Give Me The Rock

Line of the Night: Stephen Jackson (6.1). My, how times have changed. Could you have seen this written about Jackson before this season?

Just when it appeared the Los Angeles Lakers were going to successfully rally from a 26-point deficit, the Golden State Warriors turned to Stephen Jackson.

Smart move.

Like Joe Johnson yesterday, Capt Jack’s line isn’t going to blow you away, but it covers all the bases: 31 points, 9-9 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, a block and 6 threes.

Honorable Mentions: Although they didn’t have the top score, both Lamar Odom’s (5.7) and Kobe Bryant’s (5.6) lines are a little sexier than Jackson’s. Odom had 19 and 22 with 4 blocks, while Kobe went for 36/14/8 and hit 3 threes; Manu Ginobili (5.2) was the only good thing to come out of the Mavs/Spurs game. He had a line of 26/8/6 with a steal and a block; and Allen Iverson (5.0) hit 5 threes on his way to 36 points.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: At the beginning of the season, Jamario Moon (4.6) busted out like the Kool Aid Man from behind a brick wall. But then he cooled off during the long slog and was dropped in many a league. If he’s available, it’s tough to beat the 15 points, 15 boards and 3 blocks he had against the Nuggets. It was his third straight game of 10+ boards.

And Ronny Turiaf (4.1) isn’t going to make anyone forget about Pau Gasol, although yesterday he scored 16 with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in an efficient 23 minutes. Looking at his game log, Turiaf has been consistently mediocre as a starter. But at least he’s consistent.

Biggest Loser: Dirk Nowitzki owners. What great way to gear up for that long fantasy playoff run! As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Dirk left yesterday’s game with a foot/ankle injury and had to be carried off the court. He’s going to be re-evaluated today and we’ll know more about the injury then. Of course, that’s a day too late for the teams who own him. There is nothing quite like the feeling of wasting 5 months of your life as your fantasy team falls apart because your best player gets injured right before playoff time. I think it’s a combination of disgust, anger, and depression.

Dishonorable Mentions: Tony Parker (2.0) put together one of the worst shooting performances I’ve seen all year. He was 4-21 from the floor, which let me get my calculator, is 19%. The performance even included a 0-9 second half. I’ll give him this: the man does not give up easily.