fBasketballBlog

Lawson is a fantasy beast, through and through. (Flickr/Keith Allison)

Beast of the Night: Ty Lawson finished with 25 points, four rebounds, three assists, eight steals and two three-pointers last night in a loss to the Trail Blazers. He shot 63 percent (10-16) from the field, 75 percent (3-4) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Lawson is off to a very solid start in his first three games of the season. Though he’s not dishing out many assists (3.0 per game), he’s shooting like a center (62 percent from the field), hitting threes (1.7 per game) and thieving like Winona Ryder (4.0 per game). There’s little standing in his way to giving his owners top 30 value this season.

Lines for Discussion:
Deron Williams: 2-12 FG (17%), 6-8 FT (75%), 10 Pts, 4 Reb, 7 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk, 6 TO; flawed lines could be the norm for D-Will this season

Dwight Howard: 7-9 FG (78%), 2-9 FT (22%), 16 Pts, 24 Reb, 3 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 Blk, 3 TO; I don’t think he wants to play in Jersey anymore

DeJuan Blair: 8-17 FG (47%), 6-8 FT (75%), 22 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast; some steals and blocks (zero total so far this season) would be nice (continue reading…)

Curry was a beast -- a beast who reinjured a bothersome ankle. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry followed up his forgettable opening night with 21 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, six steals and a three-pointer. He shot 58 percent (7-12) from the field, 86 percent (6-7) from the free-throw line and had four turnovers. Sadly, Curry’s big night ended on a sour note when the guard landed on Kyle Korver’s foot and reinjured that balky right ankle. Keep an eye on his status.

Lines for Discussion:
Jose Calderon: 5-9 FG (56%), 2-2 FT (100%), 3 threes, 15 Pts, 6 Reb, 11 Ast, 1 TO; vintage Calderon, probably not a trend

Roy Hibbert: 6-11 FG (55%), 4-5 FT (80%), 16 Pts, 14 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 Blk, 1 TO; great start, but is another burnout season in the cards?

Tyler Hansbrough: 6-14 FG (43%), 3-4 FT (75%), 15 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Stl; probably not the norm for him this season (continue reading…)

Now that the dude on the left is gone, Budinger should be ready for takeoff -- Heineken and all. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Depth chart:
PG: Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Jonny Flynn
SG: Kevin Martin, Courtney Lee
SF: Chase Budinger, Terrence Williams, Marqus Blakely
PF: Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, Donatas Motiejunas, Marcus Morris
C: Chuck Hayes*, Jordan Hill, Hasheem Thabeet, Marcus Cousin

* unrestricted free agent (continue reading…)

Durant has quietly pieced together the best fantasy averages in the NBA this season. (Flickr/Keith Allison)

Beast of the Night: Kevin Durant finished with 39 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block and three three-pointers last night. He shot 57 percent (13-23) from the field, 83 percent (10-12) from the charity stripe and had two turnovers. Is it possible to have a quiet season while putting up No. 1 averages throughout an NBA season? Yep. Though he hasn’t drawn nearly as much attention as he did last season, KD has met the high expectations most owners had for him heading into this season.

Lines for Discussion:
Kyle Lowry: 6-13 FG (46%), 1-1 FT (100%), 3 threes, 16 Pts, 7 Reb, 10 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO

LeBron James: 10-21 FG (48%), 6-10 FT (60%), 1 three, 27 Pts, 10 Reb, 12 Ast, 3 TO (continue reading…)

What can he say? Lowry's just that damned good. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Weekend Wonder: Kyle Lowry averaged 24 points, seven rebounds, 9.5 assists, two steals and 3.5 threes in two games over the weekend. One of those was his first career triple-double. Lowry’s been a beast since the trade deadline and should be on every owner’s radar in the earlier rounds of fantasy basketball drafts next fall.

Lines for Discussion:
Tyler Hansbrough (3/18): 12-19 FG (63%), 5-5 FT (100%), 29 Pts, 12 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl

Blake Griffin (3/19): 12-21 FG (57%), 6-6 FT (100%), 30 Pts, 8 Reb, 8 Ast, 3 TO (continue reading…)