THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP

Can you feel that? The hot December sun on your shoulders. The prickle of your skin as you hear a leather cricket ball struck in a way making it skim over the grass to the cover boundary. The sharp twinge of heartbreak as Australia’s 10th wicket falls and India sneaks home with a 31-run victory. All of the feelings. They were so close.

If not for Cheteshwar Pujara, if Finch had challenged, if India hadn’t made those darned 40 runs at the end of their first innings. If only! As it was, however, viewers were gifted a teetering battle between a side full of stars and a side still reeling from a stunning blow to its heart.

Thankfully, there was a lot of other amazing sporting results to cushion the blow over the weekend. The NBA continued towards it trajectory of the most competitive season in recent memory and the NFL added another chapter to its bewildering chronicle.

Most notably, and sorry to add insult to injury Pats fans, the Dolphins pulled off the Miami miracle. Kenyan Drake finished off the final 69-yard leg of an NFL style relay to overcome New England and send NFL followers into pandemonium. Shortly after, Chicago displayed another defensive masterpiece, holding the high-powered Rams to just 6-points.

The NBA told a more predictable story. Everything was above board and then the Hawks beat the rising Nuggets and all of a sudden nothing makes sense anymore. We wouldn’t have it any other way though, because the following day rookie of the year incumbent, Luka Doncic, went on an 11-0 run in the final quarter to propel his Mavericks to a victory over cross-town rivals, Houston.

Another great weekend of sports was brought into your lap, or your palm by Draftstars. Over three days, over $50,000 worth of contest were on offer. And if you were like sibba23 who won the test match contest and pocketed $789, Roush who grabbed $976 for the NFL or any of the prize winners in the NBA contests who shared in $30k over two days.

AUSTRALIA v INDIA 1ST TEST

An enthralling real life contest between Australia and India was mirrored in this contest. Just five points separated first and second and only 109 between first and 10th. Which is remarkable considering the top score was 1127.

Picking the best bowler and best batsman for the test match was a good move. Nathan Lyon took eight wickets on his way to 252 DS points. It wasn’t just his bowling though, as he almost dragged Australia over the line with the bat in the second innings, hanging around to make 38 runs. There’s a reason this man is called the GOAT.

On the other side of the coin, Cheteshwar Pujara was unstoppable in Adelaide. He never looked like getting out in the first innings until a moment of brilliance by Pat Cummins in the field, and he contributed 71 hard fought runs in innings two when his side was at risk of collapsing. 194 runs in the match saw Pujara chalk up 244 DS points and be named man of the match. He is a genuine superstar and he puts a premium on his wicket. His $13,900 price will increase but he is needs to be in your side.

Highest priced selection, Virat Kohli ($22,600), seriously underwhelmed scoring just 47 DS points. It’s hard to envisage a scenario where he doesn’t reverse this in test two and he should be considered for that contest.

The next test starts on Friday in Perth as Australia looks to avenge the tough loss from the first test. Be sure to get onto Draftstars and get in on the $5,000 being offered.

NBA COMPETITIONS

Offence was again the order of the day in Saturday’s contest. 17 out of 20 sides scored over 100 and a glut of stars went off for their team. No star shone brighter than Russell Westbrook however.

He turned the clock back to his MVP season and lodged a quadruple double with 24 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists and 10 turnovers (sorry Russ, please don’t dunk on me). Despite his turnover propensity, he gave the 13% of entrants who selected him 70 DS points. That was almost 20% of the contest’s winning score, too.

Russell Westbrook Stank Face GIF from Russellwestbrook GIFs

Russ clone, De’Aaron Fox, also went off in the contest, and is continuing to go off. The second year guard, priced at $12,890, put up 60.75 DS points by way of 30 points, three triples and 12 assists.

Sunday wasn’t as offensively insane or notable, other than the Bulls being routed by the Celtics to the tune of 56 points and the Hawks upsetting the Nuggets. And it wasn’t necessarily a day for the stars either.

The top scorer in the contest was the previously Kardashian Kursed, Tristan Thompson, who scored 23 points and dragged in 19 rebounds to notch up 58.25 DS points. Costing $13,380, Thompson would have been a great addition to any side.

The best value player in the contest was the previously unknown Daniel Theis, German big man from the Celtics, who stuffed the stat sheet and gave his 3% of selectors a massive 53.5 DS points. He really took advantage of playing against essentially nobody (the Bulls on Sunday) and made everyone aware of who he is.

NFL MONDAY

Week 14 was a memorable one, and one that looks like it will shape the playoffs to some extent. After losing home field advantage last week in a capitulation against the Cowboys, New Orleans jumped back over the Rams after their loss to the Bears. Clutch wins by the Seahawks, Bears and Cowboys meant twice as much as all of the Steelers, Eagles and Vikings all fell to their opponents.

You know when a young star just inexplicably loses it? Yeah, story of Amari Cooper’s life. Who knows why. But that was all a distant memory on Monday as he played the best game of his career. He caught ten catches for three touchdowns and a remarkable 217 yards. That totalled 49.7 DS points, over a quarter of the 187 points you would have needed to win the contest. The man was not messing around.

Washington backup, backup, backup, backup QB Josh Johnson, was the best value selection across the whole contest. He cost only $5,000 and he managed 23.90 DS points for his 230 all-purpose yards, two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Johnson was successfully selected by nobody, but may be one to consider in the weeks to come.

Again, the Chicago Bears, still valued at $5k, were the top ranked D/ST. Their herculean effort to keep the explosive Rams to six points saw them rewarded with 20 DS points. They should basically be a staple of your side at this point.

Written by Brin Duggan

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