Dose: Clash of the Titans

I sure hope you guys got to watch the Grizzlies/Spurs triple-overtime thriller last night. It was the best game of the year and highlighted two of the league’s most entertaining teams. There was a whole lot more to say about last night than just that, but since I have to turn around and work up the Bruski Breakdown for later today let's get right down to business.

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THE BIG NUMBERS

BUSTED

INJURIES

Giannis Antetokounmpo rolled his left ankle and left last night’s game without returning, but he did walk under his own power to the locker room and it sounds like the Bucks simply played it safe. At least that’s what beat writer Gery Woelful said after the game. He also had John Henson as the team’s starting center this season but everybody is entitled to a miss or two. Giannis will be re-evaluated before tonight’s game against the Kings and there shouldn’t be any value shifting as the result of this injury.

Jeff Teague showed up on the injury report with a hamstring injury and after missing last night’s game he is listed as day-to-day. Dennis Schroder has turned heads in league circles for his solid backup play and he was the preferred fantasy option heading into last night, and he did great, but Shelvin Mack came down with the sledgehammer on a near perfect night.

Mack hit 7-of-8 shots (including six threes) and 4-of-4 free throws for a career-high 24 points, while Schroder had 10 points and 10 assists in 22 minutes. If Mack isn’t that hot, it’s possible that Schroder gets starter’s minutes but Mike Budenholzer has historically done the opposite. Still, the buzz is that Schroder has starter’s upside in reality basketball, so he’s the preferred add if anything happens to Teague, and he has his own low-end standalone value in 14-16 team formats. Mack needs to do this again before owners use him as anything but a daily league play if Teague stays out.

We haven’t heard anything bad about Nicolas Batum’s bad fall but it looked like he landed on his wrists and that’s something I like to be extra careful about. I don’t think the situation is a cause for any change in treatment by owners, but if things start to head down that road don’t bury your head in the sand on wrist/hand injuries. I’ll talk about him more in the Breakdown.

Kawhi Leonard (hand) and Tony Parker (hamstring) did not play last night and of course all eyes are on Leonard, who is just a big tease at this point. He’s day-to-day right now and the fact that the Grizz pushed the Spurs to three overtimes last night might help his cause, but who knows. Owners should probably root for long-term health over one extra game at this point.

Josh McRoberts (knee) said he would do all that he can to make it back from meniscus surgery and as it turns out the speed bump I was referring to last week was actually a spike strip. You knew this already, but it’s time to let go of the dream.

DeMarcus Cousins (viral meningitis) is going to return barring a surprise and be on a limited workload. Of course, all eyes will be on how he and his teammates handle all of the drama in Sactown.

Taj Gibson (ankle) is questionable to play tonight against the Knicks but Joakim Noah (ankle) says he’s a go. If you’re rolling Nikola Mirotic out there based on the ‘one guy is usually out’ theory then you’re watching Gibson, obviously. J.R. Smith (foot) is out and you can check out yesterday’s Dose for the Knicks breakdown on Tim Hardaway Jr.

For more injury news check out our injury page.

WELCOME BACK

Derrick Favors (ankle) got back on the court and put up 11 points, six boards, one steal and one block in his 33 minutes. You’ll have to rip Rudy Gobert from my cold, dead hands so you know where I stand there. If you need any explaining check this out, and I guess if you need further explaining I’ll continuously shout from the mountaintop that he has top 115-150 value (9/8 cat) in just 17.8 mpg.

Danilo Gallinari returned from a three-game absence due to his ongoing knee issues and of course he’d do the thing where he looks great, scoring 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting (all threes). He didn’t do much else and the line is obviously uneven, and the only thing I can call him is a lower-upside lottery ticket. There’s too many hurdles for him to overcome in health and competition with teammates to call him anything else.

Goran Dragic (back) was back on the floor and the Suns’ offense looked great at times, so perhaps he can keep up some semblance of momentum from last night’s 20 points, three boards, eight assists, one steal and one three in 37 minutes. Isaiah Thomas was a force late with game-deciding buckets, finishing with 23 points, three boards, three assists and three treys, and Eric Bledsoe was the odd-man out with 15 points and not much else. If the Suns had one less guy in their 1-4 slots it could do wonders for everybody’s fantasy value. It’s not even a backcourt issue, it’s a team-wide issue for fantasy owners.

PICKUPS

Mason Plumlee was a recommended add in this space yesterday and he backed up the talk with 23 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, 9-of-13 FGs and then a 5-of-11 stinker from the foul line. There’s enough uncertainty ahead of him in the frontcourt to buy into the hot streak and revert back to lofty preseason expectations. Mirza Teletovic was also a recommended add and has the same situation with respect to the shaky frontcourt, and he knocked in four treys, 14 points, three boards and two assists. It could easily be these two guys towing the line heavily down the stretch this season.

If we assume Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ankle injury is not serious as reported, then we can look at last night’s box score as a pretty good window into what’s going on after Jabari Parker’s season-ending ACL injury. As I said in yesterday’s Dose, I like Ersan Ilyasova as a speculative add because he’s the only real power forward replacement, but as we look elsewhere it was Khris Middleton cashing in with four threes, 17 points, three rebounds and three steals in 33 minutes.

Middleton has played as a small-ball power forward this season and he is the recommended pickup in 12-team leagues out of the bunch. Zaza Pachulia (26 minutes) got the added run I thought he would but managed just five points, eight boards and three assists with no defensive stats. He’s more of a deep league speculative add with the hopes he can go on one of his uncanny free throw hitting runs.

Jared Dudley started and was quite a dud with three points, five assists and a steal in his 27 minutes, and he can stay on the wire in most regular formats. O.J. Mayo saw his minutes skyrocket to 36 but he couldn’t turn in anything useful for owners with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, no threes and two steals. He just can’t get anything going and he likely needs an injury to Brandon Knight to get his number called more often.

Channing Frye should not have been dropped in 12-team formats but he’s available in a lot of them, and he scored 13 points with three treys, five boards and a steal to remind folks that he’s plenty valuable.

THE MIDDLE

Donatas Motiejunas had a nice game last night with Dwight Howard in the lineup no less, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting (including three treys) with six rebounds, one steal and one block in 42 minutes. The money counting stats are huge here and it helped push his season-long value into the top 150-175 range with 28 mpg to his name. He has been a top 85-105 value over the last two weeks and to that end I’ll have missed the train on that value by being bearish. Terrence Jones has been getting up some shots but there’s no indication that his return is near, so go ahead and pick him up but keep in mind that Howard’s return could put a dent in that two-week sample.

Matt Barnes had a dud last night with just three points, two boards, four assists and a block in 31 minutes, but he had been rolling in solid mid-round value since jumping back on the scene and he’s earned some patience. I wouldn’t drop him after last night.

C.J. Miles is in the midst of a typical hot streak and last night he had 17 points, two threes, three boards, three assists and a steal, but I can only get behind cutting somebody with no value to ride this ride. His inconsistency and injury history speaks for itself. Teammate Lavoy Allen (12 points, 14 boards, three blocks, 31 minutes) has had some flash games but he’ll likely need an injury to Roy Hibbert or David West to have any chance at real value.

Thomas Robinson got the first crack at starting with Robin Lopez out for 6-7 weeks due to a broken hand and he took full advantage of it, scoring 15 points with 16 boards, one steal and one block in 29 minutes. A couple of things were at play here, including a small Bucks team that Terry Stotts wanted to match up with and Chris Kaman’s status being in doubt due to the birth of his child. Robinson also negated all of his production with a 5-of-15 mark from the foul line. Stotts said that he could switch the lineup up going forward, and I still like Kaman as a pickup despite his slow night.

Jodie Meeks scored just nine points with one three, two boards and that’s it in his 20 minutes. I’ve been a proponent of adding him and I certainly wouldn’t drop him knowing he needs a week or so before we can rule out rust. The Pistons love him and desperately want to move Brandon Jennings. And Josh Smith.

Dion Waiters scored 21 points with three rebounds, four assists and one three and the popcorn line just isn’t moving the needle in standard leagues. Add him at your own risk.

DROPS

Rodney Stuckey backed up his big game against the Lakers from Monday with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal against the Clippers last night. C.J. Watson played through an illness and was equally pedestrian with 12 points, four assists and five turnovers with not much else, and both guys are staring down a return by George Hill sometime in the next few weeks or sooner. There’s not enough to grab onto here for owners to pass up even a low-level add in 12-team leagues.