Tip-In Points: If Missing FTs Is Wrong, I Don’t Wanna Be Dwight
Anyone can suggest adds and drops for the NBA fantasy fans out there, but few make those suggestions from the gut. We’ve also sprinkled in tons of helpful stats for all fantasy formats too. Because that’s the kind of fantasy help you deserve.
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Dwight Howard, ORL Howard had 21 points, 23 rebounds and 4 blocks. It was his 15th dub-dub of the season. But think about this: He never shoots threes, missed 60 percent of his shots and 31 percent of his free throws on Monday. He scored 21 despite leaving 21 additional points unused. Not only that, but his awful free-throw shooting is more awful than any other season in his awful free-throw shooting career. Last season, when Shaquille O’Neal passed Moses Malone for fifth on the all-time scoring leaders list, his response was a somber reflection on the thousands of free throws he’s missed in his career. Dwight’s already missed 1,478 free throws in his career. He’s already missed more free throws than Danny Granger, Al Jefferson and Jameer Nelson have attempted in their careers. Howard said he worked on his free throws in the offseason. Perhaps it’s time to call in for backup, before he too mourns the loss of the thousands of freebies he gave away.
Here’s Mondays rundown. All of them have bigger free throw percentages and smaller shoulders.
Mike Dunleavy, IND In his first seven games of his late-starting season, Junior Dunleavy averaged 12 / 3/ 1 and never cleared 24 minutes in any of those games. In his last two games, he’s averaged 30 minutes, 25 points, made 15-of-26 (.577) from the floor and a perfect 15-for-15 from the line. In Indianapolis, that’s good enough for the franchise to make him their king.
Thaddeus Young, PHI Thad the Impaler had a season-high in points (26) and a career-high in rebounds (14). He’s only scored more than 26 points four other times in his career and just missed it on Monday. Hopefully this won’t discourage Master Thaddeus Young III from ordering his butler to fetch his pipe and slippers.
Jrue Holiday, PHI Played 37+ minutes for the second time in three games for the rookie. Also for the second time in three games: 15+ points, 2+ steals and +.500 FG%. Jrue story.
Monta Ellis, GSW Monta “Illest” only played 29 minutes in the blowout loss to Philly. A few more onlys before we move on. He only shot .214 from the field and dished out only 2 assists.
Jason Williams, ORL White Chocolate stood on the court for almost 21 minutes and had only two rebounds and an assist to show for it. That’s it. And I’m pretty sure Vince Carter stole the ball from Williams and the Orlando scorer’s table just awarded him an assist. Pity dime! On a completely unrelated note: Jameer Nelson is still 1-2 weeks away from practicing with the team.
Zach Randolph, MEM Scoring remains solid, but dude’s grabbed only 12 boards in his last two games. The Grizz could use someone besides Randolph cleaning glass. Zach don’t do windows.
Hasheem Thabeet, MEM Eight rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal in 18 minutes of grindin’. It’s his second game playing over 18 minutes. In the four games this season in which Thabeet has played 16+ minutes, he’s averaging 3.5 blocks. Sadly, he’s also averaging 3.25 fouls. Sure we’re talking about Thabeet as if he were a poor man’s Ben Wallace now, but just remember: In the spring of 1964 the Lovin’ Spoonful opened for the Beach Boys, but by the fall of ’64, it was the Beach Boys opening for The Lovin’ Spoonful. Jrue story.
Chris Paul, NO 20 points, 16 dimes on Monday. He’s averaging 16 and 14 since his return five games ago. He’s also taken a liking to Malcolm Gladwell and has been pondering adding Timothy to all the first names that make up his full name. There. Now you’re all caught up.
David West, NO 11 points, 4 rebounds and nothin’ else. He’s the second best player on the Hornets, which means the Hornets aren’t good at playing professional basketball.
Jose Juan Barea, DAL Started in place of the delicate Josh Howard. Went 10-for-13 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. Outscored all other Mavericks including John McCain, who only mustered a dunk.
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL He had only 10 points, but four of them came in the final minute and eventually won the game for the Mavs. So everything worked out, right? Nope. The best player on your fantasy team scored 10 points. You lose.
Kevin Durant, OKC Double-doubled for the sixth time this season. His 28.5 ppg average is third behind Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Also, he’s averaging more rebounds, steals, blocks and a better free throw percentage than LeBron. What does it all mean? I dunno. I’m the numbers guy, you come up with the meaning.
Chris Andersen, DEN 15 pt / 11 rbd / 3 stl / 3 blk in 32 minutes of action. His season’s first double-double. CaCAW! CaCAW!
Chauncey Billups, DEN Flauncey Chillups returned and only made one shot all night. He did go 9-for-9 from the stripe, doled out seven assists and stole the ball four times.
Kevin Love, MIN Double-doubled in 5-of-last-6 but in his first seven games of the season he’s only shooting .431. He’s also shooting 64 percent from the stripe in his last four games.
Jonny Flynn, MIN Career-high 28 points including the game-winning layup. His previous high was 20. His previous high before that was with friends on vacation.
Andrei Kirilenko, UTA Returned after missing 6 of his last 7 games. A cortisone shot in the back = back shooting on the court.
Chris Kaman, LAC 23/ 11/ 4 / 2 stl / 3 blk. Y’know … the usual.
Baron Davis, LAC 0-for-9 after three quarters, he finished just 2-for-14. He’s hoping 12 assist, 3 steals and a pair of blocks will make you forget all about it. Forget about what? Exactly.
Eric Gordon, LAC Dropped a season-high 29 on the D.C. Wiz. He also had 5 steals, but only one assist. If you combined his performance with Davis’, you’d get one good player.
Antawn Jamison, WAS Game-high 31 points. That’s five 30-point games for him in his last 13. He’s a worker, a grinder, a poker … a midnight toker. He enjoys earning his points. How else can you explain his refusal to accept free throws (12-for-23 in his last five games)?
Brendan Haywood, WAS More of the same from Haywood (12 / 12 / 4 blk), who is averaging a double-double this season. He also claims to have stopped writing blogs because of rude commenters. I could say something about that, but I hate proving guys named Brendan right.
L I N E O F T H E N I G H T
Deron Williams, UTA .550 FG% / .778 FT% / 2 3pt / 38 pt / 3 rbd / 13 ast / 2 stl / 1 to. For the record, Williams has a 5.7 : 1.8 assist : turnover ratio (3 : 1, if you hate thinking). That’s mighty fine, considering he averages the third-most assists per game of anyone in the league.
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Top photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via NBA.com
Bottom photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via AP
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