Day 4 of 124: And on the Fourth Day, The Lakers Rested

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Miami Heat
Posted on: December 29th, 2011

But the Miami Heat did not.

Line of the Night: Dwyane Wade (0.05 WARP) may have hit the game wining shot with seconds left to give the Heat a win over Charlotte, but he was only 5-13 from the field on the night, finishing with 10 points. It was actually LeBron James (2.55 WARP) who did most of the heavy lifting by scoring 35 points (9-9 from the line), with 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks on the night.

Hopefully it’s not a trend stat of the day: Neither James or Wade has even attempted a three so far this season.

Honorable Mentions: Boris Diaw (1.32), who I left off the daily rundown the other day and then called fat in the comments, almost triple-doubled again against the Heat with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 assists in 39 minutes on the court. So that’s two games starting at center for Diaw, two near triple-doubles. Diaw will eventually run into trouble against some of the better centers in the league (no offense to Joel Anthony), but he is proving he can work at the position. Diaw has always been a triple-double threat when he’s motivated, so enjoy the ride as long as it lasts if you own him.

Nene Hilario (2.15) led the Nuggets with 25 points on 10-13 shooting, adding 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in a 117-100 rout over the Jazz. Says Ty Lawson about the gentle giant, “He’s so unselfish sometimes we have to say, Nene, go the basket, get a bucket.” Well done, Ty Lawson, well done.

I know I was afraid to pull the trigger on a mid-30′s Manu Ginobili in drafts this season, but he’s come out of the gates hot so far this season. Manu (2.14) scored 24 points in the Spurs latest win, adding 5 threes and 6 assists in only 27 minutes on the court. Blake Griffin (0.90) had a 28 and 9 to lead the Clips.

On a night that Russell Westbrook (-0.91) was 0-13 from the floor (the condensed season, it’s FANtastic ), Kevin Durant (1.96) was still good enough to lead the Thunder to their third straight win with 32 points (going 10-11 from the line), adding 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Durant did get a little help from the bearded wonder James Harden (1.14) who scored 20.

Andre Iguodala (1.84) helped the Sixers rout the Suns with 15 points 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 threes. Sixers’ center Spencer Hawes (0.88) even showed up again with 9 points, 11 boards and a couple blocked shots in 26 minutes. More on the Suns’ atrociousness below.

And finally, Jarrett Jack (1.53) fulfilled your 6th round draft expectations by scoring 21 points with 9 assists and adding a couple blocks against a completely gassed Boston Celtics team.

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Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Brandon Rush (1.42) – currently available in 85% of Yahoo leagues – scored 19 points off the bench for the Warriors, adding 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in only 26 minutes.

With Stephen Curry sitting this one out with his ankle injury, Ishmael Smith (0.60) got the start at PG and had a decent game with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 29 minutes. Interestingly Rush got no bump in minutes with Curry out and seems locked into the 25-26 minute a game range. That’s going to make him a marginal fantasy guy in normal leagues and probably only worth adding in deep ones. Smith would be worth an add if Curry is out an extended period of time, but he’s currently day-to-day and should be back for the Warriors next game this weekend.

Pick Up Lines: Detroit rookie Brandon Knight (1.41) scored 23 points by shooting 10-13 from the field in a loss to the Cavs. His 29 minutes in this game was a big bump from the 16 he saw in the Pistons first game, so it could have been Pistons coach Lawrence Frank riding the hot hand. I’d want to see Knight do it again before I’d give him my commitment ring.

It’s time to get your James Johnson (1.36) on. He’s available in nearly 90% of leagues at the moment if you’re in need of a defensive stat stuffer. He saw 29 minutes off the bench for Toronto in this game and finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals! and 2 blocks against the Pacers. He’s not going to score points, but the rebounds, steals and blocks are legit.

Another strong line for Marvin Williams (1.21), who scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a win over Washington. The biggest difference between Williams this season and in seasons past (other than the fact that he’s rebounding) is that’s he’s getting to the line A LOT. In two games so far, Williams has been to the line 17 times, compared to an average of only 2.7 a game last season. Maybe it’s the back surgery? Has he just been playing old man ball the past few years?

I had Carl Landry (1.13) pegged as a light sleeper going into the year and so far so good. Landry had 20 points (going 6-9 from the field, 8-8 from the line) and 11 rebounds in a start against the Celtics. He’s not much more than a points/boards guy, but he’s a clear starter for the Hornets and the minutes will be there for him all year.

Keep an eye on the Daniel Gibson (1.08)/Anthony Parker (-0.17) battle for minutes. Parker is the starter, but Gibson is winning the battle by getting more run and by bringing home lines like last night’s 8 points, 6 boards, 2 steals and a block in 29 minutes. Parker meanwhile did little on the court in 20 minutes.

Also keep an eye on Evan Turner (0.70), who after two good games in a row (last night he finished with 12 points and 7 boards in 29 minutes), could be on track to win the starting job away from Jodie Meeks eventually.

Deep Leagues: Marco Belinelli (0.59) has averaged 33 minutes in two games for the Hornets this season and is worth a look in deeper leagues. So is D.J. White (0.53), starting PF for the Bobcats who had 11 boards against the Heat.

Biggest Loser: The ugliness of the shorted season has arrived! In addition to Russell Westbrook’s 0-13 shooting night, Steve Nash (-1.55) shot 2-11 from the floor and finished with an incredibly bad 0 rebounds, 1 assist and 6 turnovers in 17 minutes. When was the last time Nash had 1 assist in a game? I’m too lazy to look it up.

Carmelo Anthony (-0.57) was 3-13 from the floor, Andray Blatche (-1.01) shot 2-13 from the field for the Wiz, while Austin Daye (-0.72) had the classic 0 point, 0 rebound, 0 assist line while shooting 0-5 from the field. Get ready for a whole season of this everyone!

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Daily rankings and stats come from the GMTR H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

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Tags: Boris Diaw, Brandon Knight, Brandon Rush, Dwyane Wade, Ishmael Smith, James Johnson, LeBron James, Miami Heat, Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash