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Box Score Breakdown -- Tuesday, December 16th

Sigh. Yet another rookie gone. Jabari Parker joins Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon and Joel Embiid as rookies who we either won't see again this season or at least, not for a while. I guess there's always next season.

ADD ME! ADD ME!

Undeniably, Enes Kanter has benefitted from Derrick Favors' absence of late, but aside from that, the Turkish big man has had his best NBA season to date. Against the Pelicans, Kanter blew up offensively, scoring 29 points (12-22 FG, 5-6 FT) with seven rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block in 37 minutes. He is owned in just 45 percent of ESPN leagues and 65 percent of Yahoo leagues, but is ranked inside the top 100 on the season, averaging 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds with 53 percent shooting from the field and 80 percent from the line His lack of blocks and steals as a big man prohibit him from becoming an elite fantasy big man, but the addition of 0.3 three-pointers a game, give him an extra string to his bow. His numbers will come don when Favors returns, but Kanter still should be owned in most, if not all, leagues.

M.I.A.

These guys all sat out Tuesday's action, for one reason or another.

  • Timberwolves
    • Nikola Pekovic (ankle)
    • Ricky Rubio (ankle)
    • Kevin Martin (wrist)
  • Wizards
    • Martell Webster (back)
    • Paul Pierce (toe)
  • Heat
    • Josh McRoberts (knee)
    • Chris Bosh (calf)
    • Danny Granger (illness)
  • Nets
    • Brook Lopez (back)
  • Jazz
    • Derrick Favors (ankle)
  • Pelicans
    • Eric Gordon (shoulder)
  • Mavericks
    • Raymond Felton (ankle)
  • Knicks
    • Andrea Bargnani (hamstring)
    • J.R. Smith (heel)
    • Iman Shumpert (shoulder)
  • Warriors
    • Andrew Bogut (knee)
    • David Lee (hamstring)
  • Grizzlies
    • Quincy Pondexter (DNP-CD)
  • Kings
    • Omri Casspi (knee)
    • DeMarcus Cousins (meningitis)

FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT

One game back from a chest injury, and straight back into the fantasy line of the night. So it goes for Anthony Davis, who had 31 points (12-15 FG, 7-7 FT) with nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, and three blocks in 35 minutes, reminding us all who is best fantasy player this season. His form has slowed, no doubt, but if we were drafting now, Davis would still go at one in most leagues.

CASUALTY WARD

The big news Tuesday was the diagnosis of Jabari Parker, who is going to miss the rest of his rookie season with a torn ACL. Given Jason Kidd's often tempestuous relationship with consistency, it's hard to predict a winner, if there is one, for fantasy. Giannis Antetokounmpo, if he isn't owned, is a must now, and the rest of the value will likely be divided between Khris Middleton and Ersan Ilyasova, who himself is sitting out with an injury. Middleton will be the guy to add until at least Ilyasova returns, but when he does, I like Ersan to have marginally more value, but with Kidd, your guess is as good as mine.

BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES

Shabazz Muhammad continued his hot scoring form, putting in 21 points with four rebounds. He's pretty much exclusively a scorer, although has value where offensive rebounds are counted as a separate category, but his one-dimensional-ness (probably a made up word) restricts his value to 14 team leagues. You have to respect a scoring average of 19.5 points in his last four games though.

Mo Williams returned to action after missing the last six games with a sore back, but played just 14 minutes off the bench, while rookie Zach LaVine drew another start. If Williams gets the starting job back, he's worth owning in all leagues until Ricky Rubio comes back, but with Minnesota clearly rebuilding, it's a distinct possibility that Flip Saunders continues to go with LaVine, who's fantasy value is limited at best.

With Paul Pierce out, Otto Porter Jr. made his first career start, scoring 10 points with five rebounds, but it was Rasual Butler who took advantage of the Truth's absence. Butler scored 23 points with four three-pointers, five rebounds, one steal, and one block. If Pierce was to miss extended time, Butler is worth a look, but his previous games had failed to yield a double-digit scoring performance, so his value is marginal when Pierce plays.

Mario Chalmers had a big night, even though Norris Cole and Dwyane Wade were in the lineup. Chalmers had 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals in 31 minutes and although the value is volatile, Chalmers has value in 12 team leagues, especially given Dwyane Wade;s injury history.

Udonis Haslem and Justin Hamilton started in place of Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts, but gave the Heat nothing and subsequently, are of no interest to most fantasy owners.

Mason Plumlee narrowly missed his third straight double-double, scoring 21 points with nine rebounds, one steal, and one block. While Brook Lopez sits, Plumlee has value in most formats, but Lopez is expected back soon, and that will relegate Lopez to an afterthought.

Kevin Garnett returned to action and played 21 minutes in a start, grabbing 10 rebounds. It's hard to rely on KG with the limited games and minutes. There are likely many better options available.

Rudy Gobert started in place of Favors, and had six points, nine rebounds and three blocks and has been a nice daily fantasy option, and a streaming option in seasonal leagues, but that likely ends every soon. There's no value in owning Gobert when Favors returns.

Dante Exum scored a career high 12 points with two assists, one steal, and one block, but his fantasy value remains the same - non-existent in standard leagues.

Ryan Anderson hit six three-pointers on his way to 28 points, making it 16 made threes in his last three games. There will likely never be a better time to sell high on Anderson and we've seen him be inconsistent with Davis in the lineup this season.

Jrue Holiday had an off night, scoring just four points with eight assists, one steal, and one block. It's hard to be too critical of Holiday this season though.

With the Mavericks destroying the Knicks, the Dallas rotation was as spread as we'll likely see all season. It just further reiterated that owning a Dallas point guard is an exercise in futility in standard leagues.

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals in 37 minutes and since he sat out one game with knee soreness, has been on a tear. If you can capitalise on this hot streak and sell for a top 20 player, you've won.

Draymond Green hit just 2-of-11 shots for four points, but added 10 rebounds, six assists and five blocks and continues to amaze his owners. I'm hanging for David Lee to return just so I can be certain that he'll have no impact on Green's numbers.

Steph Curry also struggled with his shot, hitting just 1-of-10 from deep, but still finished with a 19 point, seven rebound, six assists, and four steal night. The MVP frontrunner couldn't keep the Warriors winning streak alive though.

With Tony Allen suffering a corneal abrasion and playing just 21 minutes, Vince Carter had his best game, scoring 16 points (5-12 FG, 4-7 3Pt, 2-2 FT) with four rebounds. If Allen misses time, Carter will be the beneficiary, but he still will not likely move the needle for most leagues.

Russell Westbrook's fantasy insanity continued, scoring 32 points with six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals in 32 minutes. For the season, Westbrook is shooting at 50 percent, a remarkable achievement, and along with Curry and Davis, has to be a prime MVP candidate in both fantasy and reality.

Kevin Durant played 35 minutes, the most since his return, scoring 26 points with three rebounds, two assists, and one steal. The other numbers will come, but it's been a bit of a slow start for the reigning MVP.

Darren Collison played just 26 minutes in coach Ty Corbin's first game, with Ramon Sessions playing 22 minutes. Could this be the beginning of a time share? We don't know yet, but with Corbin, anything is possible. I'd be holding Collison for now.

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Points

  1. Russell Westbrook, G, OKC, 32 points
  2. Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 31 points
  3. Enes Kanter, F, UTA, 29 points
  4. Thaddeus Young, F, MIN, 29 points

Rebounds

  1. Tyson Chandler, C, DAL, 14 rebounds
  2. Gorgui Dieng, C, MIN, 12 rebounds
  3. Zach Randolph, F, 10 rebounds
  4. Draymond Green, F, GSW, 10 rebounds
  5. Kris Humphries, F, WAS, 10 rebounds
  6. Steven Adams, C, OKC, 10 rebounds
  7. Kevin Garnett, F, BKN, 10 rebounds

Assists

  1. John Wall, G, WAS, 17 assists
  2. Deron Williams, G, BKN, 11 assists
  3. Pablo Prigioni, G, NYK, 9 assists

Steals

  1. Pablo Prigioni, G, NYK, 5 steals
  2. Russell Westbrook, G, OKC, 4 steals
  3. Carmelo Anthony, F, NYK, 4 steals
  4. Steph Curry, G, GSW, 4 steals
  5. Mario Chalmers, G, MIA, 4 steals
  6. Mike Conley, G, MEM, 4 steals

Blocks

  1. Serge Ibaka, F, OKC, 7 blocks
  2. Draymond Green, F, GSW, 5 blocks
  3. Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 3 blocks
  4. Gorgui Dieng, C, MIN, 3 blocks
  5. Rudy Gobert, C, UTA, 3 blocks
  6. Omer Asik, C, NOP, 3 blocks

Three-Pointers

  1. Ryan Anderson, F, NOP, 6-10 3Pt
  2. Rasual Butler, G, WAS, 4-5 3Pt
  3. Klay Thompson, G, GSW, 4-5 3Pt
  4. Joe Johnson, G, BKN, 4-8 3Pt
  5. Vince Carter, G, MEM, 4-7 3Pt

Minutes

  1. Luol Deng, F, MIA, 41 minutes
  2. Klay Thompson, G, GSW, 40 minutes
  3. Steph Curry, G, GSW, 39 minutes
  4. Deron Williams, G, BKN, 39 minutes