Here’s looking at you week 1/29-2/4:
Four games: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, LA Lakers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland.
Three Games: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indiana, LA Clippers, Memphis, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, Seattle, Toronto, Utah, Washington.
Two Games: San Antonio.
Ok… Tim Duncan was one block short of that kind of a triple-double last night, and then 3 turnovers shy of a quadruple-double for that matter. The Big Fundamental scored a season-high 37 on Wednesday, and is delivering another MVP-worthy season. Too bad the Spurs only hit the hardwood twice this coming week.
Plug ‘em in, Plug ‘em in:
Troy Murphy, F/C: T-Murph has been a disappointment this season, to say the least. Injuries and a crowded lineup in Golden State took a toll on his fantasy numbers, but as part of last week’s 8-player-swap, Murphy could be the player who benefits most from the trade. Now healthy and playing alongside Jermaine O’Neal in Indiana, Troy has the opportunity to regain his old form as a double-double machine. He’s averaging 11/10/2 since joining the Pacers, and it’s also encouraging to see that he was actually averaging career highs in FG%, threes, assists, and blocks despite his aforementioned struggles and a dip in minutes this season. I know. I was surprised to see that too.
Charlie Villanueva, F: Charlie V. opted for rehab and cortisone shots instead of surgery on his ailing shoulder and returned to action last night. Skillanueva posted an economical double-double (10/10), seeing 30 minutes off the bench in his first game back. The Bucks have lost 11 of their last 12, so they’ll take anything they can get from Versatile Villanueva. He could payoff nicely for those of you that had the patience (and bench) to hang on to him the last couple months. With four matchups on hand, C-Elite should be solid next week as long as he doesn’t have another setback with his shoulder. You can visit CV’s website to learn more fun facts about him… like his many nicknames; and did you know that Big Smooth grew 7 inches over the summer of 2000? (What?! Isn’t that humanly impossible?)
Jamal Crawford, SG: How does someone go from scoring 9 points off the bench one night to dropping a career-high 52 in a game later that week? I think I remember Tony Delk doing something like that a few years ago in Phoenix, but this wasn’t exactly a huge surprise coming from Jamal Crawford. His fantasy value and play can be erratic, but you gotta love the very hot hand.
Marcus Williams, G: The rookie out of UConn has been solid in his last two outings (16.5/4.5/5.5), and there is talk of Williams joining the Nets’ starting lineup soon. Richard Jefferson is out indefinitely, and with Vinsanity and Kidd both being injury risks, Williams makes for a nice high-upside pickup right now. The Nets tip off four times next week, so Williams could be a decent play in deeper leagues.
Steve Blake, PG: Could Blake have found a new home in Denver? Since moving to the Mile High City, the ex-Terp has averaged 10/3/6 with an impressive 2.4 treys and 2.3 steals. He’s getting 30+ minutes as a starter and will rack up the dimes with both AI and Melo on the court. Blake won’t be asked to score much, but he’ll shoot plenty from downtown (34 of his 56 shot attempts have been from behind the arc) and is pretty clutch (see: back-to-back threes to seal the deal at Seattle on Tuesday night). He appears well-suited for Denver’s up-tempo offense and he’s also an underrated defender. Stevie B will be a good fit in your lineups with four games next week.
Jose Calderon, PG: DM discussed the Spaniard yesterday… you should definitely plug him in as long as T.J. Ford is out of commission (which could be another week).
