Day 26 of 170: Where the Raptors Become the First Team to Give Up

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Trades
Posted on: November 21st, 2010

Line of the Night: A 20-20 night for Al Horford (1.57) against the Mavericks (in the parts I saw, he treated Brendon Haywood like a cardboard cutout). Hortford was 10-12 from the floor, adding 5 assists and 3 blocked shots. The Hawks still lost the game, although blame can be squarely placed on Joe Johnson (0.01) and Jamal Crawford (-0.45), who shot a combined 6-24 from the field in this one.

Honorable Mentions: Stephen Jackson (1.48) – who is quietly having a crazy good three point shooting season – triple-doubled against the Suns. He finished with 24 points, 10 boards and 10 assists (and 4 threes) as the Bobcats dropped 123 points in a win. Things went so well for the Bobcats that even Boris Diaw (0.65) – with 26 points on 11-17 shooting – looked good.

The Knicks beat the now 1-13 Clippers by a score of 124-115. They were led by Danilo Gallinari (1.43), who scored 31 with 4 threes and 4 steals and Amare Stoudemire (0.66) who finished with 39 points and 11 boards. Raymond Felton (1.26) also had 7 steals for the Knicks… Good lord, the Clippers need to learn how to take care of the ball. The only – and I mean only – bright spots for the Clippers were Blake Griffin (0.91), who exploded for 44 points, 15 boards and 7 assists and Eric Gordon (0.39), who scored 25 points. I’m not quite sure yet, but this Blake Griffin kid might be alright.

After a week long stretch of mediocre games, Al Jefferson (0.95) rebounded (pun intended) against the Blazers with a 20 and 14.

Finally, Lebron James (0.56) scored 29 points and added 11 assists for the Dwyane Wade-less Heat, but got burned by Rudy Gay in the last second of regulation to give the Grizzlies the 97-95 win. What’s the word I’m looking for? Right. HaHa.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: It’s the official backup plays great while the superstar is out day (or BPGWSIO Day for short). Kevin Durant sat with an ankle injury for the Thunder, so James Harden (0.81) got the start and scored 23 points with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. With Wade out for the Heat with a sprained wrist, Eddie House (0.71) was second on the team in scoring with 20 points, hitting 6-9 threes. I love House, but if the Heat have to rely on him long-term, yikes… And Steve Nash sat his second straight game with a groin injury, so Goran Dragic (0.66) got the start and finished with 17 points and 10 assists.

Those three stars are currently day-to-day and none of the injuries appears to be Brandon Roy-level serious, so their backups’ value will be short lived.

Pick-up Lines: C.J. Miles (0.6) scored 25 off the bench for the Jazz, but his 7-10 from three was nearly as many threes had hit all season up to that point (12). Still, Miles provides some scoring off the bench for the Jazz and is getting about 25 minutes a game.

Tiago Splitter (0.55) finished with 18 and 5 off the bench for the Spurs and got a season high 26 minutes. I wouldn’t pick him up immediately, but if he continues to get a consistent 25 minutes, he’ll be worth owning in most leagues.

Daniel Gibson (0.38) – with 29 minutes off the bench – continues to get run for the Cavs even with Mo Williams back. Gibson was 3-4 from three and scored 17 points against the Spurs.

Trade of the Night: Correct me if I’m wrong, but we have our first trade of the season with some fantasy implications: the Raptors agreed to send Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks and David Andersen to the Hornets for Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless. The fantasy impact is about as clear cut as it gets: Jose Calderon is freed from his timeshare situation with Jack in Toronto and should be picked up in all leagues. There is a chance Calderon splits time with Bayless, but the job right now is Calderon’s to lose. Jack goes to backup Chris Paul and immediately becomes expendable. Peja is an expiring contract at this point. Marcus Banks and David Andersen have no fantasy value.

For better or worse, the Peja era is done in New Orleans

The Biggest Loser: OJ Mayo (-0.58) was benched for a quarter for being late to the Grizzlies pre-game shoot around. He never recovered from that public shaming, shooting 1-7 from the field and scoring 2 points with 0 boards and 0 assists in 22 minutes.

On Tap: Golden State (7-5) at LA Lakers (11-2). Matt Barnes looks to keep his perfect shooting streak alive after going 7-7 in the Lakers’ last game. David Lee is still out with an infected elbow and is due to have it reevaluated on Tuesday, making him a risky play for next week.

Boston (9-3) at Toronto (4-9) – Our first look at Jose Calderon as Toronto’s starting PG once again. Rajon Rondo will be a game-time decision after straining his hamstring in the Celtics’ last game, although he did travel with the team.

In the bonus: Bye-bye Peja | Hornets/Toronto trade analysis | Fantasy Implications

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Tags: Al Horford, Blake Griffin, Daniel Gibson, Eddie House, James Harden, OJ Mayo, Stephen Jackson, Tiago Splitter