Day 37 of 170: The Return of the Booz, Russell Westbrook, and LeBron’s Homecoming

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Injuries
Posted on: December 2nd, 2010

Line of the Night: It may have taken 3 overtimes and a lack of Kevin Durant, but Jeff Green (2.55) put up a very Durant-like 37 points, with 5 rebounds and 4 threes. He was also 9-9 from the line in the 123-120 win over New Jersey. Durant is day-today with a sprained left knee and should not miss much time.

Honorable Mentions: Russell Westbrook (1.48) gets an atta boy for scoring all of the Thunder’s points in the third overtime and coming one assist short of a triple-double with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. Nice for Thunder fans to know that even without Durant, they still have a player who loves to take over games. You might want to know why Westbrook doesn’t have the best line of the night? It’s because of turnovers and a meh kind of night from the line. Run the rater without those two categories included and Westbrook ends up at #1.

Great night to be a PG – Deron Williams (2.38) scored 24 points with 16 assists as the Jazz crushed Indiana 110-88; Jameer Nelson (2.24) was 8-11 from floor and finished with 24 points, 9 assists and 3 threes, spoiling a certain player’s return from a certain broken hand; and Chris Paul (1.67) only shot 4-7 from the field and only scored 9 points, but added 14 assists and 4 steals.

Paul Pierce (2.19) hit 9 of the 11 shots he took, tying a season-high with 28 points and 4 threes. Just in case you don’t have enough Boston Celtics in your life, make sure to catch them on the documentary series entitled “The Association”, narrated by who else, Boston’s own Donnie Wahlberg.

Blake Griffin’s (1.55) 31 and 13 helped the Clippers beat the Spurs (the team with the best record in the league). Don’t try and understand how the Clippers work, life is much happier if you just sit back and appreciate Griffin.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Larry Sanders (2.28) wants you to come to his neighborhood block party. Starting at center for an injured Andrew Bogut, the rookie had a 14 and 10 double-double with 8 blocks in only 33 minutes. With Bogut expected back soon and Sanders’ numbers all over the place in three starts, leave him as a free agent for now.

Pick Up Lines: He definitely isn’t sexy, but Shane Battier (1.66) continues to put up lines that will play in deeper roto leagues. Against the Lakers, Battier scored 17 points (not a season high believe it or not), adding 6 boards, 4 threes and 2 blocks.

With Devin Harris out at least a couple games with a strained left knee, Jordan Farmar (1.57) filled in admirably with 28 points, 9 assists and 3 threes 2 steals. Sure it took 3 overtimes for him to get those numbers, but chances are that Farmar is available in your league (he’s owned in 6% of leagues), and he makes a good micro pickup while Harris is out if you are in a daily league.

I wouldn’t run to pick him up just yet, but Mario Chalmers (0.83) saw his third straight game of 20+ for the Heat, and had 6 assists and 3 steals. Signs point to a timeshare situation with him and Carlos Arroyo, but it’s something to keep an eye on if you’re desperate for a PG.

The Lakers decided to go with Matt Barnes (0.49) over Ron Artest last night to guard Kevin Martin. The result was nearly 30 minutes for Barnes, as he scored 14 points with 8 boards. Barnes is a much better long-term option for the Lakers than Artest, which makes it all the more humorous that the Lakers have Artest signed for four more years, compared to two for Barnes.

Injury of the Night: Joe Johnson is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks after getting surgery to clean up some loose bodies in his elbow. “Loose” is never a good word when talking about the human body, unless it refers to the girl you just met. Maurice Evans (0.07) got the start in Johnson’s place and put up the 117th best line of the night with 9 points and not much else in 22 minutes. Josh Powell was 8-9 from the floor and scored 16 points off the bench, but he failed to do anything else.

Possibly pick up Evans of he’s available and you are in a deep league, but I don’t expect he’ll do much of anything other than occupy a point in space and time during games. Rather, Mike Bibby (1.43) got extra playing time – scoring 15 points with 6 assists 4 and threes – as did Jamal Crawford (0.50). Those are the two guys who stand to benefit the most from Johnson’s absence.

Welcome Back: Last night was the long awaited return of Baron Davis (0.24)! Wait, was that just me? Rather Carlos Boozer (-0.06) played his first game for the Bulls, started at PF, and was a complete non-factor as the Bulls got crushed by the Magic 107-78. Boozer looked rusty on the court, scoring 5 points with 2 rebounds in 22 minutes. You might want to witness a good game from Boozer before sticking him back in your lineup. Strangely, Joakim Noah failed to grab a rebound in this game. His previous low on the season was 7. Boozer’s return also spells the end of Taj Gibson’s (10 points in 23 minutes) fantasy value. Let’s consider Boozer’s return to the Bulls a work in progress.

Biggest Loser: Speaking of Ron Artest (-1.03), he only played 17 minutes against the Rockets, finishing with 4 points and 2 rebounds. Artest’s minutes and stats are way down this season and he should be dropped in all normal sized leagues at this point.

On Tap: Only two games tonight, but you may have heard about one of them already – Miami (11-8) at Cleveland (7-10). Yes, LeBron returns to the city that he stabbed in the back, surely to be greeted by a standing ovation when he’s announced back. What do you want him to do? Do you want him to drop a triple-double on the Cavs?

Any other day, Phoenix (8-9) at Golden State (8-10) would be the game to watch, since the last time these two teams played the Suns won by a score of 133-131 and Jason Richardson scored 34 points. Expect the same kind of fireworks tonight, but without the emotional core of LeBron’s return to Cleveland.

In the bonus: Lebron James starring in Believeland | More on Joe Johnson | More on Last Night

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Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version).

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Tags: Baron Davis, Carlos Boozer, Jeff Green, Joe Johnson, Jordan Farmar, Larry Sanders, Mario Chalmers, Matt Barnes, Maurice Evans, Ron Artest, Russell Westbrook, Shane Battier