Quote of the Night: “I think that might be the easiest game I ever played in my career. I was out there watching.”
-Allen Iverson
Line of the Night: With 22 teams going, there was bound to be some FANtastic performances. And the LotN agrees with that as there is a tie between Jason Kidd (5.2) and Carmelo Anthony (5.2). But since I count as a fantasy superdelegate, I’m breaking the tie and casting my vote for Carmelo, who led Denver to victory with a career-high 49 points. Melo was on fire: 19-25 from the floor, 3-3 from three, and 8-8 from the line. I can see why passing wasn’t a priority for him.
A lot of this all night for Melo and Blatche

Honorable Mentions: Don’t get me wrong, I love triple-doubles (Kidd had 19/11/13) but he is going to have about 10 more of those lines before the end of the year; Corey Maggette (4.6) scored 35 points off some threes (he had 5) and free throws (12 of 13); Chris Bosh (4.4) scored 29 with 12 rebounds and 4 steals. He was also 13-13 from the line; Tim Duncan (4.3) had 24 and 13 with 2 steals and 3 blocks. He was a fantasy friendly 5-5 from the line; Marcus Camby (4.2) with the strangest honorable mention line so far this year – only 6 points, but he powered through with 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks; and LeBron James (4.1) had 26/11/7 (what, no triple-double?)
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Jared Dudley (3.6). Gerald Wallace returned to action last night, but before that rookie Jared Dudley had gotten the last couple starts at the 3 for the Bobcats over Jeff “still-in-the-league” Mcginnis. He’s not starting anymore and the minutes aren’t great (24 last night), but the kid scored 15 points with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Oh, and he shot 6-7, so he doesn’t really pass the 70% or less test. If you are looking for something to do today, here’s your Jared Dudley YouTube clip of the day.
If you’re looking for someone who is getting the minutes, look no further than Fred Jones (3.7). Jones, who is STILL starting for a professional basketball team, played 44 minutes for the Knicks in an overtime loss to the Spurs (Knicks/Spurs went to overtime?). He had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and was 5-10 for three.
Despite the bad defensive performance on Carmelo, Andray Blatche (3.5) still may be worth a pickup if he’s available and you need a short-term solution. Blatche has been starting in the place of an injured Caron Butler and went for 14 and 10 with 2 blocks in 34 minutes.
The Biggest Loser: I won’t use this space to point out that Eddy Curry (1.2) scored 6 points and had 3 rebounds in 26 minutes last night. That would be like kicking a guy while he’s down, in the balls, for the 18th time. Instead, Raymond Felton (1.1) shot 2 of 10 and ended with 4 points and 1 assist in 33 minutes.
There were a ton of other guys with bad games yesterday (I’m looking in your direction Kevin Durant) so if you feel like sounding off on one of your guys, hit it up in the comments.