We had the lightest night in the NBA season last night. Only three games meant that there wasn’t too much news, so I will keep it light on that front today. We have a full schedule of games on tap for tonight, so we can really dig into tonight’s action. I will be anxiously awaiting the Lakers game to see if Kobe can top 40 points for an astounding fifth straight game. If you still haven’t checked out the Top 50 Fake Basketballers, do it now.
Yesterday’s News:
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-Marcin Gortat continued on his tear since regaining the health of his wrist. He posted season-highs is points and rebounds with
24 and 15, but blocked just 1 shot. Gortat is shooting as well as any big man in the league right now and can really stabilize your FG% if that’s something that you need with all the streaky shooting in the NBA so far this year.
-Steve Nash has snapped out of his early season swoon to pull himself into a tie with Rajon Rondo to lead the league in assists after last night. He posted 20 points and 10 assists last night and despite not making a three continues to prove you can’t forget about him when talking about the best PGs in the league. While Nash is a good bet to slow down due to his age and the condensed schedule, he is not the type of guy that I really want to be against.
-Paul Millsap took advantage of the Nuggets poor inside presence last night by scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The main storyline with Millsap this season is whether or not he will be traded to free up playing time for the youngster, Derrick Favors. According to Rotoworld, Millsap is the 11th ranked player in fantasy basketball over the past week in 8 category leagues and doesn’t look to be slowing down.
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Injuries:
Carmelo Anthony – Doubtful
Chris Paul – Questionable
Andrea Bargnani – Doubtful
Andrew Bogut – Cleared to Play
Derrick Favors – Day to Day
Strong Plays for Tonight:
Ricky Rubio (MIN) – Ricky Rubio is my play of the night tonight because it his the Twolves turn to matchup with the hapless Kings defense. The Kings remain in the bottom 5 in the NBA in PPG Allowed, FG% Allowed and Possesions/Game making them a dream matchup for an uptempo PG like Rubio. Since Rubio moved into the starting lineup he is averaging 40 MPG and is a solid bet for a double-double every night.
Kyrie Irving (CLE) – Irving is another young PG with a solid matchup tonight. The Charlotte defense is dead last night PPG allowed, so Irving should be able to lead a high-scoring attack for the Cavaliers. Irving is still finding his groove, but when his jumpshot is falling he is a threat for 20 points each night and the Bobcats porous defense should allow for just that.
Jarrett Jack (NOH) – Jack gets a matchup with Portland, the third fastest team in the NBA to only the Denever Nuggets and Miami Heat, meaning Jack should have a ton of possessions to work with tonight against a Blazers team that has not been as good defensively this season as Coach Nate McMillan would like. While Jack has not excelled in any category lately, I expect him to 
reestablish himself as a number one option.
JJ Redick (ORL) – Redick is not going to fill up a ton of categories for you, but with Jason Richardson expected to miss another game tonight against a Knicks team that was torched by the Thunder last time out, Redick becomes a high volume scoring option. His greatest asset is his three-point shooting, which should only improve being on the floor more and getting more consistent looks. If you need threes tonight, this is the guy you want.
Deron Williams (NJN) – This one isn’t really a surprising choice with Williams coming off of his best game of the season by far, but with Chris Paul looking very questionable for this game with a hamstring injury, Williams could be in for another otherworldly night. Williams feasts on defensively challenged points guards, which is exactly what he is staring at in Mo Williams.
