LeBron James reached 20,000 points and 5,000 assists for his career last night. The only other active players to hit those marks so far are Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, and if you haven't noticed lately, those guys are both old dudes. Milestones like this just add a little craziness to the larger context of what LeBron is doing in terms of numbers these past two seasons. The only precedent for a guy shooting this well from the floor (54.6 percent) while putting up the ridiculous numbers James is posting in points, rebounds, and assists is, well, no one. Jordan almost got there once, but LeBron's outshooting him, and just for kicks seems to have turned himself into an elite 3-point shooter, too.
Looking Back
• In his third game back for the Wizards, John Wall had his best game yet. The Wizards lost a close one to the Kings, but Wall had 14 points, 10 assists and three steals in 26 minutes off the bench. He's still struggling with his shot (6-for-15), but Wall struggled with his shot even when he was totally healthy. It's going to be very interesting to see if he can take any steps toward being a great NBA point guard during the second half of this season; certainly, with Bradley Beal improving and Nene playing well, he's got a decent amount of help for the first time in his career.
• Alan Anderson had a nice night scoring the ball for the Raptors in their overtime loss to the Bulls, but he hasn't shown any ability to make shots on a consistent basis so far this season, so the big games end up being negated by too many bad ones. A lot of people probably will be picking him up in the wake of a 27-point performance, but unless you're giving up someone for whom you have no use at all, Anderson isn't worth picking up.
• You can also go ahead and ignore Zaza Pachulia's big night for the Hawks in their win over the Nets. Zaza filled in for a suspended Josh Smith, and nearly posted a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Pachulia's value will return to normal levels with Smith back in the lineup moving forward, but it's nice to know what the big man is capable of when he's needed.
• He's not playing many minutes, but Jimmer Fredette had his second productive game in a row for the Kings in their one-point win over the Wizards. He needs more minutes to be able to contribute enough to be worth owning, but his PER of 17.65 is impressive, and it's because he's a scoring machine while he's in the game, averaging nearly 23 points per 40 minutes. He makes 3s and gets himself to the line. He's just another guy (along with Thomas Robinson, who was far less impressive on Wednesday night) you need to keep in mind if the Kings make any trades that free up rotation minutes.
Looking Ahead
• Tyson Chandler is questionable for the Knicks against the Pistons for Thursday night, and with Marcus Camby out for the next few weeks and Rasheed Wallace possibly done for the season, you'll want to make sure Amare Stoudemire is in your lineup. The Knicks are going to need his offense, and the Pistons aren't exactly defensive stalwarts against opposing big men.
• Chris Paul has missed the past two games for the Clippers, and there's a decent chance he'll miss their matchup with the Timberwolves this time around. Go ahead and get Eric Bledsoe into your lineup; he had a great performance last time out, putting up 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals against the Rockets.
• Earl Clark has been great for the Lakers of late, but he's questionable for the big matchup with the Heat due to flu-like symptoms. Clark is averaging a double-double for his past five games, so if he's able to go, you'll want to get him into your lineup; at the least, he should have no trouble racking up some rebounds against the Heat, and the Lakers are going to need his athleticism.
Fastbreak Player of the Night
I'll go with Carmelo Anthony here, as the Heat are playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and Anthony's been playing major minutes lately. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him go for 40 against the Pistons on Thursday night.
