fBasketballBlog

That anonymous hand on the right represents the hand of all Lowry's owners this season. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Beast of the Night: Kyle Lowry lit up the Lakers for 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 42 percent (8-19) from the field, 100 percent from the free-throw line (2-2) and turned the ball over twice. Believe it or not, Lowry is putting up top three overall averages so far this NBA season.

Lines for Discussion:
D.J. Augustin: 10-18 FG (56%), 2-2 FT (100%), 4 threes, 26 Pts, 4 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO; so far, he’s putting up better numbers than he did last season

Boris Diaw: 0-5 FG (0%), 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk; scorching start was unsustainable, but he’ll get back on track

Kyrie Irving: 8-10 FG (80%), 2-2 FT (100%), 2 threes, 20 Pts, 3 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Blk; he’s averaging 14.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.8 steals, a block and 1.2 threes through the first five games of his NBA career

Josh Smith: 6-13 FG (46%), 3-6 FT (50%), 15 Pts, 14 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk, 3 TO; he’ll recover his value soon enough

James Harden: 7-13 FG (54%), 6-6 FT (100%), 3 threes, 23 Pts, 4 Reb, 6 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; can he please start every game?

Wesley Matthews: 7-12 FG (58%), 2-3 FT (67%), 16 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 4 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO; Jamal Crawford’s arrival has done nothing to diminish Matthews’ solid fantasy value

Kobe Bryant: 14-29 FG (48%), 7-9 FT (78%), 2 threes, 37 Pts, 8 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 TO; his poor FG% notwithstanding, 26/6/6 is pretty nice from Kobe so far this season

Andrew Bynum: 8-15 FG (53%), 5-8 FT (63%), 21 Pts, 22 Reb, 3 Blk, 4 TO; now’s a good time to sell him off if you’re worried about his health

Waiver-Wire Watch (four stars = must add; one star = keep an eye on him):
DJ White: 10 Pts, 7 Reb, 2 Ast (*)

Byron Mullens: 14 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk, 2 TO (*)

Tristan Thompson: 16 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Blk (**)

Isaiah Thomas: 15 Pts, 2 threes, 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO (*)

Sam Young: 20 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 TO (**)

Omer Asik: 2 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk, 3 TO (*)

Drew Gooden: 24 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 TO (**)

Steve Blake: 11 Pts, 2 threes, 2 Reb, 3 Ast (**)

Injuries:
Jermaine O’Neal (hamstring): should return tonight

Richard Hamilton (groin): day-to-day

David Lee (illness): should be ready for tonight, but monitor his status

Chauncey Billups (groin): expected to start tonight

Zach Randolph (knee): MRI didn’t reveal anything serious; day-to-day

Andrew Bogut (personal): timetable for return uncertain

Beno Udrih (shoulder): day-to-day

Mike Dunleavy (illness): day-to-day

Amar’e Stoudemire (ankle): expected to play tonight

Thabo Sefolosha (illness): day-to-day

Devin Harris (calf): left last night’s game early and didn’t return; monitor his status

Nene (foot): monitor his status for tonight

Courtney Lee (calf): day-to-day

Josh Howard (quad): left last night’s game early and didn’t return; monitor his status

For Tonight:
See if Greg Stiemsma and MarShon Brooks can continue to put up nice lines, as the Celtics host the miserable Nets.

Watch how James Anderson and possibly Gary Neal fare, as the Manu Ginobili-less Spurs host the Warriors.

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