fBasketballBlog

J. Shuttlesworth made it rain Tuesday night. (Flickr/Keith Allison)

Beast of the Night: Ray Allen was in beast mode last night, finishing with 28 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and six threes. He shot 67 percent (8-12) from the floor, 100 percent (6-6) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. The dude stayed in good shape during the extended offseason and it’s shown in the first two games of the season. Through two games, Allen is averaging 39 minutes per outing, which isn’t sustainable. Expect his minutes (and production) to be capped soon.

Lines for Discussion:
Kevin Love: 6-18 FG (33%), 19-24 FT (79%), 31 Pts, 20 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 TO; imperfect, but the 31/20 is monstrous

Gerald Wallace: 8-11 FG (73%), 8-9 FT (89%), 1 three, 25 Pts, 8 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 TO; Crash is off to a strong start and will be a stud this season

Paul Millsap: 7-15 FG (47%), 4-6 FT (67%), 18 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Blk, 1 TO; came off the bench, but no need to panic yet

DeMarcus Cousins: 7-18 FG (39%), 2-5 FT (40%), 16 Pts, 11 Reb, 2 Blk, 4 TO; flaws remain

Waiver-Wire Watch (four stars = must add; one star = keep an eye on him):
Vladimir Radmanovic: 17 Pts, 3 threes, 3 Reb, 5 Ast, 4 Stl, 1 TO (*)

Jeff Teague: 13 Pts, 3 threes, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 TO (****)

MarShon Brooks: 17 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk (*)

Keyon Dooling: 18 Pts, 4 threes, 1 Stl, 3 TO (*)

Norris Cole: 20 Pts, 4 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO (**)

Udonis Haslem: 4 Pts, 12 Reb (**)

Jon Leuer: 14 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk, 1 TO (*)

Derrick Favors: 8 Pts, 6 Reb, 1 TO (***)

Enes Kanter: 5 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Blk (*)

Troy Murphy: 11 Reb, 4 Ast (*)

Injuries:
Chris Wilcox (shoulder): left last night’s game early; day-to-day

Mickael Pietrus (knee): won’t see action until early January

Drew Gooden (suspension): served his one-game suspension last night

Wesley Matthews (hip): monitor his status

Maurice Evans (knee): had his knee drained Monday; day-to-day

Paul Pierce (heel): day-to-day

D.J. Augustin (ankle): aggravated his ankle injury Monday; day-to-day

Jeff Pendergraph (knee): about a week away from practice

Carlos Delfino (wrist): day-to-day

Luc Mbah a Moute (knee): day-to-day

Kendrick Perkins (wrist): should be fine, but monitor his status

J.J. Barea (hamstring): day-to-day

Mike Bibby (back): expected to play tonight

For Tonight:
Jarrett Jack makes his season debut after serving his one-game suspension. He should have his share of big lines this season.

Keep an eye on the Favors/Millsap situation, as the Jazz visit the Nuggets.

The Knicks visit the Warriors, which should lead to nice fantasy lines, despite Warriors coach Mark Jackson’s emphasis on defense.

[See another version of this post on DimeMag.com]