Fantasy NBA Daily Notes: Ish Smith is red hot
Veteran journeyman Ish Smith has found a home in D.C. as a productive playmaker and should find a home on your fantasy roster, as he produced 27 points last night, the third-highest tally of his career. Smith has averaged 19.5 PPG and 8.1 combined dimes and rebounds the past six games while ranking seventh on the Player Rater among point guards during the past seven days.
In addition to Smith, Washington wings Troy Brown Jr. and Jordan McRae are also providing sustained statistical utility. Brown — available in free agency in 93% of ESPN leagues as of Tuesday morning — tallied 15 points and pulled nine rebounds in 36 minutes of burn off the bench on Monday.
McRae, who is also floating in free agency in roughly 93% of leagues, has impressively averaged 20.6 PPG the past seven games. Last night, he was afforded a team-high 24 shots and has lofted as many shots in two of his past three appearances, signaling rare offensive freedom whenever superstar teammate Bradley Beal is sidelined.
Highlights
Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks: 38 points (14-24 FG), 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 TO
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 47 points (16-25 FG), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Lowlights
Paul Millsap, Denver Nuggets: 2 points (0-3 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO
Garrett Temple, Brooklyn Nets: (2-13 FG), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 TO
Jokic established a new career scoring peak in notching his fourth career performance with at least 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, good for third most by a Nuggets player since the team joined the NBA. Will Barton produced a season-high 28 points while also grabbing nine boards and dishing five dimes, good for his ninth career game with at least 25 points, 5 assists and 5 boards. Even while he’s enjoying a career season, Barton is still a free agent in nearly a third of ESPN leagues.
In the loss to Denver, second-year scoring guard Kevin Huerter continued his strong play with 22 points while tying his career high with six made 3-pointers. After a slow start to the season, Huerter is now building on last year’s impressive finish to his rookie campaign.
In a win over the reeling Nets, Markelle Fultz established a new career high in scoring with 25 points while sporting a game-high net rating. We’ve yet to see a consistent stretch of playmaking from Fultz, but he’s becoming more appealing as a streaming option when facing porous defensive backcourts such as Brooklyn’s.
Lonzo Ball is balling in the Big Easy after producing at least 20 points for a career-best fourth straight game in a close loss to the Jazz night. Fellow former Laker Brandon Ingram has ascended as one of the league’s better scoring wings, evidenced by last night’s 35-point performance against a strong Utah defense. The outing marked Ingram’s eighth 30-point performance of the season after entering the campaign with just four such games across his first three professional seasons.
Joe Ingles delivered 22 points on just 12 shots in a close victory over the Pelicans on Monday night. More impressively, the performance marked his fifth straight game with at least five dimes, as he’s become the team’s top distributor with Mike Conley sidelined by a significant hamstring injury. You can add Ingles with a few clicks in more than 30% of ESPN leagues.
Doncic continued his assault on the record books with yet another 30-point triple-double in a win over the Bulls last night, marking his 10th such performance in his young career — already twice as many as any other player in NBA history before turning 22 years old. The Dallas rotation has a few streamable contributors to consider — Tim Hardaway Jr. helped fill the bucket for Dallas last night with 15 points on just eight shots as he eases his way back from injury, while an efficient Dwight Powell made all six of his shots from the floor.
Sacramento’s Richaun Holmes left last night’s win over the Warriors in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. More run for Nemanja Bjelica and possibly some more burn for Harry Giles III if Holmes misses multiple games.
Chicago’s Wendell Carter Jr. suffered a sprained ankle in the loss to Dallas last night. If WCJ misses any time, rookie Daniel Gafford, who was productive last night, becomes an interesting plug-and-play option.
Joel Embiid suffered an ugly-looking dislocated finger in battling Steven Adams of the Thunder last night but returned to the floor after getting taped up and is currently considered questionable for Thursday’s home tilt with the rival Celtics.
The Pelicans’ Zion Williamson will participate in five-on-five practice drills on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. The anticipation is that Williamson will play at some point in January.
With Toronto’s Pascal Siakam still “a ways away” from returning to the NBA floor from a groin injury, per coach Nick Nurse, we can find real value in the Toronto rotation tonight for both streaming in redraft formats and for identifying value in DFS play. The key target being combo forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who has become a dynamic defensive contributor, thanks to increased minutes sans Siakam and a sizable two-percent leap in usage rate with his star teammate sidelined.
The Nets have lost six straight, but that hasn’t stopped Spencer Dinwiddie from proving productive; the combo guard has led Brooklyn in scoring in 13 consecutive games, tied for the franchise record (while in the NBA) for pacing the team in scoring during a sustained stretch. Dinwiddie can go for sole honors tonight in a matchup with Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder.