Line of the Night: Yes, I’m continuing Patrick’s theme from yesterday, not because I’m not really sure where he was going with that (Gordon Hayward as “Best” anything?), but because LeBron James loves his Lincoln-like facial hair, and because he dominates whenever he plays (much like Mr. Daniel Day Lewis). Granted, the Heat had to go to Double OT last night to beat the Kings, but with a line like 40 points, 14-23 from the field, 11-12 from the line, 8 rebounds, 16 assists, and 2 steals (3.59 WARP) it’s clear that LeBron would have had huge numbers even with the extra 10 minutes.

Honorable Mentions: The Mary Todd to Jame’s Abraham (at least in this case) was Marcus Thornton who had a crazy (pun intended) 36 points, on 11-18 from the field, with 8 threes (2.57 WARP). Since I haven’t seen the movie, I’m unable to continue the metaphor, suffice it to say Dwyane Wade had 39 points, 19-28 from the field, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (2.52 WARP).

In the only basketbrawl that I can remember from this season, Stephen Curry put up 38 points, 14-20 from the field, 7 threes, 4 assists, and 3 steals (2.56 WARP), but it wasn’t enough for the Warriors to overcome a strong team effort by the Pacers led by George Hill with 23 points, 9-14 from the field, 3 threes, 7 assists, and 3 steals (2.20 WARP).

Unfortunately for Nikola Pekovic, the Twolves and Suns only went into single OT, and it was a really low scoring game, so Pek only ended with 18 points, 6-6 from the line, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks (2.33 WARP). Even worse for Pek, the Wolves lost.

You would think there would be someone else from one of those OT games in the Honorable Mentions, but no, instead we turn to a bunch of singularities… Brook Lopez had a nice game for the Nets with 20 points, 9-14 from the field, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks (2.10 WARP). Of course, Brooklyn was starting CJ Watson instead of Joe Johnson, so that freed up about 20 extra shots for other players… And no, CJ Watson is not a good pick up while JJ is out. He has played for the Bulls, so I can say for certain that he is not a very good basketball player (at least for a professional, I’m sure he’d dominate any rec league).

Next up: Monta Ellis played 44 minutes, scoring 22 points, with 9 assists, and boosting his WARP score with 6 steals (2.08 WARP). He also helped limit JJ Redick to only 23 minutes off the bench. He also helped the Bucks beat Dirk Nowitzki and his 21 points, 4-4 from the line, 20 rebounds, and 2 steals (1.78 WARP). Not as good as his recent Line of the Night, but good enough for Dirk owners I’m sure.

Finally, Luol Deng came up with 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals (1.86 WARP), but my Bulls lost a close one to the Cavs {hangs head in shame}.

Waiver Wire Line of the Night: Matt Barnes (23% owned) got 33 minutes off the bench for the Clippers and ended up with 17 points, 6-10 from the field, 3 threes, 7 assists, and 4 steals (2.15 WARP). It’s frustratingly hard to own Barnes in any weekly format since you might get 2 out of 3 games in a week where he puts up average-to-below-average numbers and only 1 game like this one… but the next week, he’ll put up 2 games like this one and only 1 bad one… Luckily, I’ve got him in a Roto league where it kind of all evens out.

Pick Up Lines: Kirk Hinrich (25% owned) is playing well for the Bulls right now, scoring another 11 points, with 3 threes, 6 rebounds, and a very nice 11 assists (1.30 WARP). While Hinrich is healthy, Nate Robinson’s value drops to just about 0, but Hinrich is definitely worth owning until Derrick Rose comes back (if he does this season).

2 good games, 4 bad ones… 2 good games, 4 bad ones… Anyone want John Salmons (5% owned)? Check out his 2OT-aided 15 points, 3 threes, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks (1.29 WARP). No look at this next guy: Gerald Henderson (36% owned) with 24 points, 12-19 from the field, and 3 steals (1.08 WARP). Now look back at John Salmons. Now look at Gerald Henderson.

Now look at the Magic struggling to put together any lineup that will work… Including playing Tobias Harris (3% owned) for 30 minutes allowing him to get 16 points, 7-9 from the field, and 7 rebounds (1.06 WARP). His first game for the Magic he had 25 minutes, so if he keeps this up, he might replace Andrew Nicholson and/or Maurice Harkless as the guy to pick up from Orlando.

Jermaine O’Neal (9% owned) is… what? How do I say this? After his 10 points, 5-8 from the field, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks (1.06 WARP), I don’t want to say he’s worth picking up, but, I mean, I guess he is.

Caron Butler (19% owned), on the other hand, is a shoe-in for Pick-Up. After his 16 points, 4 threes, and 7 rebounds (0.99 WARP), Butler is up to #60 over the last 2 weeks. Easy money.

Biggest Loser: Jared Dudley continues to struggle… managing just 2 points (1-6 from the field), 2 rebounds, 1 assists, and 4 turnovers (-1.60 WARP).

Only slightly better was Vince Carter who went 0-8 from the field to end with 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists (-1.24 WARP).

But perhaps more painful is the Blazing Hot Jarrett Jack going 2-10 from the field (still had 11 points) with 1 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 turnovers (-0.83 WARP). I can’t say if this is the beginning of the end for him… but if it is, you heard it here first!

***

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.

Do not miss a day of the Fantasy NBA. Subscribe to Fantasy Basketball Coaches right now. You can also get bonus (and easily digestible) content by following FBC on Twitter, or become a fan of FBC on Facebook! We are so social!

If you like what you read here, come back every day for new content! And if you come back every day, please consider donating…