By Jon Carlos Rodriguez

Here’s a plot twist no one saw coming towards the end of the long season: a Brook Lopez who’s actually playing good. Congrats to fantasy owners who held on to him for the past six months (bet you losers didn’t make the playoffs).

 First Bottle: Brook Lopez

You can’t look at the first half of Brook Lopez’s 2017-2018 game logs and not throw up a little in your mouth. There were traces of Good Brook, but Bad Brook was just all over the place. Thankfully (for his very, very patient owners), Good Brook came to play in March. Since March 10, Lopez has been averaging 21 points per game, 2 and a half blocks per game, and at least 3 three-pointers per game. And if you put this side by side with Bad Brook’s numbers, there’s only one conclusion: Good Brook is really good.

 

Second Bottle: Corey Brewer

When Andre Roberson suffered a season-ending injury, OKC Thunder’s chances of going deep in the playoffs faded like Carmelo Anthony’s star power. But Corey Brewer (yes, that Corey Brewer) wasn’t having any of that. In the last six games that Brewer played 28 minutes or more, OKC won. He scored a season-high 22 points and notched 6 steals in a win versus the LA Clippers in one of those games. To sum up, he averaged 14 ppg, nearly 3 spg, and nearly 2 three-points per game. Even Madam Auring couldn’t have predicted this.

 

Third Bottle: Quinn Cook

If you had to Google who Quinn Cook is, then you’re in the majority. Before March (aka the Dubs Spa Time), Cook barely broke a sweat on the floor. Then all of a sudden, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson were DNPs, resulting to this massive statline from Cook: 25 points on 77 percent shooting, 5 3s, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. He then followed it up with the equally massive 28 points on 65 percent shooting, 5 3s, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Do you smeeeeelll what the Quinn is cooking?!

 

Fourth Bottle: Denzel Valentine

It must be really hard to be named Denzel and not be the actor, but the other Denzel is putting on a terrific effort. In his last six games, Valentine is averaging 14 ppg, 6 rpg, and 5 apg. He broke out in March 17 with a 34-7-6 and 8 3s line. The big game came in a loss to Cleveland, but it doesn’t matter. Valentine was a winner that day, and so were his owners.

 

Fifth Bottle: Dillon Brooks

The Memphis Grizzlies are in one of those seasons where its Wikipedia entry has nothing to say but “losing streak” in big, bold letters. Good thing at least one positive will be coming out from this sorry Memphis season: the upside of Dillon Brooks. In his last six games, he is averaging 21 points per game and 3 3s per game. When you Google “good player on a bad team,” Brooks should be the first hit.

 

 

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