When you checked your fantasy basketball roster for its stats from last night I swear the numbers next Kobe Bryant‘s name weren’t a lie. Bryant posted a career-high 17 assists in the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. He added in 19 points and six assists plus shot 7-for-14 from the field.
It was an efficient, all-around quality game for Bryant, who has only played five games in the month of January. In those contests, Kobe has averaged 12.8 points, seven assists and seven rebounds per game with 30/31/100 splits. A complete swing from the chuck-everything-he-touched Bryant we saw earlier in the season.
In a weird swing, LeBron James played more like you would expect Kobe. He was forcing up some bad shots, but still went off for 36 points on 12-24 shooting with five assists and five rebounds. James shot an unusually high 10 three-pointers and made four of them. James is still posting monster numbers yet it still doesn’t fell completely right.
Some other notes from a light Thursday night
- Love Hurts: Kevin Love posted 17 points and seven assists in 37 minutes, but it wasn’t pretty. Love battled through back spasms and it’s something to keep an eye.
- JR being JR: J.R. Smith is back to doing his thing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s shot 24 threes in his last two games and made 11. Smith compiled 14 points and four rebounds. Removal from the shackles of the triangle offense has helped out Smith’s fantasy value.
- Trade Rumors: Sounds like we’re nearing another deal, with the main components being Brook Lopez going to the Oklahoma City Thunder with Lance Stephenson heading to the Brooklyn Nets. Not sure what that does for Lopez and how he would fit on the Thunder. I like it for Stephenson’s value. The guy I’d pick up to be ahead of the game if the trade goes down is Charlotte Hornets guard Gerald Henderson, who has been playing better recently. This will open up even more time for him.
- Yuck Fisher: The New York Knicks are a mess and screwing up everything with the article I wrote about how they can help you. Cole Aldrich was back to the bench and Cleanthony Early was inactive in London. All of it’s stupid. Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup and if you can find any takers as I said weeks ago trade him if you can. Jose Calderon perked up with 11 points and nine assists. Pattern — trade him if you can.
- Bucks Stuff: After a couple of nice games John Henson has fallen back off. Kendall Marshall suffered a knee injury that didn’t look pretty. Ersan Ilyasova didn’t look good in his return from a concussion shooting 0-for-6. I like him as an add with some potential value. He should get a good amount of run at SF or PF with this roster.