Kevin Durant, John Salmons and Zaza show the world how it’s done
Headlines
1. The only question surrounding Kevin Durant and the Thunder at the moment are how far they will go in the playoffs. KD dropped 37, 8 boards, a perfect 15 from the line with 2 treys, a steal and only 2 turnovers. While the Celtics aren’t exactly what they used to be (sidenote: Kevin Garnett should be more like John Salmons when it comes to talking about the refs as well), Durant had a nearly common place performance which in itself is jaw-dropping. The campaign for a #1 pick in fantasy 2010-11 grows with everyday.
2. John Salmons. Apparently that whole period in Chi-Town was just a super long slump. Against the best team in the league, Salmons had 28 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, 3 triples and was a perfect 7 from the stripe. This man was obviously meant to play for Scott Skiles.
3. You know your in trouble when Zaza Pachulia has a double-double (his first in a season +). The Lakers it seems have dropped off the planet lately. In some aspects, they are downright hurting fantasy teams. Over the last five games, Kobe is 16-23 from the free throw line and averaging 4.4 turnovers, Lamar is shooting 41.5% and Ron-ron is an abysmal 4-22 from downtown. They have lost 3 of these games and look extremely shaky heading into April.
In Depth – O.J Mayo
Mayo’s volume stats have hardly moved an inch from rookie year to sophomore year. Normally, this would be cause for concern for NBA teams but Mayo is doing all the right things at the moment and in the recent past has been putting up some solid numbers for owners. With Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol performing well above average, the fact that Mayo has maintained his excellent rookie start has been impressive.
On the season, he has increased his field goal percentage by .022, a not insignificant increase. He has decreased his turnover rate by 0.6 per game. This are extremely good signs heading into the future as in fantasy he will make his name as a volume shooter and the two things which kill value there are low FG% and any notion of an above-average turnover rate.
In his past five games, he is averaging more than 20 points per game, 2 triples, over 5 rebounds and 3 assists. This is especially handy if you dump assists, as he is PG eligible but still fills it up. Next season, depending on what happens with Rudy Gay, could be a very significant one for Mayo.
Stockwatch
Obviously it’s playoff time and many leagues have stopped trading etc, but this would be in an ideal world.
Buy: Tyreke Evans. The kid is on an absolute tear. He has turned into a consistent triple-double threat, averaging 8.2 boards and 8.7 assists in his last 7 games. Scary good. He has already placed himself in serious early round chatter for drafting next year.
Sell: Jason Maxiell. Despite blowing away opponents for the last month and playing big minutes, his shine is now gone. Ben Wallace has returned to the lineup. Against Miami today, he had 4 minutes and 0 everything.
Hold: Jason Terry. While he exploded today for 29 points in 40 minutes, JET has been up and down recently and cannot be trusted. He is 8 from 23 from deep and depending on what Coach Carlisle thinks, he might get anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes per night.
Forecast
The Hawks play a maximum 6 games over the final playoff game for fantasy and that means Josh Smith, as his put back dunks and recent all round magic have demonstrated already, is in for a monster last effort. ATL is chasing that 3rd seed to avoid the Cavs early so shouldn’t go easy unlike some teams to end the season. Basketball Monster has him as the projected 6th most productive fantasy player next week but I think he’ll top that with some big performances in some massive games for playoff implications including Milwaukee, Cleveland, Charlotte and Toronto. Washington and Detroit will be plain ugly to watch though. All those doubting Tom’s at the season’s start have surely been proven wrong. If you want Smoove on your team next year, you will have to be extremely early to lock him up.
Around the league
A Stern Warning interviews the dudes who made SonicGate
Some quality tweets from NBA players
Breaking down Celtic Shoes
This is Hilarious. Ray Allen, green fog and a collection of awesome songs. What more could you want? (For the best song, scroll through to the 2 minute mark)
GiveMeTheRock with their take on Wednesday’s game
Hardwood on some Celtics talk and KG swearing
