2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 16

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The up-and-down season for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been mostly "up" over the past month.

Starting with a win in the middle of last month over the Lakers, the Cavs ran off 12 consecutive wins before finally losing to the Pacers on Feb. 6th.

With a 15-point win over the Lakers on Sunday, however, perhaps the Cavs will begin another long winning streak. Before the All-Star break, the Cavs will host the Heat on Wednesday and visit the Bulls on Thursday.

Adding some drama to things in Cleveland, LeBron James recently tweeted the following directed at Kevin Love (without explicitly stating so initially but he conceeded so yesterday):

Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 8, 2015

If you remember, Love had said back in the preseason (via ESPN):

"I'm comfortable and just not trying to, I guess, fit in so much," Love said after the game. "I had a talk with the guys on the plane ride over (to Brazil) and also at different practices off the floor and they told me to fit out. Just be myself.

"I kind of laughed and smirked at that. Off the court, I never have any problems with that. But on the court, it's just us having so many weapons and being able to fit together out there on the floor ... You always say check your egos at the door but we also need to bring our egos with us because that's what makes us so great. We wouldn't be here without them."

And here's what Love said when asked about LeBron's tweet:

"I feel like I’ve done all the right things. I haven’t got upset or been down," Love said (per Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal). "There’s moments when I hope I would’ve played better but it’s a long, long season. I don’t know really what he’s talking about. I feel like I’ve sacrificed and I think everyone knows that. I’m not trying to downplay what he said, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job of trying to help this team."

LeBron took to Twitter again this morning, however, to make it clear that he doesn't have a "problem" with Love.

I like u guys a lot(Media) but don't try and make a story cause it looks good. If I have a problem with a teammate or anyone I'll say to....
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 9, 2015

Either way, I'm sure it's not the last we'll hear about this.

Meanwhile, the Cavs are once again the "favorite" to win the NBA Championship (via odds from Sportsbook.ag).



Clippers PF Blake Forward out up to six weeks, possibly much less

Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin is scheduled to have elbow surgery for a staph infection on Monday and will miss up to six weeks, but he will be reevaluated after the All-Star break.

At the moment, the Clippers are 33-19 and one-half game ahead of the Spurs for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Even with Griffin in the lineup for three of their four games last week, the Clippers have lost four games in a row.

To make matters worse, the schedule gets tougher for the Clippers.

With seven games remaining in February, the Clippers face six teams with a record above .625: Grizzlies (.745) and Rockets (.686) twice each and Mavs (.660) and Spurs (.627) once along with the Kings.

Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 16:

1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 42-10, Last Week 1)
2. Golden State Warriors (Record 40-9, Last Week 2)
3. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 38-13, Last Week 3)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 32-21, Last Week 5)
5. San Antonio Spurs (Record 32-19, Last Week 6)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 35-17, Last Week 4)
7. Toronto Raptors (Record 35-17, Last Week 8)
8. Houston Rockets (Record 35-16, Last Week 9)
9. Dallas Mavericks (Record 35-18, Last Week 10)
10. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 33-19, Last Week 7)
11. Chicago Bulls (Record 32-20, Last Week 11)
12. Washington Wizards (Record 32-20, Last Week 13)
13. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 27-24, Last Week 14)
14. Phoenix Suns (Record 29-24, Last Week 12)
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 26-25, Last Week 15)
16. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 28-23, Last Week 17)
17. Charlotte Hornets (Record 22-29, Last Week 16)
18. Detroit Pistons (Record 20-32, Last Week 18)
19. Indiana Pacers (Record 20-32, Last Week 22)
20. Miami Heat (Record 21-29, Last Week 19)
21. Brooklyn Nets (Record 21-29, Last Week 24)
22. Utah Jazz (Record 18-33, Last Week 20)
23. Sacramento Kings (Record 18-32, Last Week 21)
24. Boston Celtics (Record 19-31, Last Week 26)
25. New York Knicks (Record 10-41, Last Week 23)
26. Denver Nuggets (Record 19-32, Last Week 25)
27. Orlando Magic (Record 16-38, Last Week 29)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 12-40, Last Week 27)
29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 13-38, Last Week 28)
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 11-40, Last Week 30)

[Note: With the six-day NBA All-Star Break hiatus beginning on Friday, our next NBA Power Rankings update will be in two weeks (Feb. 23rd.).] More of our content:

• Fantasy Basketball Rest-of-Season Rankings
• 2015 NBA Mock Draft
• 2015 NFL Mock Draft
• 2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft

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Daily Fantasy Basketball (March 1st): FanDuel Bargains

If you play daily fantasy sports (and who doesn't these days?!), you know that one of the keys to success is uncovering undervalued players to allow you to load up on studs elsewhere.

In case you've never played daily fantasy basketball, every player has a salary and your roster cannot exceed the game's salary-cap maximum.

For FanDuel leagues, rosters consist of nine players and the salary cap is $60,000, which averages to roughly $6,667 per player. To give you an idea of the range for Saturday's games, Timberwolves PF Kevin Love ($11,500) has the contest's highest salary while many are tied for the lowest at the game-minimum salary ($3,500).

There are a number of benefits compared to traditional full-season re-draft leagues, such as:

• you don't have to worry about being saddled by players sidelined by injury;
• having a late pick doesn't rule out owning studs like Kevin Durant or LeBron James;
• you get the instant gratification of winning your league(s) that night.

And you know that enthusiasm you have after drafting your fantasy team(s)? Well, you get to experience that feeling on a nightly basis with daily fantasy basketball.

OK, with the preliminary stuff out of the way, here are some value plays to consider for Saturday (March 1st) FanDuel leagues:

PG - Aaron Brooks, Denver Nuggets (at POR), $4,700: There are several top-notch fantasy point guards going tonight like Chris Paul, John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, etc. With Wall facing the Sixers, the league's friendliest of teams in terms of fantasy points to lead guards, he will be in many of my lineups despite the high salary ($9,100). With Ty Lawson (ribs) still out, Brooks gets the second-most favorable matchup for point guards at a much cheaper cost. In fact, no team has allowed more fantasy points to PGs over the past 15 days.

PG - C.J. Watson, Indiana Pacers (at BOS), $3,500: With George Hill (shoulder) out tonight, Watson will get the start against the Celtics. Per 36 minutes, Watson is averaging 12.1 points, 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals and should be a solid option at the game-minimum salary tonight.

SG - Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans (at LAC), $5,000: With solid performances in back-to-back games, Gordon has averaged 36 minutes, 20 points, three assists and 1.5 steals in those two games. Tonight, he will face his former team, which should give him some extra motivation.

SG - Evan Fournier, Denver Nuggets (at POR), $4,400: With Wilson Chandler out tonight, Fournier will get another start. In 44 minutes on Thursday, Fournier had a disappointing outing: eight points, three boards, five assists and four turnovers. That said, he has two 40-point (in fantasy terms) performances in his past six outings and has a decent amount of upside at a relatively low price.

SF - Nicolas Batum, Portland Trail Blazers (vs. DEN), $6,600: Priced at a little below the average salary of the starting lineup, Batum has been productive in his past three outings, which includes a matchup against the Nuggets. He has scored a minimum of 30.7 fantasy points in those three games, but he is averaging 37.97 points during that span. During that three-game stretch, Batum has averaged stat-stuffing line of 19.0 points, 7.33 rebounds, 4.33 assists, 1.67 blocks and 1.0 steals.

SF - Jordan Hamilton, Houston Rockets (vs. DET), $3,700: Hamilton has averaged exactly 24 minutes in his two games with the Rockets and he has scored at least 24 fantasy points in both outings. On the season, the Pistons have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards.

PF - Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76ers (vs. WAS), $8,600: While he's far from "cheap" in absolute terms at $8,600, Young has been one of the most productive players recently. Since the All-Star break, Young is averaging 43.25 fantasy points per game and only six players have more during that span. In those four games, Young has averaged 23.0 points, 7.5 boards, 4.0 assists and 3.75 steals per game.

Power forward is a stacked position and it's possible you go stud-stud in those two roster spots with someone like Love, Blake Griffin, Young, etc. Love has more than 60 fantasy points in three of his past four games. The "off" game was 41 points. Meanwhile, Griffin has scored more than 45 fantasy points in eight of his past 10 games and the Pelicans, his matchup tonight, have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. In many of my leagues, I have a Love-Griffin combo in my starting lineup.

C - Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic (vs. MIA), $7,300: Over his past eight games, Vucevic has scored more than 30 fantasy points seven times. During that eight-game stretch, Vucevic has averaged 17.0 points, 11.25 rebounds, 1.25 blocks and 1.25 steals.

C - Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards (at PHI), $7,200: With a 31/12 line on Thursday, Gortat extended his streak of games with a double-double and 30-plus fantasy points to six games. The Polish Hammer has averaged 18.83 points, 11.33 rebounds and 1.17 blocks per game during that stretch and he faces the league's worst defense tonight.

C - Timofey Mozgov, Denver Nuggets (at POR), $4,400: While I'd prefer to go with Gortat or Vucevic, Mozgov rounds out my (unintended) trio of Eastern European centers as solid bargains. Over his past two games, he's averaged a respectable 23.9 fantasy points per game.

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Chris Paul (shoulder) to miss 3-5 weeks

The good news is that the Clippers got the win in Dallas on Friday, but the bad news far outweighs the good news.

Despite getting the win, the team lost its star point guard Chris Paul to a separated shoulder and coach Doc Rivers has estimated that CP3 will miss at least three to five weeks with the shoulder injury.

Paul will be examined in L.A. on Sunday and Monday, but it's possible that Paul could miss more than the 3-5 weeks that Rivers estimates depending on the results of additional tests.

Not only is Paul leading the league in assists (11.2 per game), but he is averaging 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as well.  In addition, power forward Blake Griffin is actually second on the team in assists with only 3.0 per game.

With Paul out, Darren Collison will get the start at the point.  In 35 minutes on Friday, Collison scored 20 points and added four assists.

Collison is currently available in 23 percent of Yahoo! leagues.