fBasketballBlog

Howard was magical last night. (Stop hating on the corny caption. It's Friday, my brain is fried and who knows how much longer we'll have to use "magic" jokes with D-Ho?) (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Beast of the Night: Dwight Howard finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks against the Bulls last night. He shot 58 percent (11-19) from the field and 70 percent (7-10) from the charity stripe, and had four turnovers. If you take free-throw percentage out of the equation, Howard is the No. 2 fantasy basketball player this NBA season.

Lines for Discussion:
Joakim Noah: 3-7 FG (43%), 3-4 FT (75%), 9 Pts, 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 Blk; in his last nine games, Noah has averaged 10.9 points, 13.2 ‘bounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 53 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free-throw line

Hedo Turkoglu: 3-10 FG (30%), 5-5 FT (100%), 2 threes, 13 Pts, 6 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO; in his last three games, Turkoglu has hit just five of his 26 attempts from the floor (19 percent accuracy)

Jared Dudley: 7-12 FG (58%), 2-4 FT (50%), 2 threes, 18 Pts, 8 Reb, 3 Blk, 1 TO; in his last six games, Dudley has averaged 16.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.2 threes (continue reading…)

The Rock says, "It doesn't matter if Harden starts or not!" (Elsa/Getty Images)

Beast of the Night: James Harden posted 30 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals, two blocks and four three-pointers last night. He shot 67 percent (8-12) from the field, 91 percent (10-11) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. Harden has been a top 25 fantasy stud so far this season, which is extra impressive given that he’s the non-starter in that bunch.

Lines for Discussion:
Blake Griffin: 9-15 FG (60%), 10-17 FT (59%), 28 Pts, 17 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; after a five-game drought of blocks, Griffin has blocked at least one shot in each of his last four games

John Wall: 1-8 FG (13%), 2-4 FT (50%), 4 Pts, 2 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 Blk, 5 TO; Wall has shown noticeable improvement as the season has worn on and has worked himself back into top 75 shape

DeMar DeRozan: 8-16 FG (50%), 7-8 (88%), 23 Pts, 3 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl; DeRozan is on a hot streak, averaging 23.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.7 threes in his last three games (continue reading…)

Both of these guys were great last night, but Bynum was the beast. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Beast of the Night: Andrew Bynum finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and three blocks last night. He shot 72 percent (13-18) from the field, 80 percent (4-5) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Bynum is currently on a 10-game streak of double-doubles and has produced top 20 averages this season, making him one of the bigger exceeder of fantasy expectations in the 2011-12 NBA season.

Lines for Discussion:
David West: 10-13 FG (77%), 4-5 FT (80%), 24 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO; the points were a season high for West, who has rounded into form after a slow start to the 2011-12 NBA season

Corey Maggette: 9-17 FG (53%), 10-11 FT (91%), 1 three, 29 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 TO; Maggette remains a one-dimensional player who’s only somewhat valuable in points leagues

Rodney Stuckey: 13-20 FG (65%), 7-7 FT (100%), 1 three, 34 Pts, 1 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 TO; Stuckey scores and shoots from the free-throw line well, but doesn’t do much elsewhere (continue reading…)

Jefferson had a pristine line last night. (AP photo/George Frey)

Beast of the Night: Al Jefferson posted 25 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and three blocks last night. He shot 56 percent (9-16) from the floor and 88 percent (7-8) from the free-throw line, and had no turnovers. This is about as perfect as a big man’s line gets. Jefferson has been a top 10 stud so far this season. His value has been boosted by his improved assists (2.2 per game, up from 1.8 last season) and steady turnovers (1.2 per game, down from 1.3 last season).

Lines for Discussion:
Stephen Curry: 5-7 FG (71%), 2 threes, 12 Pts, 1 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl; not bad for a shade more than nine minutes of work in his return

Nick Young: 9-14 FG (64%), 3-4 FT (75%), 4 threes, 25 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Stl; Young’s triumphant return was bad news for Jordan Crawford, who finished with 5/3/2 on 15 percent shooting from the field

Kevin Love: 13-25 FG (52%), 8-11 FT (73%), 5 threes, 39 Pts, 17 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 TO; in his last two games, Love has racked up 81 points, 27 rebounds, 10 threes and six assists (continue reading…)

All hail the king of fantasy basketball. (AP photo/George Frey)

Weekend Wonder: LeBron James averaged 30.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.5 blocks and 0.5 threes in two huge games over the weekend. He shot 56 percent from the field, 50 percent from the free-throw line and averaged 1.5 turnovers in that stretch. It’s good to be king.

Lines for Discussion:
Jared Dudley (3/2): 7-14 FG (50%), 5-6 FT (83%), 3 threes, 22 Pts, 7 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk; in his last four games, Dudley is averaging a healthy 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.5 blocks and 1.0 three, while shooting 54 percent from the field

Jordan Crawford (3/3): 13-22 FG (59%), 0-1 FT (0%), 5 threes, 31 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 TO; Crawford has been a top 25 stud since Valentine’s Day, but it should be noted that Nick Young sat this game out with a bruised knee

Jarrett Jack (3/3): 6-11 FG (55%), 5-6 FT (83%), 1 three, 18 Pts, 4 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Blk, 3 TO; Jack is back in the starting lineup for the Hornets, but his knee remains a concern (continue reading…)