Here’s the RotoValue top 6 NBA players in 8 category value for Week 5:
Kevin Love was a beast in 4 games, leading the league in scoring, shooting 58.6% from the floor, 82.9% from the line, and averaging nearly 13 rebounds a game, to go with 10 3s. Love doesn’t block much for a big guy, but when he’s scoring and rebounding like this, his owners don’t care.
Deron Williams combined high scoring with a lot of assists and 11 3s to rank 2nd on the week, just ahead Celtics teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Pierce averaged 22.25 points, 6.75 boards, and 7.5 dimes, contributing across the board. Garnett didn’t score that much, and he didn’t hit a 3 all week, but he tied for the league lead in steals, had almost as many blocks, and didn’t miss a free throw in 13 attempts.
Rounding out the top 5, er, 6, was a tie between Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings. Curry had an especially fine week, making the top 5 despite playing just 3 games, as he had 9 steals, 10 3s, and shot much better from the floor than Jennings.
Conspicuous by his absence was LeBron James. The King’s cumulative totals were a bit down from his seasonal averages, and his FG% on the week was “only” 48.8%, and he ranked #7, at $44.43, a bit behind Jennings and Curry.
The schedule kept Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant out of the top 5, as both only had 3 games in the week, lowering their cumulative totals.
The top 9-category players are mostly the same:
Love is still a clear #1. Brandon Jennings moves up to #2, pulling ahead of Stephen Curry because of one less turnover on the week. Paul Pierce led the league with 21 turnovers, so he dropped out, replaced by Joakim Noah, who qualifies at center, rebounded quite well, and had just 5 turnovers. LeBron dropped further in the weekly rankings because he turned the ball over 19 times last week.
Looking ahead to week 6, both Memphis and Detroit play 5 times, so Marc Gasol, Greg Monroe, and Rudy Gay should get a nice boost.