Westbrook MVP, Amare on move
Sunday night gave us the highest-scoring All-Star Game in history, as the West beat the East 163-158 behind MVP Russell Westbrook’s 41 points and five 3-pointers. Westbrook’s 41 points were just one shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 42 in the 1962 edition. Westbrook scored a record 27 points in the first half.
Teammate James Harden flirted with a triple-double with 29 points, eight boards, eight assists and seven 3-pointers, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and four 3-pointers on 7-of-11 shooting in just 18 minutes. On a night that saw a record 48 3-pointers made, it’s a bit surprising that Klay Thompson (1-of-9) and Stephen Curry (3-of-10) combined for just four of them.
For the East, Kyle Korver added to the 3-pointer totals with seven of them and 21 points, while LeBron James led the way with 30 points and four 3-pointers in the loss. John Wall scored 19 points and Carmelo Anthony hit just 6-of-20 shots for 14 points in 30 minutes, and has probably played his final game of the season.
NBA News & Notes
With the All-Star break taking up a full week this year (games don’t start again until Thursday), news hasn’t exactly been flowing into our feed lately. But there have been some interesting nuggets.
Amare Stoudemire and the Knicks have agreed to a buyout and ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Mavericks may sign him once he becomes a free agent, while the Clippers and Suns are also interested. Stoudemire can help a contender, but still shouldn’t see enough minutes to make a fantasy impact. The move would likely clear more minutes for guys like Jason Smith and Cleanthony Early in New York.
Jason Thompson wants to be traded from the Kings before the Feb. 19 deadline. Thompson is owed $6.4 million, but just isn’t that effective these days. If nothing else, his playing time may be even tougher to come by after this move.
Joe Ingles (back) and Rodney Hood (foot) are nearing a return for the Jazz. Ingles should be back after the break, while Hood has simply been cleared to practice. Ingles has offered some surprising low-end value this season, but is still unreliable. And once Hood is ready to go, both players are likely going to cancel each other out.
Lance Stephenson is pushing for a trade to Brooklyn, but that doesn’t mean it will happen. But what has become clear is that his fantasy value looks dead in Charlotte, so a move to the Nets would likely be a win for Stephenson and his owners. “It would be a blessing [to play in Brooklyn],” Stephenson said recently. Yeah, and it would also be a blessing if he wasn’t such a fantasy bust this season.
Commissioner Adam Silver said over the weekend he wants to reduce back-to-back NBA games and eliminate stretches of teams having four games in five nights. As the fantasy community knows, injuries have become the biggest factor in fantasy hoops over the last 10 years and anything the league can do to cut down on them is fine with me. But I will miss those five-game weeks in head-to-head leagues.
The NBA is on hiatus until Thursday night, and even then we only get two games. The Mavericks are at OKC and the Clippers host the Spurs, with both games airing on TNT.
Friday should end your jonesing for hoops though, as 26 teams are in action, with the Raptors at Atlanta, Chicago at Detroit, the Cavs at Washington, the Rockets at Dallas, and the Spurs visiting the Warriors highlighting the action.
Enjoy the rest of the break!
Waiver Wired, with some midseason awards, should hit some time on Monday, weather permitting.
