Fantasy basketball daily notes for Thursday: Anthony Edwards takes flight
The 10 triples established a new franchise record and Edwards also became the first player in team history with multiple games of at least eight made 3-pointers. Karl-Anthony Towns also shined for the team with 32 points and he now has scored 30-plus in four of his last seven games. The Timberwolves have now won consecutive road games for the first time this season.
Edwards was already showing signs of becoming a special scoring force during the second half of his rookie campaign last spring, but this rapid transformation into a league-average deep threat on immense volume — he’s fourth in the entire league in 3-point attempts — is taking his fantasy profile to an entirely new level.
Highlights
Gordon Hayward, Charlotte Hornets: 41 points (15-19 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee Bucks: 26 points (12-18 FG), 4 rebounds, 14 assists
Lowlights
Grayson Allen, Milwaukee Bucks: 6 points (2-13 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia 76ers: 0 points (0-5 FG), 1 assist
For Denver, Nikola Jokic unsurprisingly carried the Nuggets with his 63rd career triple-double, surpassing James Harden for the seventh-most in NBA history. This is especially wild considering that Jokic has played in 427 fewer games than Brooklyn’s bearded playmaker.
An incredible exchange of deep buzzer-beating 3-pointers decided last night’s thriller between the Thunder and the Pelicans. Devonte’ Graham made a wild 61-foot parabola to win the game, good for the longest game-winning buzzer-beater in last 25 years. Josh Hart delivered another solid line despite not scoring many points, as his atypically high assist and rebounding rates drive sneaky value. For Oklahoma City, Kenrich Williams sank five 3-pointers and posted the team’s best net rating in the loss, but it’s tough to trust him or anyone in the Thunder rotation beyond Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Hayward could have likely flirted with 50 points had the game against the Spurs been competitive last night, as he played just 29 minutes. The performance marked his second career 40-point game, both coming with Charlotte. His 79% field-goal percentage was the highest for any 40-point game in franchise history.
The Clippers were without Paul George yet again last night, setting up Marcus Morris Sr. as the team’s top scoring option. Morris tallied a team-high 24 points to go along with eight boards. He has now scored 17-plus points in six of his last seven games. The stretch forward should be considered a strong interim addition to fantasy rosters amid this hot stretch.
The Grizzlies kept on rolling in a win over the Trail Blazers. Desmond Bane’s breakout season appears to be sustainable, as the sharpshooter scored a team-high 23 points on just 13 shots, marking his fourth game of at least 20 points and 60% shooting from the floor this season. That’s second among second-year players behind only Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey.
The Knicks won’t have RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, or Obi Toppin for tonight’s matchup against the Rockets due to their placement in the league’s health and safety protocol. Alec Burks and Derrick Rose should both be busy given the team’s need for perimeter creation.
Devin Booker will miss yet another game for the Suns due to a lingering hamstring injury. Cameron Payne’s usage rate and fantasy production jump whenever Booker is off the floor.
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The Nets are the latest team to be hit by a wave of COVID-19, with seven players in the league’s health and safety protocol heading into this evening’s matchup with the 76ers. Harden and LaMarcus Aldridge are the key fantasy names sidelined for the Nets. Unsurprisingly, Kevin Durant has seen the largest leap in usage rate and fantasy points per minute with Harden and Aldridge off the floor this season, making him a viable building block in DFS. For those in head-to-head leagues seeking an extra bit of scoring and shooting, Patty Mills ranks second on the team with a 2.7% jump in usage and 6.3 more DraftKings points (per 36 minutes) in such scenarios.
Kessler Edwards, Brooklyn Nets: It’s never fun to see a team, especially a first-place roster, depleted the way the Nets currently are. One strategy we can employ is to stream some of the names the Nets will have to rely upon in the coming days — including Edwards, who just produced a double-double in 43 minutes on Tuesday.
Daniel Gafford, Washington Wizards: Sticking with a theme of affordable front-court options, Gafford should play a sizable role against a Suns roster that likes to feature some size at center.