Line of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki is back. Dirk Nowitzki is healthy. Dirk Nowitzki is finally productive in fantasy basketball once again. Dirk, Dirk, Dirk. Dirk! Weeeee! I think that sums it up really. Well unless I didn’t overstate things enough, it was damn good to see him bring some of his old championship-level form to the table once again. While I sincerely doubt we will see him regularly drop 30 points, 4 threes, 13 rebounds, 3 steals this season, it was still refreshing to see him deliver this kind of a line at least for last night’s game. (2.53 WARP)

Honorable Mentions: Kobe Bryant may have gotten out-dueled slightly on the fantasy front (well technically, they both had the same WARP), but it was his line that led to LA’s victory over the Mavs. Classic! I may not own any Dirks this season, but am dang happy I have Black Mamba in three leagues this season, thanks to lines like 38 points, 13-21 from the field, 4 threes, 12 rebounds, 7 assists (2.53 WARP)

Jarrett Jack is showing that he ain’t just good for Stephen-Curry-ankle insurance. He’s legit. He’s even making a serious case as a  Sixth-Man-of-the-Year award contender. It’s good to see that the all-star break got him that much needed rest in order for him to not only come back strong, but be on fire as exhibited by his 23 points, 5 threes, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists (1.79 WARP)

Serge Ibaka did quite well in OKC’s thumping of the Bulls. He didn’t need much time on the floor to notch his 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks (1.76 WARP)

Marcin Gortat had a rare shining moment of a game in his most underwhelming season since his break out back in Orlando. Lines like 21 points, 10-15 from the field, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks were the upper levels of what people were expecting from him this season. Sad that we didn’t manage to see enough of these so far. (1.74 WARP)

Paul Pierce took charge, again, and played point-forward for the Celtics last night and even teased at a potential triple-double performance. I do think that these will be the norm for him moving forward. 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists (1.70 WARP)

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Derrick Williams (25% owned) had a real gem of a game last night and he showed that he is still a potential second-half breakout candidate. While we don’t think he will grab double-doubles like these often (yet), his ability to throw out some statistically diverse lines make him a viable add in 14-man leagues or deeper. Heck, if he did 23 points, 9-15 from the field, 5-5 from the line, and 12 rebounds a tad more often, he’s sneak into standard-league radars in a heartbeat. (1.51 WARP)

Pick Up Lines: It’s been a while since we’ve seen C.J. Miles (7% owned) do anything significant in fantasy. So his 19 points, and  5 threes is just a sign that he’s 3pt-stream material viable once again. (1.48 WARP)

It’s closer and closer to Playoffs. And we all know what time it is, once it’s playoff time, it’s Shane Battier time (12% owned) Recently, with lines like 14 points, 4 threes, 2 steals; it appears he overtaken Ray Allen once again. (1.45 WARP)

Mario Chalmers (43% owned) is clearly owned in far too many leagues already than he should be. Those people who’ve kept the faith were rewarded last night by his 16 points, 4-4 from the line, 4 threes, 4 assists, 2 steals. (1.44 WARP) Unfortunately, “Super Mario” is far too inconsistent to merit an add order in standard leagues.

Al-Farouq Aminu (23% owned) 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks (1.18 WARP). He’s been consistent lately, and I’ve personally been adding him in leagues where he’s been available. Ride the wave boys, ride the wave.

Boris Diaw (5% owned) 12 points (0.94 WARP). Uh. No.

Biggest Loser: Kris Humphries 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists (-1.11 WARP) Do a Kim Kardashian – no, not bang Kanye – dump Kris and forget about him.

Gerald Wallace 0 points (0-6 from the field), 1 rebounds, 2 assists (-0.95 WARP). He can’t seem to get any real steam going. Drop him if there are better options. Bench him until he gets on track.

Jordan Crawford 0 points (0-4 from the field), 2 rebounds, 0 assists (-0.76 WARP). Two things can happen with JC in Boston. It’ll take some time til he gets going, or B, he pulls a “Jason Terry”

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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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