Line of the Night: Lebron James (1.96) celebrated his 25th birthday with a win over Hawks and this crazy line: 48 points on 15-23 shooting, 14-16 from the line, 10 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. And he looked good doing it to:

Honorable Mentions: Channing Frye (1.4) took advantage of a Celtics team playing without Paul Pierce and KG to score 26 points, adding 10 boards and 6 threes; Chris Bosh (1.24) had 33 and 13 in a win over the Bobcats; not to be outdone, David Lee (1.2) almost had a triple-double with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists; and Brook Lopez (1.15) – who was playing against Lee and the Knicks – had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Luther Head (0.9) makes his yearly appearance in a random NBA lineup. And this year it’s for the Danny Granger-less Indiana Pacers, who gave Head his first start of the year. He responded by trying his career-high in points with 30 on 10-19 shooting. He also hit 4 threes and pulled down 7 rebounds. Head is not going to get 39 minutes every game like he did last night, but he gives the Pacers a much needed scorer while Mike Dunleavy continues his disastrous performance on the court.
The Biggest Loser: I’m not sure how much longer Mike Dunleavy (-0.78) actually qualifies as a disappointment before he just turns into “sucky player”, but he did have the worst game score of the night. Dunleavy played only 16 minutes, but took home the rare 0/0/0 line, missing the 3 shots he took. Droppable at this point? Sadly, he probably is.
All Eyez on Me: The NBA gives us 5 games tonight for New Year’s Eve rather than the customary three.
Utah (18-13) at Oklahoma City (17-14) – The Thunder look for the 5th straight win against the Jazz today. Durant has averaged 35+ points a game during the streak and yet says, “I could be more aggressive, I think.”
Dallas (22-9) at Houston (19-13) – Your intrastate Texas match-up of the day. The last time these two teams met, Kyle Lowry had 26 points and 10 assists off the bench and Carl Landry’s teeth got a visit from Dirk’s elbow. Since that game, Lowry has been fairly quiet offensively while Carl Landry came back strong and hasn’t missed a beat.
Philadelphia (9-22) at Los Angeles Clippers (13-18) – So I go out on a limb and say that Lou Williams is going to be a dud in 2010. And then what happens? He goes out and scores 22 points yesterday, hitting 9 of 15 shots. Well, I still stand by my statement, Iverson in the Sixers’ backcourt can only mean less scoring opportunities for Williams over the long haul.
A Happy New Year’s to all the GMTR readers around the world!
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Tags: LeBron James, Luther Head, Mike Dunleavy
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