Beast of the Night: LeBron James showed Chicago the talents he took elsewhere by posting 29 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block. He shot 57 percent (12-21) from the field, 83 percent (5-6) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Despite what the real-life MVP race (and Chris Bosh) says, James was the best fantasy player for at least one night.
Lines for Discussion:
Luol Deng: 7-12 FG (58%), 5-5 FT (100%), 1 three, 20 Pts, 10 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO; Deng deserves props for what he’s been doing this season. He not only held his own against James, but he’s holding his own in that healthy lineup. Lines like this won’t happen every night now that that frontcourt is back to full strength, but Deng remains a solid fantasy player.
Derrick Rose: 9-24 FG (38%), 7-8 FT (88%), 1 three, 26 Pts, 5 Reb, 6 Ast, 4 TO; The shooting from the floor was terrible, but Rose is dispelling any concerns that he’d take a step back now that the starting lineup is healthy. He’ll remain a stud the rest of the way.
Wilson Chandler: 5-9 FG (56%), 3-4 FT (75%), 3 threes, 16 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk; While it’s hard to glean too much from last night’s Nuggets game, given how evenly minutes were distributed between 10 players, Chandler stood out with this strong line. Chances are that he’ll be way more inconsistent than he was in New York, but maybe all isn’t lost for him and his owners just yet.
Raymond Felton: 2-8 FG (25%), 4 Pts, 5 Reb, 6 Ast, 4 TO; Ditto to much of the comments for Chandler, though Felton has clearly lost a ton of value now that he’s coming off the bench. If you’re in a shallower league, he might eventually be droppable.
Waiver-Wire Watch:
Mario Chalmers: 12 Pts, 2 threes, 4 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 TO; Chalmers is a decent pickup in deeper leagues at the moment and should be monitored in others.
Omer Asik: 11 Reb, 1 Blk; He’s not worth a sniff in any but the deepest leagues, but this was an interesting line.
Ronnie Brewer: 8 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 TO; He’s worth consideration in deep leagues, but isn’t worth much in most others.
Delonte West: 10 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl; He’ll be leaned on more heavily now that Nate Robinson is out of town. Keep your eye on him.
Kenyon Martin: 18 Pts, 1 three, 10 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO; Martin deserves a look if you’re in a deeper league, but given all the new pieces in Denver and his health concerns, it’s tough to get all that excited about this line.
Injuries:
Shaquille O’Neal (Achilles): will start when he returns next week
Leon Powe (knee): waived by the Cavs; see where he lands
Kevin Martin (illness): missed Thursday’s shootaround but is expected to play tonight
Matt Barnes (knee): hopes to return Sunday, but coach Phil Jackson sounds more cautious
Marcus Camby (knee): could return tonight, but officially listed as “doubtful”
Francisco Garcia (calf): expected to miss another week or two
For Tonight:
Deron Williams should make his debut for the Nets as they face the Spurs.
The Nuggets debut their new lineup as they visit the Blazers.
Keep an eye peeled for players in new places.
For Next Week:
4 games: ATL, BOS, CHI, DEN, GS, IND, MIN, NO, NY, PHO, SA, WAS
3 games: CHA, CLE, DAL, DET, HOU, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, NJ, OKC, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @fbasketballblog.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
