Fantasy NBA Daily Notes: SGA, Schroder shining for Thunder
Afforded rare freedom on the offensive end to serve as the Thunder’s version of Lou Williams, Schroder’s surge in scoring could prove somewhat sustainable.
Highlights
Saturday
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 47 points (15-27 FG), 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 TO
Hassan Whiteside, Portland Trail Blazers: 16 points (6-9 FG), 22 rebounds, 2 assists, 7 blocks, 2 TO
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks: 47 points (14-30 FG), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 TO
Sunday
Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers: 19 points (8-16 FG), 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 TO
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics: 39 points (15-29 FG), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 TO
Lowlights
Saturday
Bryn Forbes, San Antonio Spurs: 5 points (1-9 FG), 1 rebound, 1 TO
Cam Reddish, Atlanta Hawks: 4 points (2-9 FG), 2 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 TO
Sunday
Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors: 6 points (3-11 FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO
Terry Rozier, Charlotte Hornets: 14 points (6-17 FG), 2 rebounds, 4 assists
Toronto’s Chris Boucher produced a stellar line that included 21 points, four blocks, and two steals in the franchise’s largest comeback victory in history on Sunday evening. The Raptors trailed 83-53 with 2:55 left in the third quarter, but the heroics of Kyle Lowry and strong contributions from Boucher and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — who tallied a season-high 18 points — helped fuel the rousing comeback. Boucher should provide solid defensive production while Pascal Siakam is sidelined, while RHJ is helpful in deeper formats with both Siakam and Norman Powell ailing.
The rise of the Kings’ Richaun Holmes continued over the weekend with an impressive double-double and a positive net rating in Sacramento’s loss to the Grizzlies this past Friday night. Holmes is slashing for 14.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG and, most valuably, 2.7 stocks (steals plus blocks) per game during his past 10 games, all starts. Ranked 17th overall on the Player Rater during the past 15 days, Holmes, like Schroder, is still floating in free agency in roughly 40% of ESPN leagues.
Young’s 47 points this past Saturday marked his fourth 40-point showing of the season, tying Bradley Beal and Luka Doncic for the second most in the league this season. The Hawks are just 1-4 in Young’s five career 40-point games, but this likely speaks more to the team’s inept defense than anything else. On the impressive side of things, Young is now tied for the fifth-most 40-point showings by a player in his first two seasons in the league since the 1976-77 merger.
The Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday and will look to win consecutive games for first time this season on Monday against the Timberwolves. Wing Damion Lee tallied 20 points on Saturday, marking his third 20-point game of the season after posting just two in his previous two pro seasons combined.
The Lakers revealed Saturday that LeBron James was dealing with a thoracic muscle strain — a pull in the rib cage area — that he sustained earlier in the week against the Pacers and then played through against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. James is also dealing with a nagging groin issue, sources told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Kyle Kuzma figures to see the biggest bump in usage and fantasy value if James misses any more time.
The Suns’ Deandre Ayton has been ruled out ahead of tonight’s tilt with the Nuggets for the third consecutive game with an ankle injury, while assist maven Ricky Rubio is considered questionable with an illness for Monday’s matchup. Aron Baynes should enjoy an uptick in usage and minutes with Ayton sidelined.
Portland’s Carmelo Anthony is listed as questionable for tonight’s matchup with the Pelicans due to a sore knee that sidelined him this past Saturday evening.
The Kings’ Bogdan Bogdanovic is listed as questionable for tonight’s matchup with the Rockets. We’ve yet to hear about Bogdanovic practicing, and he’s missed the past few games despite being ‘questionable’ for those contests.
Per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon — the Mavericks’ Doncic moved well during an extended pregame workout on Sunday afternoon. Doncic be at least a limited participant in Tuesday’s practice, and while his status for Thursday’s home game versus the Spurs might not be determined until game day, there is some optimism that he’ll return then.
Amid Monday’s busy 11-game slate, one game stands out as particularly fantasy-friendly: the Wizards in Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks.
We find the Wizards ranked last in the NBA in defensive rating, thanks to ceding 116.2 points per 100 possessions to opponents, while the Knicks don’t fare much better at 26th (113.1). Washington also sits second in the league in pace with 104.4 possessions per 48 minutes, which rightfully drives the game’s slate-best opening total of 234.5 points.
Stacking with the Wizards around Beal and complementary rotation players could be fun in DFS competition, while securing shares of Davis Bertans, who gained center eligibility in ESPN leagues recently, could prove rewarding for those in redraft leagues. Even Isaiah Thomas stands to deliver a strong offensive showing, given the friendly matchup.
For New York, Marcus Morris continues to excel as a high-usage cog in the rotation, while the widely available Elfrid Payton and Bobby Portis could also shine, given the sweet matchup metrics for Monday’s matchup.
This statistic was just too silly not to feature in this section — Houston’s Harden is averaging 41.3 PPG on the road this season. No really. He’s just the second player in NBA history to average at least 40 PPG over his first 15 road games of the season, joining, who else? Wilt Chamberlain, who did so twice in his illustrious career.
Harden and his Rockets are in Sacramento this evening, setting up another opportunity for the bearded one to continue his hoops assault on hosts this season.