Daily blurb
It’s beginning to look like LeBron and Wade will get this gig figured out after all, with the Heat winning in Utah to notch their sixth straight. On the other hand, while a road win in Utah is notable, Miami’s recent schedule has been somewhat soft, and their next real challenge won’t come until a home game vs. Dallas on Dec 20. Of course, the real marquee matchup is on Christmas Day at the Lakers.

When I decided to start chronicling my FanDuel contest exploits this week, I didn’t expect my momentum to be so intense. Following a 267 point output on Tuesday, I managed only 180 last night – but still won my contest by 41 points. Part of the point decline was due to a DNP from John Wall – but my opponent was beset by the same fate. Other than Wall, we had two other players in common – DeMar DeRozan (28 FDP) and Carlos Boozer (8). (When Boozer throws up a stinker, it’s always helpful to have him showing up in the other team’s lineup as well.) My top player was Bogut (41), with Eric Gordon (36) a solid second. My lineup was completed with Dorell Wright (25), Calderon (22), Trevor Booker (14), and Nick Young (6). Young’s stinker was a little surprising, especially with Wall not playing, but he was a cheap filler, and as it turned out, I would have still won with DNPs from both Booker and Young. My opponent’s cheapie options were Xavier Henry (11), TJ Ford (8), and Marquis Daniels (4). I had actually considered Daniels earlier in the day when it looked like Rondo and Nate Robinson might both be out – but when both were declared active, I lost interest. As it turned out, the bargain cheapie of the day was Pooh Jeter (27).

There are only three NBA games tonight, and I’m going to pass on FanDuel. With this few games to pick from, contests get kind of flukey, with a tendency for a lot of players in common, especially in the $55K cap format. I once played a contest in which I had only one unique player. I won that one, but I generally have stayed away unless there are at least 6 games to pick from. I’ll also be skipping the weekend, as I’ll be away and unable to conveniently evaluate and assemble a lineup. That’s one of the nice features of daily contests – you can pick and choose when to play, and when to sit. So I’ll have to hope my momentum is strong enough to persist through a 4-day layoff.