fBasketballBlog

LeBron's back at that No. 1 spot. (P Photo/J Pat Carter)

Beast of the Night: LeBron James owned the Thunder with his 34 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, four steals, one block and three three-pointers last night. He shot 50 percent (10-20) from the field and 85 percent (11-13) from the free-throw line, and had two turnovers. This followed his 41/6/4 line against the Sixers the previous night. Believe it or not, last night’s monster line helped James reclaim the No. 1 spot over Kevin Durant again.

Lines for Discussion:
Darren Collison: 7-8 FG (88%), 3-3 FT (100%), 17 Pts, 3 Reb, 11 Ast, 1 TO; this has been an underwhelming season for Collison, to say the least

Jordan Crawford: 11-22 FG (50%), 1-1 FT (100%), 5 threes, 28 Pts, 2 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 TO; he will be one of the most appealing players to consider in next year’s drafts

Andrea Bargnani: 8-15 FG (53%), 5-5 FT (100%), 3 threes, 24 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 TO; in his last five games, Bargnani has averaged 25.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steal, 0.4 blocks and 2.0 threes, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 94 percent from the free-throw line (continue reading…)

It's time to explore this stud's trade value. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Buy Low:
Gerald Wallace

Raymond Felton

Richard Hamilton

Danilo Gallinari, Paul Millsap, Stephen Curry and any other productive fantasy players who are injured should be considered buy-low candidates. (continue reading…)

Don't worry, Pau -- no one could keep up with Crawford last night. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman)

Beast of the Night: Jamal Crawford finished with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, one steal, two blocks and five threes in his second consecutive start last night. He shot 53 percent (8-15) from the floor and had one turnover. Crawford looks set to continue being the Blazers’ starting point guard, relegating the struggling Raymond Felton to the bench. So long as he’s starting, Crawford will see a nice bump in value.

Lines for Discussion:
Drew Gooden: 7-15 FG (47%), 9-9 FT (100%), 23 Pts, 8 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 TO; his health, as usual, remains something worth monitoring throughout the rest of the season

Kevin Garnett: 9-18 FG (50%), 7-9 FT (78%), 25 Pts, 10 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 Blk, 1 TO; all Garnett’s numbers (except for his turnovers) are better when he’s a starting center this season

Jeremy Lin: 6-12 FG (50%), 7-9 FT (78%), 19 Pts, 5 Reb, 13 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO; if Baron Davis can continue to give a solid 15-20 minutes a night, and if Lin can continue to keep his turnovers down, the Harvard grad will have a shot at maintaining top 35 value (continue reading…)

KD was No. 1 this past weekend. (AP Photo/Steve C. Wilson)

Weekend Wonder: Kevin Durant averaged 37.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 4.0 threes in his two games over the weekend. He shot 67 percent from the floor, 83 percent from the free-throw line and turned the ball over a total of 10 games in this stretch. Durant scored a career-high 51 points Sunday night. For the season, Durant is second only to LeBron James on the fantasy basketball totem pole.

Lines for Discussion:
Rodney Stuckey (2/17): 12-20 FG (60%), 11-12 FT (92%), 1 three, 36 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 1 TO; Stuckey has been scoring in bunches and has shot well from the field and the free-throw line (84 percent on 7.7 attempts this month) lately

Chris Kaman (2/17): 3-12 FG (25%), 6-6- FT (100%), 12 Pts, 8 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 TO; Kaman’s been solid lately, but his owners should definitely be looking to sell him off sooner than later

Marc Gasol (2/17): 5-11 FG (46%), 6-7 FT (86%), 16 Pts, 14 Reb, 8 Ast, 3 Blk, 7 TO; he continues to be a top 12 stud, but his owners have to wonder what the return of Zach Randolph in early March could mean for the Spaniard’s value (continue reading…)

Gasol isn't quite a top three stud this season, but he's up there. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)

Beast of the Night: Marc Gasol finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals last night against the Clippers. He shot 42 percent (5-12) from the field, 100 percent (8-8) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers. Gasol gets some much-deserved attention here, since he’s been steadily putting up top 10 numbers so far this season. His stats will inevitably decline when Zach Randolph returns, but Gasol was still putting up top 10 numbers when Randolph was in the lineup.

Lines for Discussion:
Paul Pierce: 7-18 FG (39%), 8-11 FT (73%), 2 threes, 24 Pts, 6 Reb, 10 Ast, 1 Blk, 5 TO; since Rajon Rondo went down with that wrist injury four games ago, Pierce has averaged 8.3 assists per game

Kevin Garnett: 6-14 FG (43%), 12 Pts, 10 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 4 Blk, 3 TO; in his last two games, KG has racked up eight steals and six blocks

Blake Griffin: 8-14 FG (57%), 4-8 FT (50%), 20 Pts, 9 Reb, 8 Ast, 2 Blk, 3 TO; to be blunt, Griffin has been a bit of a disappointment this season, as most of his averages are down from last season (continue reading…)