Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (Image: Newscom)

Playing 45 minutes, Wade finished with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds, however he made just 9-of-26 field goals and 1-of-8 three-pointers as the Heat lost by a final score of 81-71.

Despite his sore back, Wade vows to play in Game 5. With the series tied 2-2, the Heat desperately need Wade to be at the top of his game.

If you are playing playoff fantasy basketball, you have no choice but to keep Wade in your starting lineup. As long as he’s playing, he’ll help out your fantasy squad. His field goal percentage will likely suffer but the rest of his game would be better than you can find on the waiver wire.

Additionally, Wade has played through pain at different points in his career. He has shown to be very capable of having a big game while battling through an injury.

Post from: Expert Fantasy

1) LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Far and away, LeBron is the best fantasy player on the planet right now. Especially in the playoffs since his road to the NBA Finals looks like it’s clear sailing due to Kevin Garnett’s injury.

2) Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe is basically the LeBron of the Western Conference bracket. He has a great chance to make it back to the Finals and should post great numbers along the way.

3) Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
In the first round of the playoffs, the Heat are forced on the road to take on the Hawks. Wade is undoubtedly leave it all on the line and could help Miami pull the upset.

4) Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics
With Garnett out, expect Pierce to show the heart of a champion. He’s going to come out blazing and his all-around game will be on full display.

5) Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets might be a seventh seed on paper but CP3 is going to put up great stats for however long the Hornets remain in the playoffs.

Chris Paul 2009 mix:

Post from: Expert Fantasy

4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron has been shooting the ball extremely well from the outside, shooting better than 41% on three-pointers in the month of March. If he can add good outside shooting to his repertoire, he’ll become even more impossible to defend.

3. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
His three-pointers aren’t dropping at their normal rate (30% in March) but Nowitzki is still a scoring machine. He’s had a few recent games in which he’s looked as good as ever. If he can remain hot, he could be the best fantasy bigman down the stretch.

2. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
As the Lakers make their push for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, Bryant is starting to pick up more of the load. Scoring more than 30 points per game in the month, he’s peaking at the perfect time for Kobe fantasy owners.

1. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
There’s simply no player as hot as Wade is right now. His numbers since the All-Star break have been ridiculous. For the month of March, he’s averaging more than 37 points per game.

Post from: Expert Fantasy

Ginobili’s block on Dwyane Wade is a good sign that his recovery should be imminent. Compared to last season, his stats aren’t too different. His scoring and three-point shooting are down, but his rebounds per minute and assists per minute are both up. Plus he’s shooting better from within the three-point arc.

If you have Ginobili on your fantasy team, the only thing that should worry you is his minutes. Since he’s coming off of surgery, it’s unlikely that he’ll play as many minutes as he did last season. And with the emergence of Roger Mason, Jr., Ginobili will almost undoubtedly remain a bench player.

All that said, if you gambled on Ginobili late in your fantasy basketball draft, you have to be happy with his return. He consistently helps in a multitude of areas and is very capable of breaking out and having a huge game. And as the season progresses, you can expect him to get better and better.

Here’s the video of the Manu Ginobili block on Dwyane Wade:

Post from: Expert Fantasy

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
In the month of December, Dirk Nowitzki has been on fire. He’s averaging more than 30 points and his rebounding numbers and shooting percentages are way up. Nowitzki had a slow start to the season but has recently regained his MVP form.

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are a horrible basketball team but Kevin Durant has been very good as of late. He’s averaging more than 25 points and six rebounds in his last five games. His field goal percentage isn’t the best but he’s sizzling from beyond the three-point arc.

Zach Randolph, Los Angeles Clippers
Since being traded to the Clippers, Zach Randolph has played very good basketball. In fact, he’s doing a good Elton Brand imitation. In the last five games, he has five straight games in which he has scored at least 20 point. In his latest outing, Randolph had 38 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Photo credit: Newscom

Post from: Expert Fantasy

The commercial basically chronicles a lot of the doubt Wade has faced in his basketball career. At the end of the commercial, a voice on the radio is heard saying Wade is injury prone and Wade gets up to seemingly go prove the doubters wrong once again.

The theme of this commercial can easily be transferred over to the fantasy basketball world. Every year, it seems that drafting Wade is a boom or bust proposition. This season, while some fantasy owners believe in him, others avoid him due to his injury concerns and concerns about his role with the Heat.

Not only can Wade prove NBA experts wrong this year, he can also make believers out of fantasy basketball owners. Until next year, at least.

Here is the Dwyane Wade video of his Converse commercial:

Post from: Expert Fantasy

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
During summer league, Russell Westbrook looked amazing. While he hasn’t looked as amazing in preseason, he still is showing a lot of promise. He might not start getting a huge amount of minutes early on but by late in the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season, expect Westbrook to play around 30 minutes per game.

DJ Augustin, Charlotte Bobcats
In Charlotte, Larry Brown will undoubtedly be extremely hard on his point guards. With starter Raymond Felton truly being more of a shooting guard, you can expect DJ Augustin to get plenty of minutes at point guard. If Brown puts Felton into the dog house, Augustin would be next in line to start.

Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat
Even though Mario Chalmers was a second round pick, he fell into a perfect situation in Miami. He has a chance to start at point guard and play next to Dwyane Wade. While he’s not going to be a bigtime scorer at the NBA level, he’ll be able to get a healthy amount of assists and steals. He should also be able to knock down the NBA three-pointer.

Goran Dragic, Phoenix Suns
Another second round selection, the Suns are extremely high on Dragic. In fact, Suns management had him rated as one of the top handful of point guards in the entire 2008 NBA Draft. Although he’s playing behind Steve Nash, the fact that Phoenix runs a point guard oriented offense should help Dragic’s stats. Don’t expect points but Dragic should be able to do everything else.

George Hill, San Antonio Spurs
George Hill is the sleeper of the fantasy basketball rookie point guard prospects. Coming out of tiny IUPUI, Hill was drafted by the Spurs late in the first round. After struggling in summer league, Hill bounced back and played very well in preseason. He’s a guard in the Monta Ellis mold he can play the passing lanes on defense and knock down shots offensively. He’s currently dealing with an injured thumb but he could possibly be fantasy viable at some point during the 2008-09 fantasy basketball season.

Keep an eye on rookie point guard George Hill.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: Expert Fantasy

4) Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
The number one pick of the 2008 NBA Draft doesn’t have the best chance of winning the award for the NBA’s best rookie. He’s playing on a team that has a lot of good players and he may not be forced into a large amount of minutes in his first season.

3) OJ Mayo, Memphis Grizzlies
If there is one thing OJ Mayo can do it is score the basketball. And since Rookie of the Year voting a lot of times comes down to scoring average, Mayo has a decent shot to take home the award.

2) Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
Michael Beasley can score and rebound at a very high level. If he gets enough touches in the Miami Heat offense, he could run away with this award. However, with Dwyane Wade needing a lot of shots, Beasley might have to defer in his rookie season.

1) Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers
After missing his entire first season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee, Greg Oden is back and is eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. He’s one of the best center prospects to come out in a while and he’ll be in the spotlight all season long.

Can Derrick Rose surprise many and take home the ROY award?

Photo: Newscom

Post from: Expert Fantasy

5. Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets
If the Rockets can live up to their lofty expectation and Tracy McGrady can stay healthy all year, T-Mac has a chance to be in the MVP running. He’s an immensely talented player who could impress a lot of voters this season. Staying healthy will be a challenge, however.

4. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
In the Olympics, no player looked as surprisingly good as Dwyane Wade. Wade looked like it was the 2006 NBA Finals all over again. If he can remain healthy and lead the Miami Heat back into the playoffs, he should get a few MVP votes.

3. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers should once again be very good. Kobe Bryant should once again be very good. The only thing that is a negative for Bryant in the MVP chase is the fact that he won the award last year. The MVP voters could be wanting to give it to someone new.

2. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Many NBA experts thought that Chris Paul deserved the MVP last season. If he can have another great season and help the Hornets achieve their lofty goals, there is no reason to not expect CP3 to be near the top of the voting again.

1. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The time has come for LeBron James to win the MVP award. He’s arguably the best player in the league who hasn’t won the MVP and after a strong Olympics showing, he should be primed and ready to take home that trophy this year.

How good can LeBron James be in the 2008-09 season? MVP good?

Photo: Newscom

Post from: Expert Fantasy

Kobe Bryant, USA
When Team USA got in trouble, Kobe Bryant took over and got the Gold Medal for the United States. Kobe was lights out down the stretch of the game. His four-point play was the turning point of the game.

Pau Gasol, Spain
While Spain wasn’t able to shock the world and beat the United States, Gasol did all he could. The Los Angeles Lakers forward led the entire Olympic Games in points and played extremely well in all the games except for the first game against the US.

Luis Scola, Argentina
Although Manu Ginobili led Argentina in scoring, Ginobili wasn’t able to play in the Bronze Medal game. Scola, without Ginobili, stepped up and was the best player for Argentina as they took home the bronze. The Houston Rockets had to love what the saw out of their power forward.

LeBron James, USA
Even though Kobe Bryant took the USA home at the end, LeBron James along with Dwyane Wade were the best players on the team over the course of the entire tournament. LeBron was very good on both ends of the court and became the team’s emotional leader.

Hamed Ehadadi, Iran
Although other players such as Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and Ricky Rubio of Spain were equally as impressive, no one was a better story than this little known center out of Iran. Hamed Ehadadi entered the Olympics as a player not many scouts were aware of — even international scouts. Now Ehadadi appears set to join the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: Expert Fantasy