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Line of the Night: Josh Howard (6.0). Let me caveat this by saying that I live about as far from Dallas as one can and still be in the continental US, but what a quietly awesome year Josh Howard was having. I say ‘was’ because there’s nothing quiet about his game last night: 47 points on 14 of 19 shooting, 15 of 17 from the line, 10 rebounds and 4 threes in a Dallas win over the Jazz. Just a great game from Howard in a breakout season. Now, the only thing keeping Howard from the national spotlight is his own Victoria’s Secret model.
Honorable Mentions: Do you ever feel like a player is personally responding to you? Deron Williams (5.6) must have gotten pissed when I said Chris Paul was clearly better than him – his 41 points beg to differ; good to see Al Jefferson (4.9) here - my favorite player when he was on the Celtics. Jefferson went for 32 and 20; Jason Richardson (4.8) and Andre Iguodala (4.7) both had efficient nights; Gerald Wallace (4.7) had 22 with 4 steals and 5 blocks.
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: It’s probably too late to grab John Salmons (4.9) in most leagues, but if he’s available, do it now and I mean NOW. Salmons, who had value at the beginning of the year while Ron Artest was suspended, is back with a vengeance and got most of Kevin Martin’s minutes in yesterday’s game. He scored a team high 25 with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals, although he did turn the ball over 7 times. There is a lot of scoring to fill in Martin’s wake and Salmons will get his piece.
Beno Udrih (4.2) scored 24 with 7 assists and 3 steals. But he’s probably not available either. Wait, wait, I can find you a King on waivers, I promise. Ok. Francisco Garcia (3.9) got 31 minutes in yesterday’s game scoring 21 and adding 4 steals. A little less exciting than Salmons or Udrih, but he’s probably looking for a dance partner in most leagues.
Goat of the Night: The New York Knicks. I’m not trying to pile it on them, I’m really not, but the evidence is so strong it just invited me into its car. The Knicks lost yesterday’s game to the Sixers, yes the Philadelphia 76ers, 105 to 77. Here is what their starting lineup did: Jamal Crawford (1.6) had more turnovers (7) than points (6), Stephon Marbury (1.6) also scored 6 points and had 3 assists, Zach Randolph (1.6) scored 2 points and had 2 rebounds in 14 minutes, Quentin Richardson (1.9) had 5 points on 2 for 7 shooting., and Eddy Curry (1.6) had 6 points and 2 rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Glass Half Full Finish: David Lee had another efficient game off the bench (10 points/11 rebounds). Can the dude get some consistent minutes?
