Both Nene Hilario/WAS and Russell Westbrook/OKC were thrown out of the game after their second skirmish with less than four minutes left in regulation time. The Wizards held the lead in the homestretch, but the Thunder rallied and won the game in overtime. In Los Angeles, Minnesota blitzed the Lakers to the tune of 47 first quarter points and cruised to an easy victory as they exposed the Lakers’ weak defense. Earlier, the Spurs displayed their trademark depth and efficiency and dominated the weakened Knicks. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
Top Fantasy Performers
1) Kevin Durant/OKC. With Westbrook ejected, Durant led the team on a comeback and eventual overtime win. 12 of 23 FGA, 8 of 9 FTA, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 5 TO, 33 points.
2) Ricky Rubio/MIN. Stayed in longer than the other Timberwolves regulars to get his triple-double. 5 of 9 FGA, 10 rebounds, 14 assists, 5 steals, 5 TO, 12 points.
3) Kevin Love/MIN. After a monster first quarter, his second half minutes were minimal due to blowout conditions. 8 of 17 FGA, 5 of 5 FTA, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 TO, 25 points.
4) Serge Ibaka/OKC. 11 of 18 FGA, 3 of 4 FTA, 12 rebounds, 3 block, 2 TO, 25 points.
5) Jason Smith/NOP. The Suns did a great job limiting Anthony Davis/NOP in the paint, so Smith stepped out and knocked down jumpers all night. 9 of 12 FGA, 4 of 4 FTA, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 0 TO, 22 points.
Honorable mention: Bradley Beal/WAS, Markieff Morris/PHO, Miles Plumlee/PHO
Top Sleepers
1) Danny Green/SAS. His outside shot was working and with Tim Duncan/SAS playing outside guarding Andrea Bargnani/NYK, Green corralled the rebounds. 8 of 11 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block,1 TO, 24 points.
2) Jason Smith/NOP. He deserves to make this list as well.
3) Steve Blake/LAL. The Lakers’ best player last night by far. 7 of 11 FGA, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 1 TO, 19 points.
4) Thabo Sefolosha/OKC. 4 of 8 FGA, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 TO, 8 points.
5) Reggie Jackson/OKC. Played extra minutes due to overtime and the ejection of Westbrook. 6 of 10 FGA, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 TO, 12 points.
6) Marco Belinelli/SAS/ A surprise starter; he came through with a solid game. 3 of 4 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO,9 points.
Biggest Busts
1) Jordan Farmar/LAL. Had a chance for lots of minutes and production, but never got it together. 1 of 7 FGA, 2 of 2 FTA, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 3 TO, 4 points.
2) Tyreke Evans/NOR. Played just seven minutes. 0 of 3 FGA, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO, 0 points.
3) Steven Adams/OKC. After his previous breakout game, the rookie looked stone-handed around the basket in this one. 0 of 3 FGA, 1 of 2 FTA, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 TO, 1 point.
4) Raymond Felton/NYK. The Knicks offense was completely dysfunctional and Felton is the point guard. 3 of 10 FGA, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 TO, 7 points.
5) Iman Shumpert/NYK. Soon to be relegated to a reserve role. 1 of 5 FGA, 1 of 2 FTA, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 0 TO, 3 points.
I entered three early leagues and one of them looked good, as I had the ultra-valuable Danny Green/SAS. Alas I fell short in that one, finishing 37th out of 330 entrants (just three Draftstreet points out of the money). The other players in my lineup performed as expected, except Andrea Bargnani/NYY (who was owned by 42% of the field) and Anthony Davis/NOP (owned by 43% of the field). With top-heavy payout structures, it usually isn’t enough that nothing go wrong: several things have to go right.
I cashed in a double-up league to eek out a tiny profit on the day overall. I deviated from my usual strategy by investing huge dollars in the top three star players, while filling the remaining five slots with the best of the bargain bin I could find. I figured if the big guns could combine for 140 Draftstreet points, I would only need about 60 from the other five to reach the top half of the league. Davis, Love and Durant combined for a little less than 125 DS points, and I bricked on two bargain plays (Jordan Farmar/LAL and Kendrick Perkins/OKC). On the upside, Steve Blake/LAL, Thabo Sefolosha/OKA and Anthony Morrow/NOP were tremendous value-for-money and my 213.50 DraftStreet points total was easily enough.
Monday NBA contests at DraftStreet
There is a lot of action in the arenas across the continent as we begin week three of the NBA season. One DraftStreet $2/550-entry GPP is almost filled, but another one has been posted and there are plenty of openings. DraftStreet has increased the field size for their daily $5 GPP – there’s room for 440 entries. As usual, there are Double-Up leagues in the lobby for all budgets, many of them with guaranteed prize pools. There are only a few days left in DraftStreet’s voucher promotion.
If you ever thought about increasing your participate rate in DraftStreet NBA contests, this is the time to do it. All you have to do is enter NBA leagues through November 14th and work your way through vouchers of increasing value, the top one allowing an entry to a $109 contest.
Undefeated Pacers host Grizzlies
A look at today’s games from a daily fantasy perspective. Dollar figures are DraftStreet prices. An asterisk (*) indicates a team is playing the their second game on back-to-back nights.
Atlanta Hawks at Charlotte Bobcats (7pm EST)- Over/Under Total=194.5; Hawks -3 As always Paul Millsap/ATL and Al Horford/ATL are worth a look if you have spare cap room.
Memphis Grizzlies at Indiana Pacers (7pm EST)- Over/Under Total=183; Pacers -6.5 Paul George/IND has been a model of consistency, but his price is high enough that “ordinary” brilliance isn’t enough to justify the cost. He remains a safe pick, but if you are in a speculative mood, Lance Stephenson/IND is a better value play.
San Antonio Spurs* at Philadelphia 76ers (7pm EST)- Over/Under Total=204.5; Spurs -6.5 I love these grizzled vets versus upstart kids matchups. Anything from a close game to a Spurs blowout could happen. Manu Ginobili/SAS is as consistent a bench player as there is. The hot and cold Danny Green/SAS is an excellent speculative play.
Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics (7:30pm EST)- Over/Under Total=190; Celtics -2.5 The Magic must be close to pulling the trigger on moving Victor Oladipo/ORL into the starting five.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls (8pm EST)- Over/Under Total=187; Bulls -7.5 After facing one of the poorest defenses, the Cavs come up against arguably one of the top two. Give Kyrie Irving/CLE and Tristan Thompson/CLE a miss in this one.
Toronto Raptors at Houston Rockets (8pm EST)- Over/Under Total=203; Rockets -8 With James Harden/HOU ailing, this is the time for Dwight Howard/HOU to step up and dominate. Unlike most teams from the East, the Raptors are better when they play the up-tempo game.
Denver Nuggets at Utah Jazz (9pm EST)- Over/Under Total=196; Nuggets -2.5 The best chance for a win the Jazz will see for some time. It’s worthwhile sifting through the low-priced Nuggets in this one, as a couple of them could have big games against the worst team in the league. Since the Jazz offense now runs through Gordon Hayward/UTA, he is a safe bet.
Detroit Pistons at Portland Trail Blazers (10pm EST)- Over/Under Total=197.5; Blazers -4.5
Minnesota Timberwolves* at Los Angeles Clippers (10:30pm EST)- Over/Under Total=197.5; Hawks -3 The Timberwolves had a cakewalk last night and didn’t have to travel, so fatigue will not be an issue for them against the high-powered Clippers. Much as I’d like to see DeAndre Jordan/LAC versus Kevin Love/MIN, I suspect the bigger Nikola Pekovic/MIN will be assigned to the Clippers’ big man. Instead, we can look forward to Love versus Blake Griffin/LAC.
Yesterday’s recommended lineup performed above expectations: 225.75 DraftStreet Points versus 210.00 expected.
My lineup in today’s $2/$550-entry at DraftStreet (subject to change; $99,930 spent of $100,000 max):
Stars Worth Starting: Kevin Love/MIN, Luol Deng/CHI, Roy Hibbert/IND, Gordon Hayward/UTA
Bargain Plays: Jordan Hamilton/DEN, Lance Stephenson/IND
Speculative Plays: Danny Green/SAS, Manu Ginobili/SAS,
The Fantasy Spin is here every day, around noon EST. Follow me @robdudek for breaking news and pre-game thoughts relevant to NBA daily fantasy.