fBasketballBlog

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…)

The man in the middle is the one to watch this season. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Depth chart:
PG: Steve Nash, Aaron Brooks**, Zabian Dowdell
SG: Jared Dudley, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus
SF: Grant Hill*, Josh Childress
PF: Channing Frye, Hakim Warrick, Markieff Morris, Gani Lawal
C: Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Garrett Siler

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

Behold, Marcus Thornton, the NBA equivalent of Charlie Sheen. (Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

[Read the full post at DimeMag.com]

Buy Low:
Steve Nash

Marcus Camby

Troy Murphy

Gerald Wallace

Kirk Hinrich (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…)

No, don't slow things down, Derrick! (Flickr/Keith Allison)

[Read the full post at DimeMag.com]

Beast of the Night: Derrick Rose finished with 42 points, five rebounds, eight assists and a block. He shot 64 percent (18-28) from the field, 100 percent (6-6) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. This was a nice way to head into the All-Star break for Rose, who has made a lot of noise in fantasy circles this season. Expect more of the same post-All-Star weekend.

Lines for Discussion:
Manu Ginobili: 6-18 FG (33%), 3-4 FT (75%), 1 three, 16 Pts, 1 three, 3 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 TO

Dirk Nowitzki: 13-18 FG (72%), 6-6 FT (100%), 3 threes, 35 Pts, 1 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO (continue reading…)