Day 66: Stephen Curry, Iman Shumpert have awesome nights

(Shump. Illustration courtesy of Marcus Allen Design)

One of the things I really don't like about fantasy basketball analysts is that they view just about everything as a trend. There are no statistical anamolies or flukes. Players can never just be on a good run, either. No, every great performance becomes proof that a player is capable of playing that well again, which undoutedly makes him someone to invest in. But that's just not always the case. Sometimes, a great performance is a great performance and nothing more.

I bring this up because Iman Shumpert had a curiously terrific game against the Spurs last night, scoring 27 points on 10-13 shooting to along with 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 6 three's. Shumpert is a player I actually like quite a bit in real life; he can do a bit of everything, he's a terrific rebounder for a guard, he gets a lot of steals and can even hit a three. But he's just not that great a fantasy option. In fact, he hadn't scored more than 9 points in any of his previous 12 games, and yesterday served as the first time all year that he scored more than 17 points in a game.

So is this a trend? Is Iman Shumpert going to start performing like a stud on a regular basis now? I highly doubt it. He gets a ton of playing time, so it's not like he's been underutilized this season. I would say it's vastly more likely that he'll string together more single-digit duds before he even approaches what he did against the Spurs. His 27-point performance was, to me, simply an outlier, a flash in the pan, an anomalie, etc. These things happen in sports.

Now saying all that, this is what Rotoworld wrote about him after yesterday's game -- and yeah, I don't like picking on Rotoworld all the time, but come on: "We're not quite ready to put too much stock into this game, but if you want to add him for Friday's game against Jeremy Lin, James Harden and the Rockets, it's not a terrible idea." See how they cover their ass, just in case Shumpert actually does something awesome in his next game? That's weak. Analysts shouldn't be afraid to stick their neck out and label something as flukey and irrelevant if that's what the signs point to it being. Saying that it's "not a terrible idea" to add Shumpert is nonsensical advice, considering he's been an underwhelming fantasy player for most of the season. For crying out loud, he averaged 5 points and  rebounds a game in December, and now -- because of one crazy performance where he shot the ball unreasonably well -- now, all of a sudden, he's a worthwhile fantasy prospect? I don't buy it.

Again, I'm actually a member of the Iman Shumpert fanclub. I think every once in a while, like once a month, he's capable of having a crazy fluke outing like this, akin to how he scored 17 points on 5 three's to go with 6 rebounds back on Dec. 5. But no, he's not worth your time if you're in a standard league, great recent performance or not.

Okay, now let's get to blurbs, shall we?

• Stephen Curry was sensational yesterday, dropping 36 points, 12 assists, 8 three's and 4 steals on the Miami Heat. He's quite good, huh?
• J.R. Smith moved back to the bench yesterday and mustered a meager 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Because Smith has such a crazy personality, and because he's gotten into confrontations with coach Mike Woodson on multiple occasions, he's hardly the most reliable fantasy contributor. Still, he remains an integral cog on the Knicks and is going to be quite useful in fantasy basketball more often than not.
• Mario Chalmers had a great game on Thursday, scoring 17 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Chalmers has very little room for growth on a team that has multiple superstars, and yet he's very quietly been a fantastic rotisserie player. The assists and points are a tad underwhelming for a point guard, but he hits three's, he's a good rebounder and he's getting almost 2 steals a night, which makes someone who should be owned everywhere.
• With Kyrie Irving sitting out with a knee bruise (taking his first DNP of the year), Jarrett Jack filled in at point guard for the Cavaliers and was awesome -- tagging the Orlando Magic for 14 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds in 42 minutes. Jack is a proven commodity and would be an outstanding fantasy guard if Irving were to ever miss a lot of time, perish the thought.
• Anderson Varejao was exceptional on Thursday, scoring 18 points to go with 25 rebounds in what was easily his best game of the year, and one of the best games of his career. Varejao, who's always injured and always in trade discussions, has an ever-evolving fantasy value. At the moment, he's a terrific man to own in the wake of the Cavs' banishment of Andrew Bynum. But Varejao isn't all that trustworthy, for the reasons I just stated, and if it were up to me, I'd use this opportunity to try to nab an Andre Drummond for him if it were at all possible.
• Good lord, is Kris Humphries... relevant again?!?!?!? The Celtics forward put up 9 points and 11 rebounds versus Chicago, marking his second consecutive game with double-digit rebounds. Humphries is one of the best rebounders in the league, and if he can continue to get 25-30 minutes a night, he could really help out a lot of teams. The problem is that the Celtics have a rotation that's constantly in flux, and while Humphries is getting the minutes now, that could very easily change in a few games. So I'd wait off on adding him if you're in a standard league.
• Joakim Noah continued his renaissance in the wake of Derrick Rose's injury, this time lighting up the Celtics for 17 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Nicely done, Noah.
• The Nets went with an incredibly small lineup on Thursday against the Thunder, with Kevin Garnett starting at center and Paul Pierce starting at power forward. And, amazingly, they won. But that's bad news for Mirza Teletovic, who was banished to the bench and played only 10 minutes. Even without Brook Lopez, the Nets have so many different power forwards between Garnett, Andrei Kirilenko, Mason Plumlee, Reggie Evans and now even Pierce that -- with all of them healthy -- it's going to be difficult for Teletovic to be useful on a regular basis, especially if the Nets continue to roll out such a diminuitive starting five.
• Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup for the Knicks and was terrific, scoring 27 points on 10-20 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Amazingly, the Knicks and Nets won in OKC and San Antonio on the same night, so if you managed to see that coming, by all means, go to Vegas.
• Ed Davis was pretty useful yesterday, notching 16-and-11 off the bench for the Grizzlies. Sadly for him, there are too many other power forwards and centers in town for him to be that good on a regular basis, which really is a shame since he's so talented.
• Luke Ridnour played beside Brandon Knight in the starting lineup for the Bucks and was pretty solid, scoring 12 and handing out 8 assists. This latest rotation change from Larry Drew should be seen as nothing more than an experiment, and like all experiments, it's bound to end sooner or later. Ridnour will undoubtedly move back to the bench at some point, but while he's getting this run, he's not at all an awful option if you need assists -- since Knight is more of a shooting guard anyway.