Dose: Blazing a Trail
Friday night was filled with a boat load of fantasy goodies. Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge put on a show in Texas while the Clippers and Nuggets dueled in the Rocky’s, producing some fine fantasy lines in the process. Deron Williams went down while Derrick Favors got back to normal. All of that and more in today’s Dose.
Lillard and Aldridge light it up
The Blazers and Spurs battled in a three overtime thriller in Texas on Friday with Portland coming out on top thanks to the amazing efforts of both Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Lillard piled in a career-high 43 points, using an array of attacks to get his numbers. He was quick to the basket but also managed to knock down four triples, adding six dimes, two steals, and one block for good measure. Aldridge wasn’t too shabby with 32 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. He also added five steals and two blocks. Both Lillard and Aldridge are locked in as fantasy studs. This was just another great night for both of them.
In defeat, Tim Duncan and Danny Green were exceptional. Both players notched season-highs in points, with Duncan going for 32 and Green going for 27. They both grabbed 10 boards apiece and while Green added six triples, Duncan added four blocks.
Westbrook shines without Durant
The Thunder took on the Lakers on Friday without the services of Kevin Durant who was out with a sore ankle. Russell Westbrook stepped as usual, finishing with 31 points and 10 assists. Westbrook was a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line and had no scored over 30 points in three straight games. Teammate Reggie Jackson had his best game since late November, scoring 25 points to go along with five assists and three triples.
Clippers and Nuggets bring extreme team effort
The Clippers and Nuggets engaged in quite a back and forth contest on Friday, providing fantasy owners with a litany of great fantasy lines in the process. For the Clippers, Blake Griffin finished with 32 points and 12 boards while DeAndre Jordan piled in a double-double of his own with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Chris Paul joined the party with 17 points and 15 assists while Jamal Crawford came off the bench for 20 points and not much else.
However, it was the Nuggets who got the victory thanks to a deep team effort. Denver had seven players score in double figures, led by Nate Robinson’s 20 points. Robinson can be ignored in pretty much all leagues as this was a fluky outburst. Ty Lawson notably notched a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Charlotte duo goes for 50
Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson got hot for the Hornets on Friday, combing to score 50 points as Charlotte downed Philadelphia. Walker led the charge with 30 points and five assists. The point guard has been on a tear as of late, averaging 27 points per game over the last three contests. There’s a sell-high window here so if you think an upgrade is possible, now’s the time to dangle Walker. Meanwhile, Jefferson, despite struggling with his 9-23 shooting, still managed 20 points and 12 boards.
Butler extends his red-hot tear
Jimmy Butler’s career year continued on Friday as he notched his second straight 30-point effort, tallying 31 points with 10 rebounds and two steals. Butler was a man possessed and was the best player on the floor. Butler’s averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, field goal and free-throw percentage. He’s outplaying his draft position by a mile. Enjoy the ride.
Meanwhile, teammate Nikola Mirotic exploded for six triples on his way to 27 points and eight rebounds. It was a career-high in both points and three-pointers for Mirotic, who just happens to sporadically go off every so often. He’s actually a really solid real life player but his production is a bit too erratic to be trusted in most leagues.
Favors back to normal
Following a nasty ankle injury last week, Derrick Favors missed two games and had a tough outing against Miami on Wednesday. However, on Friday night he finally looked like his normal self, scoring 23 points with 10 boards and two blocks as the Jazz defeated the Magic. The power forward has been producing top-50 value all season and has been quite efficient and consistent for fantasy teams.
Payton outshines Oladipo
Victor Oladipo struggled for his second straight game on Friday and this time rookie Elfrid Payton was there to pick up the slack. Payton finished with a double-double of 11 points and 11 assists off the bench and looked quite comfortable running the Magic’s offense. It was Payton’s first career double-double and an encouraging sign for the team’s future. Oladipo on the other hand finished with two points and five assists which was only slightly worse than Wednesday’s seven point, three assist effort. In those games the guard shot a combined 4-18 from the field. Oladipo’s starting job is not in jeopardy but he’s definitely in a bit of a funk. He had been pretty solid before this slump so if there’s a trigger happy owner, throw out a buy-low offer.
Deron goes down
Nets point guard Deron Williams suffered a strained right calf on Friday and did not return to the game. He has a history of calf strains so he may miss a couple and will likely get a precautionary MRI just to be safe. Jarrett Jack filled in well, finishing with 13 points and three assists in 35 minutes. Jack is certainly worth a look as a short-term option.
Love in a mini-funk
Kevin Love just couldn’t anything going on Friday, shooting just 1-10 from the field, finishing with six points. Luckily, it wasn’t all bad. He grabbed 14 rebounds and had three blocks but overall it was a subpar effort from Love, who was coming off a rough outing on Wednesday in which he shot 4-10. Overall Love’s numbers are down significantly from last season, which was somewhat expected when he was moved to Cleveland. However, although he’s averaging just over 17 points per game, his 10 rebounds per contest are the most glaring stat. Anderson Varejao isn’t rebounding at a particularly high clip at six per game and LeBron James’ five boards is also quite low. The reality is that the Cavaliers are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to team rebounding, a surprising stat given that Kevin Love is one of league’s best rebounders. Love has had a few rebounding explosions this season, but also quite a few duds. If he can find some consistency in that category, he could start to reward owners who took him in the first round.
It’s Shabazz’s world
With Corey Brewer heading to the Rockets via trade, Shabazz Muhammad was inserted into the starting line-up on Friday. The young shooting guard did not disappoint, putting up a game-high 26 points on a scorching 11-15 shooting including two triples. He added five rebounds and five assists and should be owned in every format at this point. The return of Kevin Martin will eventually hurt his value but that’s still a long ways away.
