fBasketballBlog

George has fulfilled and maybe even exceeded the sleeper tag many put on him heading into the 2011-12 NBA season. (AP Photo/Tom Strickland)

Beast of the Night: Paul George finished with 24 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals, a block and four threes last night against the Nets. He shot 73 percent (8-11) from the field, 100 percent (4-4) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. George has had clunkers every now and then this season but has still managed to average top 60 numbers. He’s an all-around producer who doesn’t drag any category down for his owners, making him a sleeper-turned-stud.

Lines for Discussion:
Anthony Morrow: 10-17 FG (59%), 3-3 FT (100%), 5 threes, 28 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 TO; with MarShon Brooks out with a bum toe, Morrow’s value looks like it will remain intact for a while longerr

Danny Granger: 6-15 FG (40%), 9-9 FT (100%), 21 Pts, 7 Reb, 5 Ast, 3 Stl, 3 TO; Granger appears to have found a groove since the middle of January, scoring 21+ points in six of his last eight games

Anderson Varejao: 10-17 FG (59%), 20 Pts, 20 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk, 4 TO; Sideshow Bob is averaging 10.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks for the season, good for top 60 value (continue reading…)

Howard and his fantasy owners were all smiles last night. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Beast of the Night: Dwight Howard was truly a beast last night, posting 45 points, 23 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks against the Warriors. He shot 57 percent (12-21) from the field, 54 percent (21-39 – the 39 attempts broke Wilt Chamberlain’s 50-year-old record of 34) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Not much needs to be said here. Howard’s averages this season nearly match his output from 2010-11, except that he’s dishing out more assists (2.3 vs. 1.4) and turning the ball over less (3.1 vs. 3.6). The Magic only had two games this week, which means owners who unwisely benched the guy in weekly update leagues are kicking themselves this morning.

Lines for Discussion:
Josh Smith: 14-22 FG (64%), 2-6 FT (33%), 30 Pts, 13 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO; since Jan. 3, Smith has been posting top 10 averages

Joe Johnson: 7-18 FG (39%), 7-8 FT (88%), 2 threes, 23 Pts, 7 Reb, 8 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO; his appeal remains limited, mostly due to his inconsistent shooting from the field

Rudy Gay: 11-16 FG (69%), 3-4 FT (75%), 1 three, 26 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO; his lackluster shooting from the free-throw line (65 percent) and his lack of threes (0.5 per game) are weighing his fantasy value down (continue reading…)

How will Gay fit in next season? (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Depth chart:
PG: Mike Conley, Greivis Vasquez, Ishmael Smith, Josh Selby
SG: Tony Allen, O.J. Mayo, Xavier Henry
SF: Rudy Gay, Sam Young, Shane Battier*
PF: Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur, Leon Powe*
C: Marc Gasol**, Hamed Haddadi**

* unrestricted free agent
** restricted free agent (continue reading…)

That pose should say it all. (Flickr/Keith Allison)

[Read the full post at DimeMag.com]

Buy Low:
Joakim Noah

Luol Deng

Roy Hibbert

Raymond Felton

David West (continue reading…)

Love has been a beast this season, but his weak playoff schedule kind of makes him a scumbag.

[Read the full post at DimeMag.com]

Fantasy playoffs are right around the corner, with most playoff matchups beginning in Week 21 (3/14) or Week 22 (3/21). This means most fantasy owners who are still in contention for a playoff spot in their leagues should start pondering whether or not they want to swing some deals to bulk up their teams’ schedules during that all-important stretch of the season. In essence, fantasy owners should see this as another way of buying low (on players whose teams have favorable fantasy playoff schedules) and selling high (on players whose teams have weak fantasy playoff schedules).

Below is a quick rundown of how many games each team plays in Weeks 21-25 (Week 25 might be combined with Week 24 in leagues that play to the very end of the NBA regular season). (continue reading…)