NBA Pick One – Post 90 – February 24, 2011

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Last Night’s Pick – O.J. Mayo – 16 P1P

O.J. struggled to repeat what he did the following night against Denver, yet the 16 P1P is higher than his season average. I did expect more from him since he is getting extra playing time.

NBA.com’s Expert Pick for Tonight – J.R. Smith – Nuggets

“While the city of Denver mourned the departure of Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith went out and led an undermanned Nuggets crew to victory. With only eight players seeing action because of the trade, someone had to step up, and J.R. took on the challenge by notching his highest PRA total of the season with 39. Unfortunately that may have been the best shot he’ll have at playing those kinds of minutes, but I would still look for another sizable scoring night from him as George Karl works some of the new pieces into the lineup. Smith typical sees 23 minutes of action a game, but got 42 against Memphis because of the lack of bodies. They won’t need him in quite that capacity tonight, but they will need someone to step up and score again while the new guys work there way in, and J.R. is a legitimate scorer. Boston is a completely different animal than Memphis, and it will be tough for Denver to regroup and beat the well-oiled machine, even at home, but Smith was able to go off against them in their one meeting this season (a game in which Carmelo did not play). In that game, he dropped in 16 points and 5 rebounds over 26 minutes, one of his better efforts of the season as he earned an above-average 21 PRAs. Another big game could be on the horizon as he leads this new-look Nuggets squad.”

My Pick for Tonight – Dwyane Wade – Heat

Most importantly, these three were not traded. I guess my offer of $20 and my SI Swimsuit Issue from 2007 wasn't enough.

This is an awful night for Pick One. Not only is there only two games being played involving three of the best defenses in the league, but there are so many trades that it’s hard to keep track of who is going where! I wanted to take a Celtic tonight since they are playing the Nuggets whom are by far the worst defense playing tonight. However, of the nine Celtics I have left, five were traded (Nate Robinson, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden, Marquis Daniels and Kendrick Perkens) while two have injuries (Jermaine O’Neal and Delonte West). Plus, I do not know if new players such as Krstic (who I would take tonight) will make it in time for the game, and I simply don’t have time to wait around for NBA.com to update the Pick One system. That leaves me with Von Wafer and Avery Bradley, and I won’t be taking any of those.

That leaves me with plan B. Plan B will not be getting traded anytime soon, and thank God. Plan B is D-Wade who is taking on the Bulls tonight. Just do you, Wade.