rose has scored 32+ points in four of his last five games. He’s been a top 12 dog this season, though his points, rebounds and threes are a bit down from their marks last season.
Amar’e Stoudemire: 16-27 FG (59%), 2-4 FT (50%), 34 Pts, 11 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 1 TO; That’s more like it. STAT has been a huge disappointment so far this season. He was drafted in second round of most drafts but has failed to hold top 60 value this season. Inconsistency will plague him the rest of the way, but there’s still a reasonable dose of optimism to be had here.
Landry Fields: 7-10 FG (70%), 0-1 FT (0%), 3 threes, 17 Pts, 4 Ast, 1 Stl; In his last nine games, Fields is averaging 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 threes, good for top 40 value. It’s far from guaranteed that he’ll maintain this pace for much longer though.
Wesley Matthews: 4-12 FG (33%), 1 three, 9 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 Stl; Matthews has totaled 21 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, six steals and one three-pointer in his last three games. So, yeah, this is pretty much rock bottom for his fantasy value. Buy low if you can.
Monta Ellis: 12-21 FG (62%), 4-5 FT (80%), 3 threes, 33 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; This was a sight for sore eyes. Ellis accumulated 29 points and zero three-pointers in his previous three games, while shooting a wretched 12-of-43 from the field. His poor shooting from the field (42 percent) weighs down his otherwise solid fantasy value.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Ivan Johnson: 10 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Blk, 2 TO; He got extra run in a blowout loss, so don’t get too excited about this.
Kyle Korver: 16 Pts, 3 threes, 2 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO; His value will dip once Luol Deng returns, but he’s a solid source of threes regardless.
C.J. Watson: 12 Pts, 1 three, 1 Reb, 3 Stl, 2 TO; He’s been a decent asset lately but is tough to rely on unless Rose is hurt.
Iman Shumpert: 10 Pts, 5 Reb, 8 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 TO; With Baron Davis‘ debut date unknown, Shumpert should retain decent value for a while longer.
Greivis Vasquez: 16 Pts, 3 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; So long as Jarrett Jack out, Vasquez has solid appeal.
Tiago Splitter: 16 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 TO; He continues to put up usable numbers and should be scooped up if you need a big man.
Gordon Hayward: 21 Pts, 1 three, 4 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; He’s been solid lately and should be picked up if you need some points, threes and steals.
Jamaal Tinsley: 9 Pts, 1 three, 6 Reb, 13 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; With Devin Harris and Earl Watson out, Tinsley blew up. He’s worth a short-term flier.
Ekpe Udoh: 7 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk; He’s still only worth a look in deeper leagues, though he offers a solid dose of blocks.
Timofey Mozgov: 11 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 Blk, 1 TO; He’s capable of producing solid lines when given 20+ minutes. The problem is he doesn’t get that kind of run every night.
Injuries:
Jason Collins (elbow): left last night’s game early; monitor his status
Gerald Henderson (hamstring): will miss 2-4 weeks
Luol Deng (wrist): day-to-day
Richard Hamilton (groin): day-to-day
Anthony Parker (back): out tonight
Shawn Marion (knee): will play tonight
Brendan Haywood (back): likely to return tonight
Lamar Odom (illness): ditto
George Hill (ankle): hoping to be out for no longer than three weeks
Darko Milicic (knee, illness): uncertain for tonight
Jarrett Jack (knee): day-to-day
Jason Richardson (knee): didn’t practice yesterday; monitor his status
Devin Harris (hamstring): day-to-day
Earl Watson (ankle): day-to-day
Corey Brewer (personal): day-to-day
For Tonight:
See if Darren Collison can produce another solid line with George Hill out of the lineup, as the Pacers visit the Mavericks.
For Next Week:
4 games: ATL, BOS, CHI, CLE, DEN, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NJN, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHO, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS
3 games: CHA, DAL, DET, GSW, NOR, SAS
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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