4 Games: ATL, BOS, CLE, DAL, GSW, MIA, MIL, NYK, OKC, PHI, PHO, TOR, UTA, WAS
3 Games: BKN, CHA, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIN, NOR, ORL, POR, SAC, SAS
Sunday Stars
Russell Westbrook did it yet again on Sunday, producing his 29th triple-double of the year with 41 points (14-of-29 FGs, 11-of-12 FTs), 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two 3-pointers, one steal and of course, nine turnovers in 37 minutes. There’s not much left to say about this guy other than if you own him, you’re probably doing very well in the standings. I also think that Adam Silver should strongly consider bringing in cyborg testing next season, just sayin'.
Jonas Valanciunas followed up Friday’s 18-minute, seven-point disaster with a more encouraging stat line of 15 points, seven boards, one assist, one block and one turnover during Sunday’s 112-106 win over Toronto, but unfortunately, he still saw just 22 minutes of action. With Serge Ibaka in town, I think the 30-minute outings for JV will be a rarity, so his owners will just have to rejoice when he’s able to put up meaningful statistics in about 25 minutes. Lucas Nogueira didn’t do much during his 10 minutes of floor time, so it’s pretty clear that Ibaka has reduced Bebe to non-factor status in most leagues.
DeMar DeRozan’s scoring binge continued on Sunday as he popped off for 33 points on 9-of-16 shooting (15-of-16 from the stripe) to go with six boards, two dimes, two steals, one block and four turnovers in 36 minutes. In two games following the All-Star break sans Kyle Lowry, DeRozan has been working with a robust 40.0 usage rate, so he’s going to be a popular DFS target while Lowry is on the sidelines.
Rudy Gobert ripped down 20 rebounds during Sunday’s 102-92 win over the Wizards, to go with 15 points, three dimes, one steal, four blocks and four turnovers in 36 minutes. Gobert was working with an impressive 30.8 rebounding percentage in this one, and he was an absolute monster on the defensive boards, rocking a 44.4 defensive rebounding percentage. This year, The Stifle Tower has been everything I always wanted him to be last season.
Isaiah Thomas torched the Pistons to the tune of 33 points during Sunday’s 104-98 victory over Detroit, adding five triples, two rebounds, three assists, three steals and two turnovers in 35 minutes of action. IT4 has been playing some of the best ball of his life over the past month, ranking No. 7 overall in standard 9-cat leagues, but don’t forget that he’s been doing all of this while Avery Bradley has been watching from the sidelines. Bradley is reportedly on the cusp of a return, and while his return to action won’t immediately cut into Thomas’ value, it’s reasonable to think that IT4’s usage will dip once Bradley is fully up to speed. With Bradley healthy, I think Thomas will be more of a top-25 guy, so seeing what you can get in a sell-high deal makes sense to me.
DeMarcus Cousins fouled out in just 21 minutes during Sunday’s loss to OKC, but that didn’t stop him from racking up 31 points, 10 boards, three dimes and one turnover. Anthony Davis also did his part to stuff the stat sheet, tallying 38 points, seven boards, four dimes, two triples, one steal and one turnover in 32 minutes. So far, Boogie’n’Brow haven’t suffered much statistically, and through their first three games together they’ve produced an impressive net rating of 16.1.
Both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin double-doubled during Sunday’s 124-121 win over the Hornets, with CP3 tallying 15 points, 17 dimes, two triples and one steal in 41 minutes, and Griffin exploding for 43 points, 10 boards, three 3-pointers, five assists, two steals and one turnover in 42 minutes. It’s safe to say that both these guys are back to 100 percent, and their owners can expect early-round production with some occasional explosions moving forward.
Editor’s Note: Golf is coming soon to FanDuel! And they’ve created the Tee Off Classic to celebrate, offering you an opportunity to win a VIP trip for 3 to play a round of golf with Jerome Bettis! Play now.
On the Radar
Alan Williams topped Friday’s career-high 16 points outing, with a new career-high 17 points during Sunday’s 96-100 loss to the Bucks, adding 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals, one block and two turnovers through 34 minutes of floor time. Williams went 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to give him a solid true shooting percentage of 59.4, and this was the second game in a row that he severely outplayed starter Alex Len. Len only managed to get on the floor for 14 minutes, and he ended his evening with just six points (2-of-7 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), nine rebounds and two steals. It’ll be interesting to see what Earl Watson’s frontcourt rotation looks like once Tyson Chandler stops collecting DNPs, but with how well Williams has been playing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him jump ahead of Len in the rotation at some point. Because this is such a small sample size, I still wouldn’t really call Williams a “must-own” guy in standard leagues, but he’s definitely worth a speculative grab in deeper formats.
T.J. Warren had another solid outing, producing 23 points, five boards, one 3-pointer, one assist, one steal and one turnover in 39 minutes on Sunday. He was an impressive 11-of-14 from the field, giving him an impressive 82.1 true shooting percentage, and he looks all set up for a strong finish to the season with P.J. Tucker no longer around to mess with his minutes. In the two games following the All-Star break, Warren has seen his minutes rise to 38.7 and he's responded with averages of 20.0 points, 6.5 boards and 1.5 steals per contest.
Tony Allen ripped away another five steals during Sunday’s win over the Nuggets, adding eight points, seven boards, one block and four turnovers in 28 minutes. He’s one of the better deep league steals specialists out there.
Cory Joseph was effective in another start sans Kyle Lowry (wrist) on Sunday, registering 14 points (6-of-12 FGs, 1-of-1 FTs), one rebound, six dimes, one 3-pointer, one steal and one turnover in 33 minutes. As long as Lowry is out, Joseph will be someone to consider streaming.
4 Games: ATL, BOS, CLE, DAL, GSW, MIA, MIL, NYK, OKC, PHI, PHO, TOR, UTA, WAS
3 Games: BKN, CHA, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIN, NOR, ORL, POR, SAC, SAS
Sunday Stars
Russell Westbrook did it yet again on Sunday, producing his 29th triple-double of the year with 41 points (14-of-29 FGs, 11-of-12 FTs), 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two 3-pointers, one steal and of course, nine turnovers in 37 minutes. There’s not much left to say about this guy other than if you own him, you’re probably doing very well in the standings. I also think that Adam Silver should strongly consider bringing in cyborg testing next season, just sayin'.
Jonas Valanciunas followed up Friday’s 18-minute, seven-point disaster with a more encouraging stat line of 15 points, seven boards, one assist, one block and one turnover during Sunday’s 112-106 win over Toronto, but unfortunately, he still saw just 22 minutes of action. With Serge Ibaka in town, I think the 30-minute outings for JV will be a rarity, so his owners will just have to rejoice when he’s able to put up meaningful statistics in about 25 minutes. Lucas Nogueira didn’t do much during his 10 minutes of floor time, so it’s pretty clear that Ibaka has reduced Bebe to non-factor status in most leagues.
DeMar DeRozan’s scoring binge continued on Sunday as he popped off for 33 points on 9-of-16 shooting (15-of-16 from the stripe) to go with six boards, two dimes, two steals, one block and four turnovers in 36 minutes. In two games following the All-Star break sans Kyle Lowry, DeRozan has been working with a robust 40.0 usage rate, so he’s going to be a popular DFS target while Lowry is on the sidelines.
Rudy Gobert ripped down 20 rebounds during Sunday’s 102-92 win over the Wizards, to go with 15 points, three dimes, one steal, four blocks and four turnovers in 36 minutes. Gobert was working with an impressive 30.8 rebounding percentage in this one, and he was an absolute monster on the defensive boards, rocking a 44.4 defensive rebounding percentage. This year, The Stifle Tower has been everything I always wanted him to be last season.
Isaiah Thomas torched the Pistons to the tune of 33 points during Sunday’s 104-98 victory over Detroit, adding five triples, two rebounds, three assists, three steals and two turnovers in 35 minutes of action. IT4 has been playing some of the best ball of his life over the past month, ranking No. 7 overall in standard 9-cat leagues, but don’t forget that he’s been doing all of this while Avery Bradley has been watching from the sidelines. Bradley is reportedly on the cusp of a return, and while his return to action won’t immediately cut into Thomas’ value, it’s reasonable to think that IT4’s usage will dip once Bradley is fully up to speed. With Bradley healthy, I think Thomas will be more of a top-25 guy, so seeing what you can get in a sell-high deal makes sense to me.
DeMarcus Cousins fouled out in just 21 minutes during Sunday’s loss to OKC, but that didn’t stop him from racking up 31 points, 10 boards, three dimes and one turnover. Anthony Davis also did his part to stuff the stat sheet, tallying 38 points, seven boards, four dimes, two triples, one steal and one turnover in 32 minutes. So far, Boogie’n’Brow haven’t suffered much statistically, and through their first three games together they’ve produced an impressive net rating of 16.1.
Both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin double-doubled during Sunday’s 124-121 win over the Hornets, with CP3 tallying 15 points, 17 dimes, two triples and one steal in 41 minutes, and Griffin exploding for 43 points, 10 boards, three 3-pointers, five assists, two steals and one turnover in 42 minutes. It’s safe to say that both these guys are back to 100 percent, and their owners can expect early-round production with some occasional explosions moving forward.
Editor’s Note: Golf is coming soon to FanDuel! And they’ve created the Tee Off Classic to celebrate, offering you an opportunity to win a VIP trip for 3 to play a round of golf with Jerome Bettis! Play now.
On the Radar
Alan Williams topped Friday’s career-high 16 points outing, with a new career-high 17 points during Sunday’s 96-100 loss to the Bucks, adding 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals, one block and two turnovers through 34 minutes of floor time. Williams went 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to give him a solid true shooting percentage of 59.4, and this was the second game in a row that he severely outplayed starter Alex Len. Len only managed to get on the floor for 14 minutes, and he ended his evening with just six points (2-of-7 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), nine rebounds and two steals. It’ll be interesting to see what Earl Watson’s frontcourt rotation looks like once Tyson Chandler stops collecting DNPs, but with how well Williams has been playing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him jump ahead of Len in the rotation at some point. Because this is such a small sample size, I still wouldn’t really call Williams a “must-own” guy in standard leagues, but he’s definitely worth a speculative grab in deeper formats.
T.J. Warren had another solid outing, producing 23 points, five boards, one 3-pointer, one assist, one steal and one turnover in 39 minutes on Sunday. He was an impressive 11-of-14 from the field, giving him an impressive 82.1 true shooting percentage, and he looks all set up for a strong finish to the season with P.J. Tucker no longer around to mess with his minutes. In the two games following the All-Star break, Warren has seen his minutes rise to 38.7 and he's responded with averages of 20.0 points, 6.5 boards and 1.5 steals per contest.
Tony Allen ripped away another five steals during Sunday’s win over the Nuggets, adding eight points, seven boards, one block and four turnovers in 28 minutes. He’s one of the better deep league steals specialists out there.
Cory Joseph was effective in another start sans Kyle Lowry (wrist) on Sunday, registering 14 points (6-of-12 FGs, 1-of-1 FTs), one rebound, six dimes, one 3-pointer, one steal and one turnover in 33 minutes. As long as Lowry is out, Joseph will be someone to consider streaming.
Moe Harkless continued his upward trend on Sunday, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting (2-of-4 from the stripe) to go with five boards, two 3-pointers, two steals, one block and one turnover in 36 minutes. This line was particularly encouraging given that Al-Farouq Aminu was back in action and logging major minutes in this one, so perhaps Harkless is ready to return to that top-50 stud he was for the first few months of the season. He’s currently only owned in 29 percent of Yahoo! Leagues and that number needs to be much higher.
Michael Beasley scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting Sunday, to go with three boards, two steals, one block and four turnovers in 23 minutes off the Bucks bench. Beasley’s role was greatly expanded when Jabari Parker (knee) went down, and in the past six games sans Parker, Beasley has put in averages of 16.3 points, 4.3 boards, 1.5 dimes, 1.0 steal, 0.7 blocks and 1.7 turnovers per game while sinking a ridiculous 66.7 percent of his shot attempts. That’s been good enough for top-50 value in standard 9-cat leagues, and while there’s no way he can sustain that kind of ultra-efficient scoring, he’s worth a look while he’s this hot.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting (2-of-2 from the line) to go with seven assists, one trey-bomb, two steals and two turnovers in 24 minutes off the bench. Brogdon helped spark a second-half run for the Bucks, that ultimately ended with a victory, and he scored all 15 of his points during the second half of action. Meanwhile, Matthew Dellavedova continued to stink it up as a starter, missing all six of his shot attempts and ending his night with just two boards, one steal, one turnover and three dimes to his credit. Jason Kidd’s rotations have been a constant mystery to the fantasy world, but maybe at some point, he’ll realize that all of his best lineups this season (in terms of net rating) feature Brogdon at the one. Until then, Brogdon’s upside will be limited by Kidd’s fiddling. Still, he has late-round value on the year, so he’s worth owning.
Brandon Ingram scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting during Sunday’s loss to the Spurs, adding two rebounds, one 3-pointer, one block and three turnovers in 35 minutes. Ingram will be a focal point of the Lakers shift in focus to player development, so hopefully, some more consistency starts to fall with the increased opportunities. He’s worth stashing in deep leagues.
Injury Tracker
Willie Reed (ankle) will miss Monday’s matchup with the Mavericks, and the Heat will be listing him as day-to-day moving forward. James Johnson will likely pick up most of his minutes and Udonis Haslem will have the opportunity to get into the rotation. Reed should be considered questionable for Wednesday’s home game against the 76ers.
E’Twaun Moore (personal) returned from a one-game absence and put up 10 points (3-of-8 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), two 3-pointers, one rebound, four steals and one turnover in 27 minutes off the bench. Moore is going to have the opportunity to earn major minutes in New Orleans with very little depth behind him, but with averages of just 9.7 points, 2.2 dimes and 1.1 triples per game on the year, I’m not expecting much from him. Maybe he’ll have some value as a 3-point specialist in deep leagues, but for me, he’s not quite there as a standard league guy.
Khris Middleton (rest) will not play Monday vs. the Cavs. It’s the second game of a back-to-back set, so Middleton will hit the sidelines and Michael Beasley will likely slide back into the starting five. The Bucks have another back-to-back set coming up Friday vs. the Clippers and Saturday vs. the Raptors, so Middleton may only be suiting up for two games next week. If you’re in a weekly format, it may be best to just leave him on the bench.
Kenneth Faried (back) did not play Sunday, which resulted in Wilson Chandler moving into the starting five and he responded with 14 points (5-of-15 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), nine boards, six dimes, two 3-pointers, one steal and four turnovers in 36 minutes. Faried should be considered questionable for Tuesday’s game in Chicago, and if he’s out again, Chandler will be the primary beneficiary and guys like Mason Plumlee and Darrell Arthur will have more opportunity for minutes with the second unit.
Brandan Wright (personal) did not play on Sunday and he should be considered questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Suns.
Patrick Beverley (groin, rest) was held out of Sunday’s practice as a precautionary measure, but he expects to play Monday vs. the Pacers.
Kevin Durant (left hand contusion) is probable to play Monday vs. the 76ers. His return to action will send Patrick McCaw back to the bench.
Avery Bradley (Achilles) was not able to play Sunday, marking his 21st straight game on the sidelines, although head coach Brad Stevens did say that Bradley will be back in action “any day now.” Bradley has been ramping up his activities at practice, and recently he’s been spotted going through warmups during shootaround and pregame, so he certainly is trending in a positive direction. Sunday was the first game of a back-to-back set, so perhaps Stevens wanted to hold him out in order to let him make his long-awaited return on Boston’s home floor, Monday night against Atlanta. Bradley will likely be brought along slowly after spending nearly two months on the sidelines, but once he’s fully up to speed, both Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart will lose a good amount of value.
Al-Farouq Aminu (knee) returned to action on Sunday following a two-game absence and put up 13 points (3-of-6 FGs, 6-of-6 FTs), eight boards, two assists, one 3-pointer, one block and two turnovers in 29 minutes off the bench. He should be good to go for Tuesday’s game in Detroit.
Kyle Lowry (wrist) missed his second game in a row on Sunday, although the swelling in his wrist has gone down and all the tests he underwent came back clean, so maybe he’ll be able to get back out there for Monday’s matchup with the Knicks. If he can’t give it a go on Monday, Cory Joseph will get another start and DeMar DeRozan will dominate the offense.
Victor Oladipo (back) did not play Sunday and he should be considered questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Jazz. If he’s out again, Alex Abrines will have another opportunity to start, and he’d be someone to consider as a 3-point streamer or low-budget DFS option.