Line of the Night: Caron Butler (6.5). Who needs Agent Zero when you’ve got Agent err… Three, I guess. Butler went off for 35 on 13 for 17 shooting, was perfect from the free throw line, had 5 threes, 8 rebounds, a couple steals, and a partridge in a pear tree.*
Honorable Mentions: Chris Paul (6.0) – 31 points, 11 assists, 4 steals – that is a good night’s work; Tracy McGrady (5.6) – 36/8/6 – that’s an equally good night’s work; what happened to the supposed end of Stephon Marbury (5.2) with the Knicks? He’s back to playing 37 minutes a game already; Brad Miller (5.2) finally acted like a real center and grabbed 10 boards; it’s tough to be Dirk Nowitzki (5.1), he scored 31 and was 11 for 11 from the line, but the Mavs still lost.
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Beno Udrih (5.0) – arguably the best Slovenian born player in the NBA today – makes his second appearance on the waiver wire line of the night this season, which is an indication that he should be picked up in most leagues until Bibby returns. Udrih scored 27 on 8 for 12 shooting and was 9 for 9 from the line. We appreciate that kind of scoring efficiency here at GMTR.
In small leagues, Matt Barnes (4.8) returned from a five game absence and hit the ground running. He started last night and played 35 minutes, scoring 8 points and adding 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Barnes’ return pushed Al Harrington to center and Andris Biedrins to the bench. Biedrins was the loser in all of this as he only managed 13 minutes in last night’s game.
Goat of the Night: Jason Terry (1.8). Unless your name is Michael Jordan, bad nights occasionally happen. This one happed to Terry, who was 1 of 9 shooting (1 of 6 for three) and scored a season low 3 points in the Mavs loss.
Dishonorable Mentions: With Bevin Knight out and Sam Cassell leaving yesterday’s game with a strained calf, the Clippers turned to option #3, Dan Dickau (1.3). Dickau was nice enough to answer everyone’s question about whether they should pick him up off waivers by playing crappy right out of the gate. He finished with 5 points (2 for 9 shooting) and 2 assists in 31 minutes.
* Also known as a blocked shot where I come from