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Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shut down operations in 2017 after 146 years, but the Washington Wizards have managed to keep the show on the road - they really should be forced to pay royalties at this point to be honest. Apparently, Otto Porter is the black sheep of the crew, there have been countless stories of bickering and verbal altercations among the squad -- including John Wall's f*** you aimed at head coach Scott Brooks -- as far as I can remember, Wall has been labelled a bad teammate -- even though every time I look up he's doing some 30-second handshake with one of his comrades -- apparently everyone is on the trading block... It's a mess in D.C.
A mess that continued Tuesday night as the Wizards went into halftime against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers down 73-54. Maybe they held hands in the locker room, lit some incense, and sang Kumbaya, but they returned from the half with a fire under their ass and outscored the Clippers 71-45 en route to a 125-118 victory - bringing them to a lowly 6-11 on the season while jointly exemplifying exactly how their season has gone thus far. It's been a wild ride. Most NBA arenas either play music, or have an organ playing throughout the game... If I remember correctly, it's the music route at Capital One arena, but the Wizards need to scratch that in favor of the prototypical circus music and some cartoon-ish sound effects at this point. A good game, well second half, nonetheless.
In fact, all four games on the night were entertaining. The New York Knicks again showed grit and promise without sacrificing lottery odds (thanks guys #teamZion) in a 118-114 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. It took a Danny Green, semi-fadeaway, teardrop/floater jump shot with 0.5 seconds left on the clock for the Toronto Raptors to outlast the Orlando Magic 93-91. And, the Brooklyn Nets outscored the Miami Heat 30-15 in the fourth quarter to get out of Miami with a 104-92 victory. The Heat are now 0-5 in their city edition uniforms by the way... Why do they rock theirs so often, though? No other team has sported theirs more than twice. Random facts. Anyway, let's get to the top fantasy basketball takeaways from Tuesday, November 20th.
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Noah Vonleh Continues to Provide More Value Than Wendy's 4 for $4
Head coach David Fizdale is steady tinkering with the Knicks starting five and Vonleh rejoined the starters against Portland -- in the latest of arrangements -- after being relegated to the bench for the Knicks last two. 14 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block later, he sent a wink Fizdale's way and mouthed, "you're welcome" before sending a middle finger Portland's way. Ok, I made that last part up, but he had himself a game - his fifth double-double on the season. It's early, but that's as many double-doubles as Kevin Durant, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook (though he's missed quite a bit of action), and more than James Harden... Just sayin'.
Vonleh has pulled down at least six boards in six of the Knicks last seven, and while he's only averaging 7.7 points per game, you won't see many zeroes next to his name on the box score on any given night. Definitely a guy to keep an eye on. (Even though, as a Knicks fan, I'd advise you try to not watch them as much as humanly possible.)
Pascal Siakam: The (Cameroonian) Swiss Army Knife
If the Raptors play, Siakam will make my recap. Every. Time. He came into Tuesday's game with the Magic having scored in double-figures in 12-straight games. He left Tuesday's game having scored in double-figures in 13-straight, and, per usual, he made sure to fill out the box score before calling it a night. Siakam registered 15 points to go with nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block and is now averaging 16.5 points over the aforementioned 13-game streak. I remember getting a Swiss Army knife as a kid and being amazed by various tools, so much so, that I would make up ways to incorrectly use each one at least twice a day. I'm reminded of this knife every time I see Siakam on the court - there's nothing he can't do. The assist total was on the low end last night, but whatever, let's not be a wet blanket here. He's not a household name, and plays the background in Toronto - so if you can pick him up for the cheap, pick him up for the cheap.
Hassan Whiteside Is Still Very Good at Grabbing Basketballs as They Ricochet Off Rims
Being very tall doesn't always equate to success in the NBA, but it's a damn good starting point. Whiteside is very tall, and also happens to be very coordinated, athletic, and strong - his genetic blessedness being largely responsible for his 21-point, 23-rebound performance Tuesday night. Last night's game marked the fourth 20-rebound performance for Whiteside on the season, as well as, his second 20-20 game - putting him just 1.3 rebounds per game behind league-leading Joel Embiid (despite logging five fewer minutes per game) and maintaining his lead in rebounds per 48 minutes. Yes, I know, the Nets are horrible on the glass. But, he's now pulled down at least 10 boards in 14 of his 16 games and is averaging more rebounds per game than points... No need to downplay this one.
