Day 79 of 170: Blake Griffin, We Hardly Knew Ye

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball
Posted on: January 14th, 2010

Line of the Night: Chris Paul (1.22) had 15 assists in this game, which sounds like just another nice game from an elite point guard until you see that he also had no turnovers. 15 assists and 0 turnovers; it makes me wonder what the record is for most assists in a game is without a turnover (this is where a GMTR intern would come in useful). Paul added 15 points and 4 steals as the Hornets easily won this game over Baron Davis and the bad news Clippers.

Honorable Mentions: Even with a sprained wrist, Dwyane Wade (1.13) dropped a 35/7/9 in a win over the Golden State Warriors. He shot a season high 10-15 from the field, but also added 7 turnovers; and Aaron Brooks (1.07) used a triple-overtime game against the Wolves to score 43 points, going 6-9 from behind the arc. Go ahead and use those overtimes Brooks, we don’t judge here.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Eventually, Mike Dunleavy (1.06) was going to get his shot to fall, and what better team to get it going than against the Phoenix Suns. Dunleavy was 9-14 from the floor and 4-7 from three in this one to finish with 30 points. That’s two straight games where Dunleavy has shot at least 50% from the field, the first time he’s done that since December 14th. One more time and we can officially call it a trend.

Bonus Waiver Wire Lines: Tim Duncan sat for the Spurs on the second night of a back-to-back, giving rookie DeJuan Blair (1.04) an opportunity to start. Boy-oh-boy did he ever make the most of that opportunity with 28 points and 21 rebounds in 31 minutes on the court. If you could somehow find a way to only start Blair on the second night of back-to-back games when Duncan sits, you owe it to yourself to make that happen; Against the Nuggets, Matt Barnes (1.03) scored 28 points with 9 rebounds in 27 minutes on the court. Barnes currently has his shot falling and is getting minutes as a starter. Expect him to continue to start for the Magic and he’s worth an add in all leagues; and Ersan Ilyasova (0.76) saw the largest amount of court time he’s seen all month (31 minutes) for the Bucks and made the most of the burn with 24 points and 4 threes

Injury of the Day: You probably heard the news yesterday, but Blake Griffin (or Gruffub as we like to affectionately refer to him) is officially out for the rest of the season after tests confirmed that his knee injury required additional surgery, which will effectively sideline him the rest of the season. Griffin may be a “game changing talent,” but we’ll have to wait until next season to actually see him change a game. This injury has no effect on the Clippers rotation since Griffin has never played for them, with the possible exception of the team unraveling, losing any hopes for the playoffs, and mailing in the remainder of the season starting in February. I’m not saying that is what’s going to happen, but it would be the Clippers’ way.

The Biggest Loser: Eric Gordon (-0.66) was 4-14 in the Clips/Hornets game (0-7 from three) and finished with 11 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 2 minutes on the court. The lesson for everyone out there: fear Devin Brown.

All Eyez on Me: The NBA rolls on with two games tonight: Chicago (16-20) at Boston (27-10) and Cleveland (30-10) at Utah (21-17).

Unfortunately, neither of these games has any hint of Golden Ticket in them. For the Celtics, KG and Rasheed Wallace will likely be out for at least another week, leaving the starting PF spot to the man, the myth, the legend, the Brian Scalabrine. While it would be difficult to create a human being as different as Scalabrine is to KG, the red-haired beast does give 110% of whatever-it-is-he-has out on the court. And there is always the chance that he heats up from three and knocks down like 5 three-pointers. But based on the Bulls’ history, the more likely outcome is that Kendrick Perkins has a huge game down low for the Celtics.

The last time the Cavs and Jazz met in mid-November LeBron was held to a 6-15 shooting night, but the rest of the Cavs team propped him by hitting 33 of 61 shots. And when I have nothing to do one snowy day, it’s time we examine the curious case of J.J. Hickson and the growing importance (insanity? brilliance?) of the 6th man.

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Tags: Aaron Brooks, Chris Paul, DeJuan Blair, Los Angeles Clippers, Mike Dunleavy