Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.
Chris Paul was dazzling on Wednesday against Dallas, in what really was a must-win for the Hornets if they were going to have any sort of confidence in their ability to play with the top teams as the season goes on. Paul dragged his team to a win with 39 points, on 14-for-23 shooting, including three of four from three-point land.
But as great as Paul was and as below average as Dallas was (Dirk Nowitzki was held to just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting), if we're going to be honest, his Hornets were fairly fortunate to be able to pull this one out.
Chris Paul is the best point guard in the game today, and Rajon Rondo isn't too far behind at the position, probably in most people's top five. But besides being great at what they do, these guys have something else in common: they play the game with a noticeable chip on their shoulder.
So it shouldn't come as any surprise that when the two went head-to-head in Boston on Sunday, things got a little heated during the game, and words were exchanged on the court after the final buzzer had sounded.
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.
Who Are Those Masked Men?
Dwight Howard turned in a stunning 14-of-16 performance from the free-throw line against the Raptors. But Howard wasn't the only Orlando player who made stepped outside the box. Starting 'two' guard J.J. Redick scored a career-high 27 points adding six rebounds, five assists and five three-pointers. Jameer Nelson and Ryan Anderson added five three-pointers apiece, with Nelson scoring a team-high 30 points and Anderson chipping in for 20.
I wouldn't get too excited about J.J. Redick, since both Vince Carter (ankle) and Mickael Pietrus (flu) missed Sunday's game. Both are expected back this week, which pushes Redick back into his famed role as a bench player.
Jason Williams played just 11 minutes, scoring two points and adding a mere three assists. Blame it on Jameer Nelson, who decided that Williams' services were no longer necessary. Take a cue from Nelson, Williams is not worth an add in standard leagues.
Freaky Friday in NOLA. The greatest point guard in the world -- Chris Paul. A festive atmosphere, the home opener for the Hornets. Tyreke Evans, rookie point guard for the Sacramento Kings, had a big challenge ahead. Never mind he was coming off an underwhelming debut Wednesday in Oklahoma City. For the 20-year-old wolf in wolf's clothes, this was the proverbial uphill battle.
And though it didn't end with glass slippers or even confetti, Evans proved he belongs in the NBA.
Warriors coach Don Nelson has gone out of his way to compare rookie Stephen Curry to a young Steve Nash. That's a nice comparison and one any young player would likely take.
But Curry's already got a mentor, thank you, and it's tough to argue with his choice: Chris Paul.
Curry and Paul, both from North Carolina, go back a few years. But this summer their friendship grew, the result of spending nearly a month working out together at various venues in the South.
The Hornets jolted the West in 2008, nearly taking the first seed in the conference one season after missing the postseason entirely. After waxing Dallas in what would become Avery Johnson's final playoff series there, the Hornets went all the way to Game 7 against the defending champion Spurs. The Hornets lost, and didn't get close in 2008-09.
You can believe one of three things. The Hornets' short triumph could be over, more flash in the sky than formation of a new star. The Hornets could have experienced just a brief setback, a defeat at the hands of a bad match-up and an injury-riddled season. Or, the Hornets could have just ran into some structural problems in need of fixing, which they possibly have this summer.
As in comedy, all things fantasy basketball come in fives. In finishing my positional previews I now give you my list of the Top 50 point guards. There is very little surprise as to who sits at the top of the list. That honor goes to the potential number one overall pick -- Chris Paul. Thanks to his high assist and steal totals, Paul once again finished with fantasy MVP honors in '08-'09.
There is a premium price to pay for point guards this year. Only 14 players dished more than 500 total assists last season, two of whom are not eligible at the point. On the defensive side of the ball, 20 players posted more than 100 steals -- half were point guards. On the court they're leaders. Off the court they're freaks. Actually, I have no proof of that. What I do have is a list!
Fantasy Basketball Rankings: C | PF | SF | SG | PG
Cleveland's Shaquille O'Neal stood with the NBA's incumbent, locked-out referees last week, calling officials "vital" and saying that the players "need perfection" from game crews. But Hornets capo Chris Paul isn't sweating the replacement corps, which will descend upon New York for a boot camp later this week before taking the reins on October 1 when the preseason schedule kicks off.
Paul told his hometown Winston-Salem Journal that he's not worried teams will be overly physical with him if less experienced referees are roaming the sidelines.
New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn has taken a lot of guff for his ownership habits. Notable decisions have included moving the Hornets to New Orleans from Charlotte, making noise about the required attendance threshold to tether the team to the city, and trying to offload Tyson Chandler for peanuts to save a few bucks.
Most NBA experts and pundits (and yahoos like me) will murmur about Shinn's thrifty disposition and hint that he's itching to bust out of New Orleans for a more profitable market. But this summer, he's put his money where his mouth is and wants some return on that investment.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Chris Paul was dazzling on Wednesday against Dallas, in what really was a must-win for the 
Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the 
Freaky Friday in NOLA. The greatest point guard in the world -- 
FanHouse 
As in comedy, all things fantasy basketball come in fives. In finishing my positional previews I now give you my list of the Top 50 point guards. There is very little surprise as to who sits at the top of the list. That honor goes to the potential number one overall pick -- 
Cleveland's 
