Due to the realities of life, today’s run down will have to be the abridged version. Back to you in full tomorrow.

Line of the Night: Paul George had a huge line in a loss to the Nuggets, scoring 23 points, and filling up the box score with 4 threes, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals (2.52 WARP). Although his turnover at the end of the game to Andre Iguodala did cost the Pacers the win. Danny Granger could make his return sometime around the All-Star break, although the team doesn’t exactly have him on the fast track, so George owners should continue to ride George like he’s a one-way train to championship town.

In injury news, Stephen Curry had a “mild” sprain of his right ankle that forced him out of Monday’s game. Curry says that it’s not serious, but he’s likely doubtful for the Warriors game tonight. And let the ankle games begin!

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Mighty-mite Nate Robinson (19% owned) has been putting up some lines lately, even while getting limited minutes off the Bulls bench behind Kirk Hinrich. Against the Bobcats, Robinson played 27 minutes off the bench and scored 15 points, with 3 threes, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks (2.27 WARP) for his best fantasy game of the season. I’m not sure how much longer he can keep it up (and the return of Luol Deng to the Bulls lineup may eventually have a cascading effect on his minutes) but for now if you are looking for a guard, there is no one hotter than Robinson.

Pick Up Lines: Oh, wait. There is one person who have been even more explosive than Robinson. Jerryd Bayless (2% owned) got the start for the injured Mike Conley and exploded for 21 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists (1.42 WARP) in 41 minutes against the Sixers. Conley tested his ankle in warm-ups before the game and didn’t like how his ankle felt, but that also means he’s a good bet to be back for the Grizzlies’ next game on Thursday, pushing Bayless back to the bench and zapping most of his value.

Aaron Gray (0% owned) made a surprise start at center for the Raptors (to counteract Andrew Bogut.. really?) and was surprisingly effective, scoring 22 points on 9-12 from the field, adding 10 rebounds and 2 steals (1.61 WARP). Gray has been putting up DNPs for the most part this season, so I wouldn’t expect this to become a thing, even if the thing did work on this one night thanks to the Warriors’ sloppy D.

Speaking of Andrew Bogut (48% owned), he made a surprise return to the court last night and was effective in his first game back, scoring 12 points, on 6-8 from the field, with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks (1.34 WARP) in 24 minutes. Bogut is obviously going to be high on people’s add lists today, but be warned that 1) he’s not going to be playing in back-to-back games anytime soon, so he’s out tonight for example, 2) his minutes are going to be capped for the immediate future, and 3) he’s not been able to stay healthy for any length of time over the past few years. But other than that, it’s all good.

Despite starting for the Pacers while Granger is out, Lance Stephenson (3% owned) had his first double-digit scoring game since Jan 12th, finishing with 20 points, on 8-13 from the field, with 8 rebounds and 4 assists (1.61 WARP)/ Considering his WARP is negative not only for the season but over the recent couple of weeks, leave him on the wire, even in deeper leagues.

And in the is this shit actually true news of the day, according to Wikipedia, Lance Stephenson has a younger brother named… Lantz.

With Arron Afflalo out with a strained left calf for the Magic, Maurice Harkless (1% owned) got the start in his place and had a game for himself, scoring 16 points on 7-10 from the field with 3 steals (1.17 WARP) in 34 minutes against the Nets. Afflalo’s injury is not serious and Harkless will only have value as long as Afflalo is out of the lineup.

Biggest Loser: That would be Andre Miller, who managed to turn the ball over 5 times in only 15 minutes against the Pacers, finishing with 5 points, 0 rebounds and 1 assist (-1.14 WARP) off the bench.

The Jazz were atrocious last night, losing to the Rockets 125-80 as they shot under 40% as a team. Paul Millsap was the worst of the Jazz starters, scoring 4 points (on 2-9 from the field), with 2 rebounds and 1 assist (-0.50 WARP) in 21 minutes.

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Daily rankings and stats come from the FBC H2H Player Rater (beta version). They are based on the stat Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP) an estimate of the number of wins a player produces per week in H2H leagues over a replacement (waiver wire) player.

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