Day 20 of 170: Dirk's run for MVP starts now?

Categorized as: Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: November 17th, 2008

Line of the Night: Dirk (1.62) pulled out his second Line of the Night of the season with 39 points, 15 rebounds, a steal, and a block while making all 12 free throws and shooting 48% from the floor. Nothing like playing against the Knicks and going to overtime to enhance that stat line.

Honorable Mentions: Amare Stoudemire (1.04) had 29/11 with 2 steals and a block while shooting 64.7% from the field and 87.5% from the line. John Salmons (0.99) doesn’t quite make the WWLotN, since I don’t think he’ll be available in most 12+ team leagues. But he did score 31 point on 3 threes, with 2 steals, but fails Patrick’s FG% test by shooting 76.9%. Josh Howard (0.90) had 31 and 14 with a steal and 3 blocks, but only make 6/9 free throws. Like I said before, any overtime game against the Knicks is going to be a good fantasy game. As further evidence, Zach Randolph (0.83) had 27 and 18 with 2 threes. Now, if he could block a shot he’d be the next Dirk Nowitzki.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Michael Finley (0.56) played 35 minutes for the Spurs and used that time to score 21 points on 47% shooting. He also had 3 threes, 3 rebounds and 1 each of assists, steals, and blocks. He’s been averaging 29 minutes per game this season, and only scored in double-digits a few times, so keep that in mind if you’re looking to pick him up. Probably a better guy for leagues with daily lineup changes, so you don’t have to have him in if you’ve got someone better.

Matt Bonner (0.51) might be worth a look if you need a small ball center (perhaps to play a few while Mehmet Okur is overseas). His PT has picked up in the last 2 games, and he’s made 3 threes in each of those.

The Biggest Loser: Erick Dampier (-0.47) followed up his monster game against the Bulld (when he had 16 and 18) with 4 and 9 against Orlando, and then played just 4 minutes last night against the Knicks. Let’s all remember, that was an overtime game.

Dahntay Jones also clocked in at -0.47, starting for the Nuggets but playing only 17 minutes compared to JR Smith’s 24. Jones scored 2 points on 1/3 shooting. Honestly, I’m staying away from both of those guys for now.

Finally, Allen Iverson (-0.36) had a pretty terrible game against the Suns, playing 36 minutes but shooting 23.5% en route to only 9 points. He had 7 assists, but also turned the ball over 5 times.

All Eyez On Me: Phoenix and Utah will probably be the game to watch, and Amare is always in the running for LotN (see his 2nd place finish today). But I’m thinking that Yao Ming is going to step it up against a fairly weak OKC front line.

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Tags: Allen Iverson, Amare Stoudemire, Dahntay Jones, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Matt Bonner, Mehmet Okur, Michael Finley, Zach Randolph