Hoops Lab: Game Night for the New Year

How did you bring in the New Year? Wild party? At church? With family and friends? This year, I rang in the New Year exactly the way you'd think the writer of the Hoops Lab would want to: I went to an NBA game.

On Thursday, Dec. 31 the Detroit Pistons hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves. This had the potential to be an extra-special game for me as another chance to see Kevin Garnett play live, perhaps for the last time, but alas it was the second half of a back-to-back for the Timberwolves which meant that KG didn't suit up. But even so, I was pretty excited for this one. It was a chance to scout out two NBA teams in person, which gives so much more information than what you get on TV. Plus, I took my kids with me to make sure the NBA bug sets in with them as well. And as it turns out, they helped me with my analysis. I also did a lot of tweeting from the game, so I'll use Twitter to help me tell the story as well.

One thing that stood out right away was Drummond's physical dominance. My 7-year old son pointed it out immediately. I was in the process of pointing out all of the important players by number, but he already knew Drummond because we went to several Pistons preseason events, and he cut me off in mid-explanation to say, "Big Andre is really good!" after an easy Drummond dunk. So I watched for a few possessions and realized that he was right:

All told, this was one of the more fun New Year's Eves I've had in a long time. And I even got to do some scouting for work while I was there, so it was a win-win. Happy New Year.

Around the NBA

Durant's toe:Kevin Durant sat out Monday's game with a sprained right big toe. He suffered the injury in the second quarter of Saturday's blowout win over the Hornets. He played through the sprain in the second half of Saturday's game, finishing with 29 points, 11 boards and four blocks. The injury does not appear to be serious, so consider him day-to-day going into Wednesday's game with the Grizzlies. If the injury is short-term, this news would be more important for DFS players, as any game without Durant is pretty much an auto-start for Russell Westbrook, regardless of his price.

Curry's shin:Stephen Curry was a bit of a surprise starter Monday, as he has been dealing with a lower leg injury that had limited him for the past week. He missed two games outright, and then had to sit out of the second half of Saturday's game after he was kicked in the shin. Since he had aggravated it, I assumed that he would likely sit out Monday's game. Instead, he felt good in the walkthrough and suited up, netting his customary 30 points and five three-pointers in 32 minutes. There has been no word of how he felt after the game, but there has been no talk of setback, so presumably Curry should be fine moving forward.

Batum's toe, Jefferson's knee and Walker going nuts:Nicolas Batum sat out Monday's game with a sprained toe on his right foot, his second missed game, and he is not expected to play on Wednesday. In his absence, Jeremy Lin started and has averaged 14 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 boards in 32.5 minutes per game over the last two. Al Jefferson is also out again, but for a more extended period with a torn meniscus that is expected to sideline him for six weeks. In his absence, Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky are getting more run. But the most important Hornet to watch these days is Kemba Walker, who is averaging 27.8 points (44.5 percent FG, 97 percent FT), 4.8 boards, 4.6 assists, 2.6 steals, 1.8 treys and even 0.8 blocks per game over his last five. Walker is picking up the offensive slack for Jefferson, and now Batum, and is putting together his best stretch of the season.

Irving's minutes restriction: Kyrie irving is just about done with his minutes restriction. Prior to Monday's game, coach David Blatt said "We're getting close to being beyond [restrictions," and "He's pretty healthy. I don't see him going out there and playing 40 minutes anytime soon…we'll still be conscious of his minutes and probably gradually upgrade from where we were, but he won't be limited to 15, 20, 23 minutes anymore like we have been." Immediately after that statement, Blatt played Irving a season-high 29 minutes in which he had 25 points (10-for-16 FG, 3-for-3 FT), eight assists, six boards and two treys. An Irving with no minutes restrictions is one of the top guards in fantasy.

Favors' back issue lingering:Derrick Favors missed his sixth straight game Monday due to back spasms. He was in this space last week after missing two games, but the thought was that it was a short-term injury and he would be back soon. But despite being listed as day-to-day, Favors continues to miss games. There is no specific timetable for his return, but in his absence Jeff Withey has been playing good ball and could be worth a short-term add (or a DFS start).

Rose's knee:Derrick Rose has missed the last three games due to soreness in his right hamstring, but there is now a thought that the issue may be in his right knee. Rose had an MRI on the sore knee Monday, but it came back negative so he is considered day-to-day again heading into Tuesday's game. The lack of structural damage is a big relief, especially in light of Rose's dramatic and sustained knee injuries in recent years, but it is still obviously a big concern. Rose was able to practice Monday, so he could be back in the lineup in the near future.

Carroll's knee (again):DeMarre Carroll had to sit out Monday's game due to swelling in his right knee. He had already missed nine games at the end of December due to bruising in that same knee, and he hadn't played more than 26 minutes since returning from that injury last week. Carroll's status hasn't been updated for the near future, but expected him to remain limited, if not outright out, for at least the short term, if not longer.

Kobe's shoulder:Kobe Bryant sat out Sunday's win over the Suns with shoulder soreness, and he did not practice Monday. He is listed as questionable going into Tuesday, but Lakers coach Byron Scott said the team isn't viewing this as something serious. With that prognosis, Kobe should be considered day-to-day until he shows he can get back on the court.

Got the drank in me going back-to-back: Back-to-backs 1/4– 1/12
MT: Warriors, Bucks, Kings
TW: Mavericks, Knicks
WT: Celtics, Jazz
TF: Lakers
FS: Nets, Warriors, Heat, Magic, Raptors, Wizards
SS: Hornets, Clippers, 76ers, Jazz
SM: None
MT: Bulls, Spurs

New Additions and DFS value

Bojan Bogdanovic (36 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues): Bogdanovic was in this space weeks ago, right after Rondae Hollis-Jefferson went down. Since then he has performed about to expectation, averaging 14 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 treys on 49.3 percent field-goal shooting and 90 percent from the line over his seven leading into Monday when he struggled from the floor (3 of 12 FG) but still went 6-for-6 from the line on his way to 12 points, 12 boards, three assists and two blocks.

Bobby Portis (35 percent): Portis, like Taj Gibson, has been getting extra time over the last couple weeks due to Joakim Noah's shoulder injury. However, unlike Gibson, Portis is still a young player with upside. He's a 6-foot-11 rookie who has consistently performed with minutes. Over the three games last week when he played at least 26 minutes, he averaged 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, shooting 61.3 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line. Noah should return soon and may eat into Portis' minutes in the short-term, but the latter is one to at least keep an eye on because he seems capable of continuing to grow into a larger role.

Cody Zeller (31 percent): Zeller has been the Hornets big man that has stepped up the most in the absence of Al Jefferson. He has averaged 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 67.9 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line over his last four entering Monday night. Jefferson is out for quite a while, so both Zeller and Frank Kaminsky are on the radar as potentially useful bigs.

Evan Turner (26 percent): Turner has been playing solid ball of late, averaging 16 points, 5.4 boards and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the line in 29.3 minutes over his last four games entering Monday. On Monday he started in place of an injured Avery Bradley and had 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes. Bradley's injury is considered minor, so Turner's run as a starter is likely short-term, but he was productive even before Bradley's injury and is worth a look.

Jeff Withey (19 percent): Withey has steadily played himself into a larger role over the last week with both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors out injured. Favors has missed six straight games with a back injury, and Gobert has been out since the end of November with a knee injury. No timetable has been announced for their respective returns, but both are on the horizon, so Withey's minutes increase is likely short term. Nevertheless, over his last five games, Withey has averaged 10.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.6 steals per game with at least two blocks and a steal in every contest. For as long as the run lasts, this is worth having on your team.