Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets
Sixers Notes:
- Shake Milton stepped into Seth Curry’s starting spot and showed out, leading the team with 24 points and seven assists on outstanding efficiency. With reports of a positive Covid test for Curry coming in, Milton is a hot pickup as a short-term upside play (31% owned in Yahoo leagues). When he returns to the bench, Philly’s sixth man is still a decent streaming option with top-150 value.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 24 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8-13 | 7-7 |
- Tyrese Maxey took up Milton’s mantle as the sixth man and tallied 16 points with a pair of threes, a steal, a block, and nary a turnover. He’s on the streaming radar as long as Curry remains sidelined (1% owned in Yahoo leagues).
- Who is Dakota Mathias????
Nets Notes:
- Hats off to Steve Nash for replacing honorary Big Three member DeAndre Jordan with the far superior Jarrett Allen as soon as Kevin Durant wasn’t around to complain (wonder if Kyrie sat out in silent protest). Anyways, in his second straight start, Allen was great again, with a 15-11 and a rejection on stellar efficiency (5-for-6 from the field and the line).
- Caris LeVert will be the main benefactor whenever KD and/ or Kyrie sit out, especially from a volume standpoint. Coming off another game with strong counting stats (22 points, seven boards, 10 dimes, two steals), now is the time to sell high—you might be able to snag a top-50ish player in return.
- Even if Joe Harris stays on the bench, it shouldn’t affect his production. I’d take the under on him going for 28 in even one more game this season, but he’ll get his low-to-mid teens points with 3-4 treys per night.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 28 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11-19 | 0-2 |
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Cavs Notes:
- Larry Nance is legit. A perfect 7-7 from the floor, including four long balls, got him to 18 points on the night to go along with four assists and three swipes. He’s a stud with Kevin Love shelved and should still retain top-75 value even with Love in the lineup. Not selling high on him.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 18 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7-7 | 0-0 |
- Rough night for Damyean Dotson (3-of-12 from the field, 1-of-8 from three), but he’s a plug-and-play option while SexLand is in their refractory period (1% owned in Yahoo leagues).
- Back-to-back seven-assist games from Cedi Osman. He’ll get a ton of volume with the starting backcourt out. Pick him up if he’s on the wire (19% owned in Yahoo leagues).
Grizzlies Notes:
- Even though Tyus Jones will get the lion’s share of point guard minutes while Ja Morant heals up, De’Anthony Melton is the guy you want (7% owned in Yahoo leagues). As long as he’s getting 20+ minutes a game, he’ll post healthy defensive stats with a smattering of points and assists like he did on Thursday.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4-7 | 0-0 |
Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets
Mavs Notes:
- Second straight game Rick Carlisle has rolled out Maxi Kleber and Willie Cauley-Stein as the starting frontcourt. Kleber was a late-round draft target for many people (yours truly included) with Kristaps Porzingis out to begin the season—looks like Maxi is finally getting the opportunity to be sneaky effective with his treys/blocks combo. It comes a tad late, as Porzingis is rumored to be nearing a return, but you may be able to squeeze the last bit of juice out of the orange before KP comes back and turns Kleber into streaming fodder (19% owned in Yahoo leagues).
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3-7 | 0-0 |
- Speaking of WCS, he’s still a hold as long as he remains in the starting lineup with minutes in the 20s.
- Boban!
Nuggets Notes:
- Career-high 31 field goal attempts for Nikola Jokic. He’s being rightly lauded for the double-digit assist average (though just four on Thursday), but it’s also the leap from 20 PPG to 26 PPG that has him competing for the No. 1 overall ranking in fantasy. Even though the shooting efficiency was subpar, really love to see him aggressively hunt his own shot.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 38 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14-31 | 6-10 |
- DNP for Facundo Campazzo after a couple of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts. A huge bummer for those of us pining for a Nuggets national TV appearance to get a chance to see the legend in action.
- If Denver is going to stick to a short rotation without Michael Porter Jr., P.J. Dozier is on the streaming radar as a guard who can get blocks (1% owned in Yahoo leagues).
San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Spurs Notes:
- Patty Mills ought to be rostered in more leagues (30% owned in Yahoo leagues). He’s currently sitting in the top-100 while scoring 14 a game with three treys, three assists, and pristine shooting percentages. Another solid outing for him off the bench on Thursday.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3-8 | 3-3 |
Lakers Notes:
- The Lakers are not a fantasy-friendly team this season, with nobody outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis ranked in the top-115. If you can get a top-100 player for Montrezl Harrell, I think you pull the trigger.
- For all (zero) of you in a fouls per minute league, Marc Gasol is a must-add!
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trailblazers
T-Wolves Notes:
- Another start for Juancho Hernangomez (12 points, six boards, two triples) after his offensive explosion in the previous game. If he gets the minutes, he can contribute a little bit across the board. Pick him up if he’s available (18% owned in Yahoo leagues).
- Jarred Vanderbilt got more playing time than either Naz Reid or Ed Davis, making him the current leader in the clubhouse for the KAT injury sweepstakes. Take a flier on him for help in FG%, boards, and defensive cats (3% owned in Yahoo leagues).
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 10 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4-7 | 2-3 |
Blazers Notes:
- Nice to see Jusuf Nurkic have another positive outing (17 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds and a couple of assists) after a very slow start to the season.
- Enes Kanter continues to produce in short minutes. He’s currently returning top-100 value despite playing less than 20 minutes per game. Not known for his defensive prowess, the pair of steals and blocks he tallied here was a nice bonus to his perfect 5-for-5 shooting display.
- Gotta love it when Damian Lillard is on one. The sexy efficiency gives him the line of the night for me over Luka and Jokic. Incredible that he did all this damage in under 30 minutes of action!
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PTM | FG | FT |
| 39 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 13-21 | 6-7 |
