NBA Fantasy Basketball-Starting 5-February 8

Last night in the NBA, there were 6 games and only one was more than a 10 point game. There was surely plenty of drama to go around culminating with a shootout out West in Oakland between the Thunder and the Warriors. Here’s 7 lists of 5 to get you all caught up on the latest fantasy hoops news from last night.

Biggest win-Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves rode big nights from Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio as they got the win in the first game of Kevin Love’s suspension for this incident against Houston’s Luis Scola. The Wolves are 13-12 on the year and above .500 for the first time in a long time. Other big wins: OKC, Phoenix

Toughest loss-Utah Jazz: The Jazz road woes continue as they fell in Indiana to drop to 2-7 on the road and 13-11 overall. Other tough losses: Golden State, Sacramento, Cleveland

5 stars stepping up

Whether you like the Heat uni's or not, you'll like Dwyane Wade's numbers from last night. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

1. Monta Ellis-GS: Ellis was on fire for Golden State and finished with an impressive 48 points on 18-29 shooting and 3-6 from behind the arc. He added 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. The Warriors had some tough calls go against them in the 4th, and couldn’t keep Keven Durant from beating them at the end. Golden State fell to 8-14 with the tough-luck loss.

2. Dwyane Wade-Mia: Wade hit 9 of his 17 shots en route to 26 points with 6 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He led the Heat past LeBron’s former running mates as the Cavs came to visit helping Miami get to

3. Kevin Durant-OKC: Durant had 33 including the game-winning bank shot with 14 seconds left to go with 10 boards, 7 assists, a steal, and a block as he led the Thunder to the victory despite being on the road, after an overtime game the night before, and Monta Ellis hitting virtually every shot. His total game earns his our MVP-for-a-day and get OKC a big win as they moved to 20-5 on the year.

4. David Lee-GS: Lee did a little bit of everything as he finished with a triple double of 25 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and a block. His stat line would’ve been much more noticeable if it wasn’t outshone by his teammate Monta Ellis’s excellence and Kevin Durant beating the Warriors late. Still, it was  a great game for D-Lee that his owners hope is indicative of more multi-category efficiency to come.

5. Steve Nash-Phx: Nash hit 2 3′s and scored 18 points, to go with 11 assists, a steal, and a rebound to lead Phoenix past the Bucks in Milwaukee.  

Who is that masked man? Roy Hibbert takes a shot against Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

5 filling up the boxscore

1. Darren Collison-Ind: Collison scored a season-high 25 points on 10-14 shooting and added 5 assists and 4 rebounds.

2. Antawn Jamison-Cle: Jamison scored 25 points, hit 2 3′s, and added 9 boards and 2 steals for Cleveland as the Cavs slipped to 9-14 after losing in Miami.

3. Roy Hibbert-Ind: Hibbert had 17 points, 4 blocks, 2 assists, and 10 boards in Indiana’s win over visiting Utah. He’s averaging 13.7 PPG and 9.7 RPG on the season.

4. LeBron James-Mia: James had a nice night against Cleveland and finished iwth 24 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

5. Kevin Garnett-Bos: Garnett had his 2nd solid game in a row and will continue to benefit from the return of Rajon Rondo. He finished last night with 22 points, 7 boards, an assist, and a block.

5 guards setting up their teammates

Rajon Rondo (9) continues to rack up assists. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

1. Rajon Rondo-Bos: Rondo had 14 assists for the 2nd game in a row and added 10 points and a steal as he continues to fuel Boston’s offense. Trading him would be a bad move for the Celtics, IMO.

2.  Ricky Rubio-Min: Rubio had 14 assists and 5 steals to go with his 6 points and 6 boards. He shot just 2-9 but still was a huge part of the Wolves win.

3. Russell Westbrook-OKC: Westbrook had an excellent game along with Durant, Lee, and Ellis in Oakland. He finished with 7 assists, 2 steals, a block, a rebounds and 31 points.

4. Stephen Curry-GS: Another great stat-line coming out of the late game for Curry who had 16 points on 7-9 shooting and dished 10 assists while added 7 boards and 2 steals.

5. Kyrie Irving-Cle: Irving had 6 assists and 6 rebounds to go with 16 points in South Beach as the Cavs hung with, but couldn’t beat the Heat.

5 shooters lighting it up

1. Marcus Thornton-Sac: Thornton hit 3 3′s and 7-16 on his way to a team-high 22 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist in the Kings loss to the TWolves.

2. Jared Dudley-Phx: Dudley’s back in the starting lineup and shot well last night hitting 7-9 overall and 3-4 from deep on his way to 19 points to go with 3 assists and 4 rebounds.

3. Derrick Brown-Cha: Brown hit all 10 of his shots as D. Brown again lit up the Garden. This Brown scored 20 points and added 4 boards and 2 assists as his Bobcats fell to 3-22 after losing to the C’s

4. James Harden-OKC: Harden his 6-18 shots and sunk 3 3-pointers while scoring 19 to go with 7 assists, 4 steals, and a rebound.

5. Mario Chalmers-Mia: Chalmers took 9 three-pointers but made 4 on his way to 14 points, 4 assists, a steal, and 2 rebounds for the Heat last night.

Ersan Ilyasova drives for a layup against the Phoenix Suns at the Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

5 gobbling up all the rebounds

1. Michael Beasley-Min: Beasley took 21 shots and while he struggled scoring (7-21) he grabbed 14 boards to go with his 17 in 31 minutes off the bench.

2.Ersan Ilyasova-Mil: Ilyasova’s yo-yo year continued as last night was an “up” night as he scored 17 points on 4-9 from the field while grabbing 12 boards for the Bucks in a losing effort.

3. Anderson Varejao-Cle: Andy had 11 boards, 11 points, 3 steals, and an assist for the Cavs last night.

4. Paul Millsap-Uta: Millsap had 18 points, 10 boards, and 4 assists as the Jazz fell to 13-11 with their loss in Indianapolis.

5. Marcin Gortat-Phx: Gortat scored 21 to go with his 9 boards, 2 assists, and a steal last night in Milwaukee.

5 throwing up lots of shots that went begging

1. Paul Pierce-Bos: Pierce hit a huge milestone passing Larry Bird and becoming the 2nd highest scorer in Celtics’ history. He didn’t shoot well though to commemorate the occasion as he went just 6-18 overall and 2-10 from long distance finishing with 15 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds.

2. DeMarcus Cousins-Sac: Came off a huge game yesterday with just 3-13 shooting to score 10 points to go with 11 boards and a steal in 25 foul-troubled minutes.

3. Luke Ridnour-Min: Ridnour shot 4-12 from the field and finished with just 1 assist. His only helpful fantasy contribution was his 6 rebounds.

4. Luke Harangody-Cle: Harangody played just 14 minutes but attempted 9 shots. He made just 1 to finish with 2 points, 3 boards and a +/- of -22… yes, -22 in just 14 minutes. Ouch.

5. Earl Watson-Uta: Watson played 22 minutes and dished 7 assists to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He missed all 3 of his shots though and finished scoreless.

5 trending up that you should think about adding

Nikola Pekovic stepped up while Kevin Love had to step out since he stepped on Luis Scola. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

1. Nikola Pekovic-Min: Pekovic had another big game last night scoring 23 points and adding 10 boards, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. The increased offense was due in part to the suspension of Kevin Love. Love sits one more, but even after his return Pekovic should play a big roll for Minnesota going forward. He’s still available in over 60 percent of leagues.

2. Mike Dunleavy-Mil: Dunleavy continues to play a big roll off the bench for the Bucks and finished last night iwth 17 points on 5-7 from 3 to go with 3 assists and 3 rebounds. He’s available in less than 3 percent of leagues and is worth the add if you need shooting and scoring.

3. Reggie Williams-Cha: Williams will get the shot opportunities and the playing time to put up solid numbers like last night (21 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds) for as long as the Bobcats continue to struggle with injuries. He’s owned in less than 5 percent of leagues.

4. Daequan Cook-OKC: Cook started again in place of Thabo Sefolosha with James Harden maintaining his role as 6th-man. Cook hit 5 3′s on his way to 17 points and can be valuable as a shooter as long as he starts and gets the minutes. He’s available in over 99 percent of leagues.

5. C.J. Miles-Uta: Miles continues to play big minutes (25 last night) and score in double-digits (12). He’s available in 88 percent of leagues and could be useful as a streaming starter. When he gets the minutes, he gets the points.

Tags: Dwyane Wade, fantasy basketball advice, Kevin Durant, Minnesota Timberwolves, Monta Ellis, NBA Recap, popular, Starting 5, Waiver Wire