Celtics vs Pacers
Last night’s version of Dennis Schroder is exactly what the Celtics need to save their season. A legitimate third scoring option they can rely upon when Tatum and Jaylen are either being double teamed or are having a bad shooting night. Considering how the rest of this roster is built, defense isn’t a concern at all. As for if he’s worth picking up in fantasy, I would have to say a hesitant no. Plenty of other more consistent scoring options available league wide such as Kelly Oubre Jr. or Jalen Brunson.
Malcolm Brogdon made his return last night, playing a conservative 17 minutes (left with a sore Achilles), and putting up six points, one rebound and two assists. However, his presence was felt, the offense being run through the guards instead of through Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis only put up 17 points, six rebounds and six assists last night. From a fantasy perspective, it may be time to sell high on Sabonis, with Brogdon returning to full strength and getting more and more touches. This is a reactionary take, but selling high is never a bad thing.
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Hornets vs 76ers
There are times where I repeat myself in these recaps, the one I will trick by is Charlotte’s big four LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges. All starters in double digits last night and all playing for at least 36 minutes. Hayward put up the most points tonight with 30, however it was Bridges putting up the most shot attempts going 9-20. Joel Embiid got to the line an impressive 14 times last night on his way to a 31 point performance. He’s been putting up MVP numbers lately, averaging 32 points and 10 rebounds through his last 10 games. He’s also 3rd in PER, Nikola Jokic is still first for those wondering.
Magic vs Wizards
Is Robin Lopez the benefactor of a tanking team needing talent or is he actually a solid NBA contributor? Last night he recorded 11 rebounds and 16 points. If I were the Gm of the Magic I wouldn’t sell him at the trade deadline. Instead I would keep him and let the younger big men develop and learn from him.
Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant have finally returned from injury, both playing limited minutes for the Wizards nursing previously mentioned injuries. You wanna know the ultimate problem with the current Washington Wizards? They have too many decent players on their roster with no true superstar to take advantage of the talent around him. If you were to swap Luka Doncic with Bradley Beal the Wizards are championship contenders and the Mavericks are a bottom 3 team. Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Deni Avdija, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Daniel Gafford and Spencer Dinwiddie are all great players just not the second or third best player on a championship contender. Now I don’t think they should trade the majority of these players but packaging lets say Avdija, KCP, Corey Kispert and a draft pick for Sabonis or potentially Siakam could turn them into a legitimate contender.
Heat vs Hawks
Tyler Herro continues to put up huge numbers for the Miami Heat. I think he legitimately wants that 6MOTY year award now, considering Max Strus started over him tonight. Additionally shout out to Kyle Lowry, as had three steals and five assists. Nowfor the Atlanta Hawks, am I the only one who thinks that they should stay the course? I talked last week about how scary their depth options were and now every trade I see is trading John Collins, four key players and a pick for Ben Simmons and De’Aaron Fox. The Hawks were hit harder than most teams with the virus, and having constant rotational shifts can really mess with team chemistry. In my humble opinion they should try and weather the storm, play for the play-in tournament and see what happens. No need to panic or overhaul anything.
Mavericks vs Knicks
I had a parlay going for last night’s games, and part of that parlay was RJ Barrett getting three or more assists. Let me tell you, seeing the man you need to playmake jog down the field and stand in the corner every single play is infuriating. However, it bloody worked for him last night putting up 32 points with four three pointers made and only two free throws. Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson also had solid performances each putting up a double-double. As for my parlay, it was a complete failure but more on that in the Nets vs Bulls game.
As for the Dallas Mavericks, how does a team manage to win six in a row and look so flat. Luka Doncic has no help without Kristaps Porzingis. This roster needs a deep overhaul either this deadline or this offseason. This extends to head coach Jason Kidd, his schemes and Dorian Finney-Smith post-up plays aren’t getting this team anywhere. Players such as Caris LeVert or Jerami Grant would absolutely thrive on this roster and should be trade targets for the Mavericks.
Rockets vs Spurs
Eric Gordon proved he still has trade value, putting up 31 points in a win against the Spurs. The most surprising statline of the night went to rookie Jalen Green with eight assists. If he can keep improving as a playmaker, he could be scary good. As for the Spurs, I think somebody finally told them they should be tanking. Since last week they’ve lost four straight and tonight they started rookie Joshua Primo and benched Keldon Johnson. Oh and Dejounte Murray put up another triple double tonight, still probably won’t be an all star.
Cavaliers vs Jazz
This season has been full of “who are you and how did you put up over 20 points?”’ and last night’s recipient was Lamar Stevens who put up 23 for the Cavaliers. Worth mentioning as well is Darius Garland‘s first career triple-double, with 11 rebounds, 11 points and 15 assists. This man is an All-Star lock right? Headlining for one of the league’s most surprising teams and putting up career numbers. As for the Jazz, they continue to struggle defensively without Rudy Gobert. It’s funny to see how crucial he was to this team after all the hate on social media last year.
Nets vs Bulls
Kyrie Irving only put up nine points on 10 shot attempts, but it ultimately didn’t matter. James Harden decided to go back to MVP form, putting up 16 assists and 25 points on 62% from three. As for the Bulls and my parlay, I needed Lonzo Ball to score 10 points, three points below his average this season and his average over the last 10 games, and he put up nine. The whole parlay was a mess between Barrett needing one more assist and Sabonis needing seven more rebounds just for it to break even. So in conclusion, don’t gamble and if you do, don’t do a five way parlay, as tempting as it is to turn 5$ into 50$.
Lakers vs Kings
See there’s a temptation to write “Westbrick” and move on, wrap up my night early and not talk about the structural woes of the Lakers. Not talk about how historically LeBron doesn’t gel with teammates well in their first year together, not talk about how Malik Monk is the only player that structurally fits around LeBron James, not talk about how Anthony Davis is arguable worse than Kristaps Porzingis this season and not talk about how before his recent slump Russell Westbrook was actually putting up solid numbers.
And honestly, that sounds like an excellent idea.
Westbrick.
As for Sacramento, glad to see Marvin Bagley is finally getting consistent minutes, and can’t wait to see the trade deadline.
