So the first night of the NBA season is in the books and we had some interesting fantasy developments to discuss. Lets take a look game by game.
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| Anderson Varejao |
Washington @ Cleveland: Nothing really positive coming from the Wizards last night on the fantasy front as they lost 94-84 to the Cavs. Pretty pedestrian numbers across the board. So lets move on the Cavs. As expected,
Kyrie Irving was a star scoring 29 points, 3 assists, and 6 rebounds. The assist number is a bit troubling but that should improve as the season progresses. Rookie
Dion Waiters started in the back-court next to Irving and showed why he was worth a late round flier. He put up a line 17 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers while completely outplaying fellow rookie
Bradley Beal. If waiters isn't owned in your league, that should change immediately. Two big performances came from the Cavs frontcourt as well.
Anderson Varejao a
nd Tristan Thompson both showed why they will be a force to be reckoned with this season. Varejao scored 9 points, 23 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 blocks while Thompson had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. They feasted on a Wizard frontcourt that was extremely banged up so don't expect gaudy numbers like this every night however both Thompson and Varejao can comfortably be inserted into starting lineups going forward.
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| Brandon Bass |
Boston @ Miami: In what was the marquee match-up of the NBA's opening night, the defending champion Heat were able to rout the Celtics 120-107.
Rondo was great in the loss, posting a line of 20 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists. Rondo will continue to produce at an elite level throughout the duration of the season.
Brandon Bass, who many pegged as a breakout candidate this year had a big night with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He will have to fend off
Jared Sullinger for the starting role but Bass should be owned as long as he remains the starting PF in Boston.
Jason Terry had a down night, but be patient with him as he adjusts to his new team.
Lebron James picked up right where he left off last year, showing everyone he really is the best player in the world. Lebron was able to post a line of 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in only 29 minutes. Lebron left the game with cramps but doesn't seem to be anything serious. Expect many more nights just like this one.
Dwayne Wade also showed why he was worthy of a late first round pick with 29 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
Chris Bosh and
Mario Chalmers also posted solid numbers in the win.
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| Pau Gasol |
Dallas @ Los Angeles Lakers: The new look Lakers were not able to hold off the banged up Mavericks last night in LA. They looked out of sync all night and should have some growing pains early on.
Darren Collison posted a solid line with 17 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Many have Collison pegged for a bounce back year and performances like this are a step in the right direction.
O.J. Mayo, who I was extremely high on going into this season struggled mightily with his shot last night. Do not let this performance deter you from owning him. Mayo remains in line for a big year in Dallas.
Shawn Marion had 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block in a very impressive performance. He should continue to post solid lines as long as Dirk remains sidelined with a bad knee.
Kobe Bryant scored 22 points in the loss but wasn't able to get much else going as I mentioned LA looked out of sync in coach Mike Brown's Princeton offense.
Steve Nash, who debuted for the Lakers last night didn't have one of his best nights. He managed just 7 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Look for Nash to improve on these numbers one he settles into the offense.
Dwight Howard and
Pau Gasol both looked pretty good in the slow tempo, half court Princeton offense. Dwight had 19 points, 10 rebounds and a block in his Lakers debut while Gasol posted a huge line of 23 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks.
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