Give Me The Rock

and Ron Artest says it’s a “failure” that Sacramento isn’t in it (the battle, that is). Of course, he also said:

We have one of the best defensive players to ever play the game in myself.

Well, last night, that was certainly true…

Line of the Night: Ron Artest (5.83) had 29/12/3 with 2 threes and some good percentages, while he also backed up his sound byte with 4 steals and 2 blocks.

Honorable Mentions: Josh Howard (5.48) had 36/9/3 with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Clearly not as good a defender as Ron Artest. Jamal Crawford (5.47) - who no one will ever mistake for a great defensive player - actually had 3 steals, but the real strength of his line comes from the 39 points, 8 assists, and 7 threes. LeBron James (5.46) bounced back from a Backwards Day Biggest Loser to take the #4 spot with a near triple-double at 26/9/9, along with 3 steals and a block. Delonte West (5.23) also stepped it up against the Cavs potential playoff opponent (yeah, Philly is only 1.5 games out of the 5th spot). West had 18/6/11 with 4 threes, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: While Thaddeus Young is probably not available, another young player, Nick Young (3.86) might be. He’s certainly not dependable enough to actually pick up, but he’s a rookie, and last night he gave a glimpse in the ever so enigmatic Upside Potential with 27/2/1 with 3 threes and a block. He was playing for Antonio Daniels, who only got 4 minutes, but Caron Butler was running the point, and ended up with a triple-double of 17/12/12. Young needs to be rebounding more since he’s got the height for it, and on the Wizards he’ll need to learn how to pass better to get his more talented and/or more experienced teammates the ball.

The Biggest Loser: Wally Szczerbiak (1.51)… wasn’t he supposed to help take the Cavs to the next level? Well, I don’t 1 point, 4 rebounds, and an assist were what they had in mind. Who would have thought that it’d be Delonte West stepping up to be LeBron’s right hand (or right wing?) man?

The Birdman News: Everybody’s favorite Birdman is back! Chris Anderson (1.65) has played in 4 games now, averaging 7.5 minutes a game. With the Hornets as stacked as they are now, I’m not sure how much fantasy potential there is there, but there certainly is plenty of fanboy potential.

Did you ever have “backwards day” in elementary school, where everyone would wear their clothes backwards and the day would be all mixed up? No? Me neither. But let’s make up for lost time with the strange day that was yesterday.

Line of the Night: If you had Al Thornton (5.7) in your lineup yesterday, you lucked into the LotN (or possibly you are psychic). Thornton scored a career-high 39 points, with 5 steals and 3 threes as the Clippers ended a 10-game losing streak. Corey Maggette accurately sums up the Al Thornton fantasy experience:

“He’s kind of a streaky player, so you never know what you’re going to get. But you know he’s going to try to play extremely hard and get the fans involved. There’s still room for improvement, but I’m proud of him. He continues to push. I don’t think I was that good when I was a rookie.”

Honorable Mentions: Baron Davis (4.9) scored 28 points off 4-10 from three, adding 7 assists and 3 steals; Vince Carter (4.8) decided to put some effort into yesterday’s game and had 32/7/6 with 3 threes and a couple steals (although he did have 5 turnovers); god bless Marcus Camby (4.8), otherwise we would never see lines like this – 2! points off 1-4 shooting, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 5 blocks; and Amare Stoudemire (4.4) had 33 and 15 for the Suns.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Travis Outlaw (4.8) had the fourth best line yesterday, scoring 26 points while hitting 4 threes in 35 minutes. He also had a couple steals and a block. With Brandon Roy all but shut down for the season, Outlaw will have decent fantasy value for the next few weeks.

Both Drew Gooden and Aaron Gray sat out the Bulls last game with various injuries, so Joakim Noah (4.8) played 39 minutes and earned the fifth best line of the night. He went for a career high 18 points and a career high 15 rebounds, adding 2 steals and 4 blocks; And like a cockroach, Brevin Knight (4.0) refuses to go away. Yesterday, he had 14 points and 11 assists in 35 minutes of hot LA action.

Elton Brand Alert: According to the game recap, “All-Star F Elton Brand, trying desperately to savage something out of this dreadful season for himself and the Clippers, said he hopes to play sometime during the team’s two-game trip through Seattle and Sacramento.”

The Biggest Loser: I didn’t name this backwards day just because of Al Thornton. No, it takes something bigger, something like LeBron James (2.2) to make that happen. LeBron was 4-17 from the floor (1-5 from three) and finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers as the Piston held the Cavs to a lowly 71 points.

Dishonorable Mentions: Helping the Cavs to a dismal game was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who finished with 11 points off 5-16 shooting, with 5 boards and 0 assists. And while we’re here, why don’t we throw in Wally Szczerbiak (2.2) who shot 3-9 and Sasha Pavlovic (1.5) who was 2-8. I’m amazed the Cavs even scored 71.

And, finally, in honor of backwards day, I give you Los Angelos Clippers Dancer Laura, who hit a behind the back half-court shot during a Clippers game, totally stealing the manhood from the guy who went after her and missed his regular half-court attempt.

A change to the Board with the big ass this week. I’ve adjusted the formula to give more weight to a guy’s recent performance instead of his year-to-date performance. I did this because, as Yoda taught me, it matters not what one has done, but what one will do. Or some crap like that.

Notable Injuries: Dirk Nowitzki (banned from locker room for blogging), Ben Wallace (deflated), Pau Gasol (practicing), Shawn Marion (just discovered South Beach), Brandon Roy (groin), Gilbert Arenas (I’ll believe it when I see it), Derek Fisher (torn tendon and playing through the pain), Jason Williams (sore vagina); Udonis Haslem (Hurt by the anger in Shaq’s voice); Nate Robinson (Funky Cold Medina); Chris Wilcox (dislocated finger, eeeeouch).

Ranking/Name/Games this week/Average rating/ Rating last 10 games
1. Chris Paul (4) 7.3 / 9.2
2. Amare Stoudemire (4) 5 / 6.6
3. Baron Davis (4) 4.2 / 5.2
4. Allen Iverson (4) 3.8 / 5.1
5. Jason Richardson (4) 1.4 / 6.1
6. Lebron James (3) 6.5 / 5.1
7. Kobe Bryant (3) 6 / 5.2
8. Caron Butler (4) 4.4 / 1.2
9. Ron Artest (4) 1.8 / 5.3
10. Mike Dunleavy (4) 0.9 / 4.4
11. David West (4) 0.6 / 4.4
12. Steve Nash (4) 3.4 / 2.8
13. Joe Johnson (4) 0.5 / 4
14. Marcus Camby (4) 2.6 / 2.4
15. Danny Granger (4) 1.2 / 3.1
16. Carmelo Anthony (4) 1.9 / 1.8
17. Al Jefferson (4) 1.3 / 2.3
18. Antawn Jamison (4) 0.7 / 2
19. Monta Ellis (4) 0.3 / 1.6
20. Josh Smith (4) 1.9 / 0.2
21. Gerald Wallace (4) 1.5 / 0.4
22. Stephen Jackson (4) 1.2 / 1.3
23. Deron Williams (3) 2.7 / 4.5
24. Rudy Gay (4) 1.1 / 0.4
25. Carlos Boozer (3) 2.5 / 4.1
26. Mo Williams (4) 0.9 / 0.3
27. Kevin Martin (4) 0.9 / 0.2
28. Troy Murphy (4) -2.7 / 1.7
29. Vince Carter (3) 1 / 4.3
30. Chris Bosh (4) 2.1 / -0.7
31. Jason Kidd (4) 1.4 / -0.5
32. Mike Bibby (4) -1.9 / 1.1
33. Manu Ginobili (3) 3.1 / 2.4
34. Chris Kaman (4) 1.6 / -0.7
35. Paul Pierce (3) 2.1 / 2.8
36. Mike Miller (4) -0.1 / -0.1
37. Kevin Garnett (3) 3.2 / 1.9
38. Chauncey Billups (3) 2.3 / 2
39. Kenyon Martin (4) -2.7 / 0.2
40. Tim Duncan (3) 1.7 / 1.3
41. Anthony Parker (4) -2.4 / 0
42. Andrew Bogut (4) -2 / -0.2
43. Jose Calderon (4) 0.2 / -1.7
44. Rashard Lewis (3) 1 / 1.1
45. Josh Howard (4) -1.4 / -1
46. Brad Miller (4) -0.1 / -1.2
47. Lamar Odom (3) -0.2 / 4.7
48. Hedo Turkoglu (3) 1 / 0.8
49. Michael Redd (4) 0.2 / -2.5
50. Devin Harris (3) -1.1 / 1.3
51. Peja Stojakovic (4) -1.4 / -1.8
52. Andre Iguodala (3) 1.2 / -0.3
53. Grant Hill (4) -1.4 / -2
54. Zach Randolph (4) -2 / -1.6
55. Ryan Gomes (4) -3.9 / 0.3
56. Josh Childress (4) -2.5 / -0.8
57. Kevin Durant (3) -1.3 / 1
58. David Lee (4) -3 / -1.2
59. Ben Gordon (3) -1 / 0.8
60. Corey Maggette (4) 0 / -2.9
61. J.r. Smith (4) -4.1 / -1
62. Jamal Crawford (4) -0.6 / -2.8
63. Rasheed Wallace (3) -0.1 / -0.1
64. Raja Bell (4) -3 / -1.4
65. Rafer Alston (4) -1.9 / -2.4
66. Leandro Barbosa (4) -1.7 / -2.7
67. Richard Jefferson (3) -1 / -0.1
68. Andre Miller (3) -1.1 / -0.3
69. Rashad Mccants (4) -2.9 / -2.1
70. Tracy Mcgrady (4) -1.3 / -5.5
71. Ray Allen (3) 0.2 / -1.6
72. Dwight Howard (3) 0.7 / -1.8
73. Zydrunis Ilgauskas (3) -1.6 / -0.1
74. Lamarcus Aldridge (3) -1.6 / -0.2
75. Mehmet Okur (3) -2.3 / 0.1
76. Drew Gooden (3) -4.1 / 0.4
77. Anthony Carter (4) -2.6 / -2.8
78. Ricky Davis (4) -3.2 / -2.4
79. Francisco Garcia (4) -3.5 / -2.3
80. Al Horford (4) -3.1 / -2.8
81. Raymond Felton (4) -2.4 / -3.4
82. Randy Foye (4) -4.4 / -2.2
83. Jamario Moon (4) -2.9 / -3.1
84. Shane Battier (4) -2.4 / -3.6
85. Al Harrington (4) -2.7 / -3.6
86. Samuel Dalembert (3) -1.8 / -1.5
87. Rasho Nesterovic (4) -6.4 / -0.8
88. Jason Terry (4) -2 / -4.1
89. Andris Biedrins (4) -2.4 / -3.9
90. Luol Deng (3) -2.5 / -1.4
91. Tyson Chandler (4) -2.3 / -4.3
92. Marko Jaric (4) -4.3 / -0.8
93. Mickael Pietrus (4) -5.4 / -1.6
94. Shaquille O’neal (4) -4.3 / -2.9
95. T.j. Ford (4) -3.5 / -3.4
96. Bonzi Wells (4) -6.1 / -2.6
97. Jameer Nelson (3) -3 / -1.6
98. Richard Hamilton (3) -1.3 / -2.8
99. Brandon Roy (3) -0.9 / -3
100. Marvin Williams (4) -3.2 / -4
101. Cuttino Mobley (4) -3.6 / -3.7
102. Brendan Haywood (4) -3.5 / -4
103. Tony Parker (3) -2.8 / -2.2
104. Emeka Okafor (4) -2.7 / -4.7
105. Deshaw Stevenson (4) -4.6 / -3.4
106. Kirk Hinrich (3) -2.3 / -2.9
107. Jerry Stackhouse (4) -5.7 / -3.1
108. Boris Diaw (4) -4.5 / -3.5
109. Beno Udrih (4) -3 / -4.7
110. Rajon Rondo (3) -3 / -2.5
111. Hakim Warrick (4) -6.4 / -2.4
112. Tim Thomas (4) -4 / -4.4
113. Ronald Murray (4) -6.3 / -3.3
114. Chris Quinn (4) -6.8 / -3.2
115. Erick Dampier (4) -4.9 / -3.9
116. Ronnie Brewer (3) -2.6 / -3.7
117. Juan_car Navarro (4) -5.1 / -4.1
118. Mikki Moore (4) -5.3 / -4
119. Antonio Daniels (4) -4.6 / -4.5
120. Earl Watson (3) -3.8 / -3.5
121. Kyle Korver (3) -4.8 / -3.1
122. Brevin Knight (4) -5.7 / -4.2
123. Daniel Gibson (3) -2.8 / NA
124. Joakim Noah (3) -6.3 / -2.9
125. Derek Fisher (3) -3.7 / -3.9
126. Andrei Kirilenko (3) -0.9 / -5.2
127. Charl Villanueva (4) -6 / -4.2
128. Linas Kleiza (4) -4.8 / -4.9
129. Kyle Lowry (4) -5.5 / -4.6
130. Nick Collison (3) -3.8 / -4.4
131. Luke Ridnour (3) -6.7 / -3.2
132. Vladi Radmanovic (3) -5.3 / -3.7
133. Luis Scola (4) -5.7 / -4.8
134. Tayshaun Prince (3) -4.3 / -4.7
135. Maurice Evans (3) -6.4 / -3.7
136. Kirk Snyder (4) -7 / -4.6
137. Ronny Turiaf (3) -6 / -3.9
138. Paul Millsap (3) -5.2 / -4.3
139. Steve Blake (3) -4.6 / -4.7
140. Martell Webster (3) -5.3 / -4.3
141. Delonte West (3) -5.8 / -4.2
142. John Salmons (4) -2.9 / -6.8
143. Jeff Green (3) -6.5 / -4.1
144. Josh Boone (3) -6.8 / -4
145. Kendrick Perkins (3) -4.9 / -4.7
146. Stephane Lasme (4) -6.3 / -5.1
147. Joel Przybilla (3) -5.9 / -4.3
148. Roger Mason (4) -6 / -5.3
149. Larry Hughes (3) -4.1 / -5.6
150. Quent Richardson (4) -6.8 / -5.1
151. Carl Landry (4) -6.3 / -5.3
152. Jeff Foster (4) -5.3 / -6.1
153. Kelenna Azubuike (4) -6.1 / -5.5
154. Gordan Giricek (4) -8.5 / -5
155. Josh Powell (4) -8.4 / -5
156. Pau Gasol (3) 0.9 / -7.1
157. Eduardo Najera (4) -5.7 / -6
158. Thabo Sefolosha (3) -6.4 / -4.8
159. Darius Songaila (4) -7.2 / -5.4
160. Shawne Williams (4) -7.4 / -5.4
161. Chuck Hayes (4) -6 / -5.9
162. Sasha Vujacic (3) -6.2 / -5
163. Eddie House (3) -5.8 / -5.2
164. Louis Williams (3) -5.4 / -5.7
165. Anthony Johnson (4) -6.1 / -6
166. Luke Walton (3) -6 / -5.3
167. Matt Carroll (4) -6.1 / -6
168. Thaddeus Young (3) -5.7 / -5.4
169. Brandon Bass (4) -6.7 / -5.7
170. Travis Outlaw (3) -5.2 / -6.1
171. Jarrett Jack (3) -4.9 / -6.3
172. Antonio Mcdyess (3) -4.6 / -6.5
173. Jordan Farmar (3) -4.8 / -6.5
174. Keith Bogans (3) -5.3 / -6.2
175. Anderson Varejao (3) -5.5 / -6.1
176. Nazr Mohammed (4) -6.6 / -6.1
177. Fred Jones (4) -6.4 / -6.3
178. James Posey (3) -5.2 / -6.7
179. Marquis Daniels (4) -6.4 / -6.3
180. Ben Wallace (3) -5.2 / -6.8
181. Desmond Mason (4) -6.1 / -7.1
182. Johan Petro (3) -7.8 / -5.5
183. Darko Milicic (4) -5.9 / -7.2
184. Devin Brown (3) -7.1 / -6
185. Andrea Bargnani (4) -6.4 / -7.1
186. Bostjan Nachbar (3) -6.1 / -6.7
187. Al Thornton (4) -6.4 / -7.1
188. Michael Finley (3) -6.5 / -6.4
189. Jason Maxiell (3) -7 / -6.1
190. Kurt Thomas (3) -4.7 / -7.7
191. Reggie Evans (3) -8 / -5.9
192. Dikembe Mutombo (4) -8.2 / -6.2
193. James Jones (3) -5.5 / -7.3
194. Craig Smith (4) -6.3 / -7.4
195. Bobby Jackson (4) -7 / -6.7
196. Chucky Atkins (4) -8.4 / -6.2
197. Travis Diener (4) -7.1 / -6.7
198. Carlos Arroyo (3) -6.9 / -6.5
199. Andray Blatche (4) -5.2 / -8.1
200. Ime Udoka (3) -7.2 / -6.5

Line of the Night: Kobe Bryant (5.8) by a Chicago mile*. Lets ignore the painful fact that the Lakers lost to the Grizzles, and focus on Kobe Bryant, the guy taking his recent look straight out of the Lisa ‘left Eye’ Lopes playbook. Kobe attempted an insane 17 threes and managed to hit 9 of them on his way to 53 points. He also had 10 rebounds and 3 steals. Says Kobe about the loss:

“We lost to two teams that thankfully we won’t be seeing in the playoffs,” Bryant said. “I don’t think it’s dire straits by any stretch of the imagination, but still we got to buck up here.”

Yes, thankfully the Lakers won’t be meeting the Grizzles in the playoffs. That would be a disaster for LA.

Honorable Mentions: Did you hear that Carlos Boozer (5.1) had a block yesterday? That’s nice to see. He also had 34 points (16-22 shooting) and 17 boards; Jason Richardson (4.8) went for 27/7/5 with 6 threes, but shot a Jason Richardson-esque 7-20 from the floor; Deron Williams (4.8) jazzed his was to 32 points and 10 assists; and Michael Bibby (4.8), who he haven’t heard much from in Atlanta, scored 30 with 8 assists and 6 threes.

Learn from My Mistakes Line of the Night: This scenario has happened to everyone who has ever played in a daily changes league. Troy Murphy (4.6) sat out the Pacers game on Wednesday. So, instead of putting him in my lineup last night and risking wasting a game played on him (the league has an 82 game limit) I stuck him on my bench. Murphy responds by not only playing, but going for 21 and 17 in only 28 minutes on the floor. I said some things last night about Troy I’m not proud of, but I think we’ve both gotten past it now.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Greg Oden dominated in a pickup game at 24 hour fitness in Tualatin the other day, where he finished with 8-10 dunks and tons of blocked shots. Pick him up for your team if he comes to a gym near you.

Ah shit, do I really have to do this? According to the “player rater” and its “fancy stats”, the real WWlotN goes to… Darko Milicic (4.1) - the guy I said should never be on a fantasy team again (and which I still believe). Against a Lakers team who decided not to play defense last night, Darko had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Please do not pick this guy up.

John Salmons (4.1) only shot 3-11 from the floor, but he add 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steals and a block in 35 minutes; and Marko Jaric (4.0) had 11/4/7 with 3 steals and a block.

The Biggest Loser: Andrei Kirilenko with the rarely seen 0.8 score on the night. He played 9 minutes, going for 0/0/0, before leaving with a calf injury.

Dishonorable Mentions: Michael Redd (1.6) went 3-16 from the floor, scoring 7 points and adding 6 boards and 2 assists in 33 minutes as the Bucks got thrashed by the Magic; Larry Hughes (1.0) shot 2-8 on the night, finishing with 5 points and nothing, and I mean nothing, else.

* Little known fact: A Chicago mile is slightly longer than a New York mile, simply because you have to find a way to stuff the word Magnificent in there.

Line of the Night: Jason Kidd (6.42) pulled out the first 6+ I’ve seen in a while. Or at least that I remember seeing. And reality and what I remember can be two vastly different things. Kidd had 19 points on 6/11, 4/5 and 3 threes. He also has 15 assists, 4 rebounds (no triple-double??), 5 steals, and - ouch - 6 turnovers. It actually reminds me of this super old school post about Jason Kidd having 6 turnovers.

Honorable Mentions: Allen Iverson (5.41) had 31 points; and in what might be the most incredible Bronze Medal line I’ve ever seen, Baron Davis (5.35) had 12/5/7 with 4 steals and 2 blocks, but shot 4/12 from the field, including 1/5 from three. But, those 2 blocks were as much as anyone else had last night, and the 4 steals were pretty close (see: Jason Kidd, above). Carmelo Anthony (5.28) checked in just under those two, but had what seems to me to be a better game, with 32/10/8 and 2 steals.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Checking in at numero cinco is Steve Blake (4.96) with 22 points, and 6 assists on 8/12 shooting with 4 threes. The funny thing is, I’m seeing (not literally, of course) Steve Blake getting a lot of minutes in Portland, but I’m not seeing him do much. If you need assists, though, say, if you’re going up against a team next week that has Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, or Chris Paul… maybe it’s worth picking up Blake just for that.

The Biggest Loser: A day after his line of 28/9/6 (with 7 threes) Ricky Davis (2.02) played only 1 less minute, but scored 21 less points, shot nearly 40% worse, had 4 less rebounds, and 4 less assists. That’s 7/5/2 for those who can’t do word problems. Wow, Mad Libs and Word Problems. Patrick’s got his TMNT jammies… I think I might still have my She-Ra He-Man action figures somewhere. Maybe underneath my Batman underoos…

Friday’s Tiny Dancer: Wow. Remember how I said that part about my memory at the beginning? No? Don’t worry, neither do I. But I do remember how I just looked up new jersey nets dancers on Google to find a picture for today’s Tiny Dancer. Yeah, Jason Kidd… not so much on the Nets anymore. Too bad, too… because…

and

But both the Nets and Mavericks Dance Teams were eliminated in the first round of this year’s Dance Team Bracket. Probably because Dallas had some idiot pick this picture for them:

Mark, here’s a tip, next year, make them post one of these kinds of pictures:

The latest NBA Carnival - Carnival of the NBA 55 - is up at Daily Basketball. This on is presented in a sweet calendar format for easy browsing. As mentioned in the Carnival:

The theme for this “issue” of the Carnival is “Make up your own NBA holiday.” … Bloggers for struggling teams wasted no time in degrading their coaches, with holidays right after the end of the season.

I’m a little disappointed no one created “Celebrate an NBA Dancer Day”. Now, that would be a holiday we can all enjoy.

In other linkage related news, Hardwood Paroxysm has a great interview with D-League President Dan Reed about the past, present, and future of the D-League. Unlike Isiah Thomas, the man at least has a coherent plan.

Also, Blake at Hoops Addict has an interesting article with ideas about how to better develop the D-League.

And since I can’t stop talking about the D-League, apparently Portland, Maine is getting its own D-League team in 2009. Really? Maine? Seriously? So New York can’t get a D-League team, but Maine can? I can see possibly why this league is having some problems. Still, as a current resident of the state, I’m saving my pennies for some season tickets. I just hope Rod Benson is still in the league then.

Finally, I am so stoked that Mad Libs is making a comeback, I’ve broke out the TMNT PJ’s for the occasion. Nels had an inspired Day 148 post and now Jeff W has a great Smitch vs.Oak Mad Libs post on The Score.com. I’m anxiously looking forward to the next Mad Libs post.

I hate to be so quick to dismiss someone like Chris Webber, but this is a fantasy basketball blog, and if you really want to read people opining on the career that was, well, there’s plenty of other places where that’s happening.

Line of the Night: If you filled in yesterday’s madlibs with anything along the lines of Mike Dunleavy (5.18), You Are Win!! That’s right, Dunleavy (Jr.) continues to mindfuck everyone and their grandmothers, this time with 9/16, 10/10, 5 threes for 33 points. He added 6 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal, a block, and no turnovers! Dunzo!

Honorable Mentions: Usually when the NBA.com numbers drop below 5 after one player, it’s not a good sign. Let’s see if that holds up… J-Rich (4.81) had 34 points, 4 threes, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. If it wasn’t for the 13/28 from the field, the 4/7 from the line, and the 3 turnovers, I’d say that was just as good a line as Dunzo’s. Ricky Davis (4.72) was 9/15, seven of which were three-pointers, for 28 points. He also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Anyone playing 45 minutes for Miami is a fantasy goldmine right now! Zydrunas Ilgauskas (4.62) had 29 and 15 with 2 blocks on 13/19 from the field. Kevin Garnett (4.50) must have been tired from scoring his 30 points, since he only had 3 rebounds. He did manage 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, though, and didn’t turn the ball over. Not even once.

Okay, apparently the low scores are not due to poor performances, but more due to a parity situation. Evidence: Devin Harris only pulls a 4.49 with 22 points, 3 threes, 15 assists, and 2 steals. And if you’re counting on Brad Miller for your playoff run, now was a great time to make that gamble. Miller (4.48) had 15/17/8 with 2 steals and 2 blocks. This is good because now people will probably overvalue Miller going into draft’s for next season, and that means you (or I) can avoid his every-other-season-is-good ass and get some overlooked player with Tremendous Upside Potential.

Okay, there’s bunch of other good games, but I’ll stop just short of actually having to mention Andrew Bogut (4.43) and Gerald Wallace (4.38).

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: I can’t see Ricky Davis being available at this point, so let’s look a little deeper… Okay, Louis Williams (4.11) had a pretty good game last night, with 23 points on 5 threes, along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He’s really streaky, though, so he’s only really the WWLotN in absolute terms. If you’re in the Championship Bracket of your league, you probably don’t need someone like Williams increasing the risk of your lineup.

To give you an idea of the state of Waiver Wire players, Thabo Sefolosha (3.75) had 20/5/5 on 8/11 and 4 threes. Of course that was in an tremendously efficient 28 minutes, 2 games after he played 7 minutes. This is good for the Championship Bracket owners because it probably means the All Star type players who got your there are performing like they should.

The Biggest Loser: In absolute terms, I’d suggest that Spencer Hawes (1.28) has taken the biggest fall… 2 games after playing 38 minutes and getting 19/12 and 3 blocks, he played only 9 minutes going 0/1 with 1 rebound.

Leandro Barbosa (1.42) is at number 57 on the player rater right now, but last night, as the Suns got blown out by the Celtics, L-Barb played 23 minutes going 0/4 from the field, scoring 2 points on free throws, and only adding 1 assist and 1 steal versus 2 turnovers. Short bus!