Beast of the Night: Dwyane Wade finished with 38 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal, two blocks and two three-pointers in a losing cause. He shot 57 percent (12-21) from the field, 92 percent (12-13) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Wade has been a top-25 player this season, which is a far cry (pun intended) from his top-eight pick position in many drafts.
Lines for Discussion:
Brandon Jennings: 10-20 FG (50%), 3 threes, 23 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 TO; Usually, field-goal percentage is Jennings’ Achilles heel, but that wasn’t the case last night. Jennings is off to a great start to March and is handsomely rewarding owners who were patient with him when he went down with his foot injury.
Andrew Bogut: 7-13 FG (54%), 0-2 FG (0%), 14 Pts, 9 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 TO; After missing three games with an injured rib cage, this was a fine line from Bogut. He remains an injury risk and his owners just have to hope he stays healthy during their fantasy playoff periods.
Darren Collison: 4-7 FG (57%), 1-1 FT (100%), 1 three, 10 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO; After sufficient evidence, it’s clear that Jim O’Brien wasn’t the one holding Collison back – it was Collison himself. Chalk this season up as a big disappointment and keep expectations in check for 2011-12.
Kirk Hinrich: 5-10 FG (50%), 2 threes, 12 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO; Hinrich has asserted himself as a prominent cog in that Hawks rotation and is putting up solid fantasy lines. Kudos if you were keen enough to scoop him off of your leagues’ waiver wire a couple weeks ago.
Baron Davis: 7-14 FG (50%), 3-4 FT (75%), 2 threes, 19 Pts, 5 Reb, 6 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO; Davis’ efficiency in his bench role for the Cavs has been pretty impressive. The good news is that coming off the bench and playing limited minutes probably keeps him fresher than if he were starting and playing heavy minutes. His health is still not to be trusted, but Davis looks like he’s thriving in the face of what seemed like a dooming deal that sent him to Cleveland.
Gerald Wallace: 8-14 FG (57%), 5-6 FT (83%), 1 three, 22 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk; This was Wallace’s best game as a Blazer. If a starting gig is in the cards for him, there’s a good chance this kind of line could be around the norm for him.
Brandon Roy: 5-8 FG (63%), 1-1 FT (100%), 3 threes, 14 Pts, 1 Ast; Sadly, this is about the best fantasy owners can expect from Roy for the rest of this season, and maybe even beyond.
Marcin Gortat: 6-15 FG (40%), 1-3 FT (33%), 13 Pts, 16 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Blk, 2 TO; Despite not starting, Gortat has become a very solid fantasy center. He’s averaging 14.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.5 blocks in his first four games in March.
Vince Carter: 13-17 FG (77%), 1-2 FT (50%), 5 threes, 32 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; That’s two straight monster lines from Carter. While this resurgence is nice to see, owners should know by now that this man is not one to lean too much on.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Carlos Delfino: 15 Pts, 2 threes, 7 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO; With Corey Maggette and Ersan Ilyasova sidelined, Delfino looks like a solid play for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, inconsistency is always nipping at his heels.
Jordan Crawford: 22 Pts, 1 three, 4 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 5 TO; Don’t go out of your mind just yet, but with yet another injury to the Wizards’ starting lineup, Crawford could be in for some decent run. Stash him in deeper leagues and keep a close eye on him in others.
Trevor Booker: 8 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 Blk; With a depleted Wizards frontcourt, Booker could be a nice short-term solution if you need some rebounds and blocks.
Evan Turner: 10 Pts, 1 three, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk; Turner has quietly been producing some nice all-around lines for use in deeper leagues lately and is worth a look in those formats.
Tyler Hansbrough: 26 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Stl, 1 TO; He’s not the most dynamic player out there, but Hansbrough offers a steady dose of points and rebounds.
Samardo Samuels: 11 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 TO; He’s not much more than points and rebounds, but at least he’s that.
Injuries:
Delonte West (ankle): won’t play tonight
Von Wafer (calf): out at least another week
Glen Davis (knee): feeling better, but not expected to play tonight
Stephen Jackson (hamstring): expected to play tonight
Tyrus Thomas (knee); ditto
Arron Afflalo (hamstring): likely out for the next two games
Luis Scola (knee): day-to-day
Michael Redd (knee): expected to make his season debut in about two weeks
Quinton Ross (back): out at least until next week
Anthony Morrow (concussion): was at the Nets’ practice Tuesday; monitor his status
Deron Williams (personal): will miss the Nets’ next two games for the birth of his child
Andrea Bargnani (flu): didn’t practice Tuesday; check his status
Reggie Evans (foot): said he’s ready to go tonight
Paul Millsap (knee): game-time decision tonight
Andrei Kirilenko (back): doubtful for tonight
Andray Blatche (shoulder): monitor his status
D.J. Augustin (ankle): rolled his ankle in Tuesday’s practice, but should play tonight
Semih Erden (shoulder): out for the rest of the week
Luke Harangody (hip): day-to-day
Kevin Love (knee): day-to-day
Anthony Randolph (flu): day-to-day
Cartier Martin (knee): day-to-day
J.J. Hickson (finger): probable for tonight
For Tonight:
If Paul Millsap and/or Andrei Kirilenko can’t go tonight against the Raptors, expect Derrick Favors to worth a gamble in deeper leagues.
Jordan Farmar should put up a solid line filling in for Williams as the Nets host the Warriors.
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.
