Beast of the Night: Chris Paul finished with 34 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 50 percent (10-20) from the floor and 91 percent (10-11) from the charity stripe, and had two turnovers. CP3 has been a top three stud this season, which is about as surprising as Metta World Peace contradicting his surname.
Lines for Discussion:
Isaiah Thomas: 3-10 FG (30%), 4-4 FT (100%), 1 three, 11 Pts, 5 Reb, 9 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; Since entering the Kings’ starting lineup on Feb. 17, Thomas has been a top 50 fantasy basketball asset. He’ll make for an intriguing draft pick next season.
Paul Millsap: 10-18 FG (56%), 6-11 FT (55%), 26 Pts, 15 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; Millsap has exceeded the highest of expectations by putting up top 10 averages this season. He’s been a stud this season and should be a beast again in 2012-13, the last year of his contract with Utah.
Joe Johnson: 10-17 FG (59%), 2-3 FT (67%), 6 threes, 28 Pts, 7 Reb, 3 Ast, 4 TO; Johnson has put up top 40 averages this season, which is a nice bounce back from what he did last season. Assuming things remain fairly steady in Atlanta, Johnson should be a safe fourth-round pick in next season’s drafts.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Marco Belinelli: 23 Pts, 2 threes, 4 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 TO
Travis Outlaw: 20 Pts, 2 threes, 7 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 Blk
Jason Thompson: 22 Pts, 6 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk
Gustavo Ayon: 13 Pts, 7 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 Blk
Sasha Pavlovic: 16 Pts, 2 threes, 1 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk
Marquis Daniels: 13 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk
Daequan Cook: 19 Pts, 4 threes, 5 Reb, 1 Ast
Derrick Favors: 13 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Stl, 5 Blk, 4 TO
Injuries:
Kyrie Irving (illness): doubtful tonight
Greg Stiemsma (foot): day-to-day
Chris Paul (groin): questionable tonight
Devin Ebanks (finger): probable for Thursday
LeBron James (rest): questionable for Thursday
Dwyane Wade (finger): ditto
Chris Bosh (hamstring): ditto
Eric Gordon (back): done for the season
Thaddeus Young (rest): ditto
Grant Hill (knee): day-to-day
Terrence Williams (illness): day-to-day
For Tonight:
Expect guys like Shannon Brown, Sebastian Telfair, Hakim Warrick and Markieff Morris to put up nice lines for the not-playoff-bound Suns, who host the Spurs.
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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