What’s up Razzball Nation! Welcome back to another edition of Any Given Saturday. I just feel like I haven’t talked about LeBron James enough. The man just turned 33 and is putting up MVP numbers. Hell, with James Harden injured, LeBron is probably the frontrunner. This season he’s putting up career-highs in assists, 3PM, FT%, and he’s even putting up 1.0 blocks, the most since his first Cleveland stint. He was built in a Nike laboratory to be the perfect basketball specimen. Anyway, against the lowly Magic on Sunday, LeBron messed around and almost got a quadruple-double, going for 33/10/9/6/1 on 12-for-23 FG (4-for-7 3P, 5-for-7 FT) with three turnovers. His usage might go down with the return of Isaiah Thomas, but it’s not like Kyrie Irving dug into LeBron’s stats in previous years. LeBron might even average more assists and be more efficient with IT in the fold. Good lord. Anyway, here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy basketball:
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Isaiah Thomas: In his second game back, he put up 19/2/4 on 7-for-13 FG (2-for-4 3P, 3-for-5 FT) and five turnovers in only 21 minutes. Great per-minute numbers, especially considering the amount of time he missed. The turnovers are ugly, but I’m willing to give him a pass, all things considered. He likely won’t come close to last year’s numbers, but his numbers from two years ago on the Celtics (22/3/6) seem realistic. Glad to have him back and playing.
Kevin Love: 27/5/1 on 8-for-17 FG (6-for-12 3P, 5-for-5 FT). Hard to see Love not getting even better looks going forward with Isaiah occupying more defensive attention.
Dwyane Wade: 16/9/3/1 on 7-for-9 FG (2-for-5 FT) and two TOs in 25 minutes off the bench.
Bismack Biyombo: Big Bizness did his thing, going for 8/11/2/0/1 on 2-for-6 FG (4-for-4 FT) with one TO. The FG% was a bit low and FT% a bit high, but otherwise it was Bizness as usual.
Aaron Gordon: 30/8/1/2 on 13-for-26 FG (1-for-8 3P, 3-for-6 FT) and four TOs in 31 minutes before he fouled out, as he almost led the Magic past the Cavaliers. Our Stocktonator loves him in his next game against Dallas.
Mario Hezonja: 16/10/2/0/1 on 7-for-14 FG (2-for-7 3P, 0-for-1 FT) and four turnovers. He has some low-end value with Jonathan Simmons out with injury.
Elfrid Payton: 20/7/5 on 8-for-13 FG (1-for-2 3P, 3-for-4 FT) and three TOs. He’s been on a roll lately, but don’t expect these kinds of numbers forever. It helps that scorers like Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross and the aforementioned Simmons are out.
Steph Curry: Steph might’ve deserved the lede, but he got it last week. And it’s not like the Warriors’ players need even more adulation at this point. Curry went off for 45/6/3/3 on 11-for-21 FG (8-for-16 3P, 15-for-16 FT) with two turnovers in just under only 30 minutes as he sat the fourth in a blowout against the Clippers. Steph is a monster.
Klay Thompson: No Warrior other than Curry scored more than 11 and no Warrior played 30 minutes. Klay went for 10/4/3/1/1 on 4-for-16 FG (2-for-8 3P) and two turnovers. And the Warriors blew out the Clippers.
Blake Griffin: Granted, part of why it was a blowout is that Blake took a nasty elbow from Javale McGee and left the game with a concussion. The aftermath was pretty scary, with Blake looking like he was convulsing on the floor. I would expect that Blake is going to miss several games.
Montrezl Harrell: 9/10/3/0/2 on 4-for-9 FG (1-for-1 FT) and five TOs. He’s probably the pickup with Blake out. Sam Dekker (9/4/0/1 on 4-for-11 FG) might also get more burn, but I wouldn’t count on him for anything.
Jawun Evans: 12/4/7/1 on 5-for-16 FG (2-for-3 FT) and one TO in 28 minutes. He’ll have a bit of value with Milos Teodosic hurt again.
Lou Williams: 23/2/3/1/1 on 7-for-14 FG (2-for-4 3P, 7-for-7 FT) and five TOs.
Kyrie Irving: 21/6/4/0/1 on 8-for-22 FG (2-for-6 3P, 3-for-4 FT). He’s been cold recently, but he’ll obviously be better.
Jayson Tatum: 14/6/0/3/6 on 6-for-15 FG (2-for-2 3P), one TO and one huge dunk.
DeMarre Carroll: 10/7/1/0/1 on 3-for-12 FG (2-for-5 3P, 2-for-2 FT).
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: 8/7/1 on 3-for-15 FG (0-for-2 3P, 2-for-3 FT).
Allen Crabbe: 9/5/1 on 2-for-11 FG (2-for-8 3P, 3-for-4 FT), three TOs. Definitely a cold shooting night from these Nets starters.
Spencer Dinwiddie: 20/3/3/1 on 7-for-15 FG (1-for-5 3P, 5-for-5 FT) and four TOs. This Nets starter has been one of the more pleasant surprises from this fantasy season.
Joe Harris: 10/12/2/0/1 on 4-for-9 FG (0-for-3 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and two TOs off the bench. Harris has also been a nice surprise, albeit a much lower-end one.
Jahlil Okafor: 12/5/0/0/2 on 5-for-12 FG (2-for-2 FT) and one TO in only 12 minutes. As Jah continues to mesh with the Nets offence, he might start putting up useful numbers. If you have space, he’s probably worth a speculative add.
Victor Oladipo: 23/6/9/5 on 9-for-11 FG (2-for-3 3P, 3-for-4 FT) and one TO in 23 minutes as the Pacers demolished the Bulls. He’s probably the fantasy MVP at this point in the season, and I’m so happy that I was higher on him than most.
Myles Turner: Nobody on the Pacers played close to 30 minutes and it was pretty much smooth sailing after halftime. Myles put up 13/5/1 on 5-for-10 FG (1-for-3 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and three TOs. Interesting that you have arguably the biggest fantasy steal (Dipo) and biggest fantasy bust (Myles) on the same real-life team. The hype was misplaced! However I definitely smell some post-hype sleeperness on Myles for next year and I’m definitely trying to buy low in dynasties.
Domantas Sabonis: 22/5/0/0/1 on 9-for-12 FG (1-for-2 3P, 3-for-6 FT) and two TOs in 27 minutes off the bench.
Bobby Portis: Led the team in scoring with 15/4/2/0/3 on 4-for-7 FG (1-for-2 3P, 6-for-7 FT) and one TO off the bench in 22 minutes.
Nikola Mirotic: 8/2 on 2-for-4 FG (2-for-3 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and one TO in 23 bench minutes. After a relative dud last game, is he finally slowing down? Probably.
Justin Holiday: 6/4/1/0/1 on 2-for-14 FG (1-for-9 3P, 1-for-1 FT) and two TOs. Yikes. I can’t wait for Zach Lavine to come back so we can see what the Bulls shiteshow really has to offer.
Tobias Harris: Led the Pistons to a surprising win over the Rockets as he went for 27/8/1/1 on 8-for-15 FG (3-for-6 3P, 8-for-11 FT).
Reggie Bullock: 14/2/2 on 5-for-6 FG (3-for-4 3P, 1-for-2 FT). THRAGNOF!
Dwight Buycks: 16/2/2/0/1 on 5-for-9 FG (4-for-5 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and four TOs. He could have some low-end value while Reggie Jackson is out.
Boban Marjanovic: 10/5/1/0/2 on 4-for-8 FG (2-for-4 FT) and three TOs. Boban sighting! The per-minute God! Even though Andre Drummond was out, Boban never plays enough to be fantasy relevant. If only he were born 20 years earlier.
Gerald Green: 15/3 on 5-for-14 FG (4-for-12 3P, 1-for-1 FT). He’s scoring like a madman recently, and James Harden is hurt. It’s pretty THRAGNOF-y, but it’s still good!
Chris Paul: 16/7/13/2 on 5-for-10 FG (3-for-8 3P, 3-for-3 FT) and five TOs.
Ryan Anderson: 5/3/2 on 2-for-9 FG (1-for-6 3P). *fart noise*
Andrew Wiggins: 20/8/2/2/3 on 9-for-22 FG (1-for-4 3P, 1-for-1 FT) and no TOs. Rainbow alert! Great game from Maple Jordan. But he played nearly 35 minutes in a game where the Wolves were up 27 points after three quarters. Wiggins is first in the league in total minutes, with teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler second and fourth, respectively. If I were an owner of any of these players (or a Wolves fan), I’d be slightly worried about these guys getting overworked.
Karl-Anthony Towns: 21/16/3/1/1 on 7-for-11 FG (3-for-3 3P, 4-for-4 FT) and two TOs.
Jimmy Butler: 21/7/8/1 on 7-for-15 FG (2-for-2 3P, 5-for-6 FT) and two TOs. Minutes concerns aside, these guys are definitely studs when they play.
Taj Gibson: 15/6/3/3 on 5-for-9 FG (0-for-1 3P, 5-for-6 FT) and one TO. He’s having a career year on the Wolves. Tom Thibodeau definitely loves his guys.
DeMarcus Cousins: 23/15/5/0/3 on 6-for-11 FG (2-for-5 3P, 9-for-10 FT) and seven TOs. A beautiful game marred by turnover troubles. But such is life when you run with DMC.
Anthony Davis: 16/9/2/1/2 on 5-for-12 FG (0-for-1 3P, 6-for-6 FT) and one TO.
De’Aaron Fox: 18/3/7/1 on 6-for-11 FG (6-for-8 FT) and four TOs. It’s been a good season for rookie point guards not named Markelle Fultz.
Willie Cauley-Stein: 17/4/2/7 on 8-for-12 FG (1-for-3 FT). Trill was ballin and the seven steals might’ve won the category for you this week if you’re one of his lucky owners out there.
Buddy Hield: 14/5/2 on 5-for-14 FG (4-for-9 3P). THRAGNOF!
Nikola Jokic: 8/7/10 on 3-for-10 FG (0-for-4 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and five TOs. Yikes. Can’t wait to grab him next year as a post-hype sleeper! I’d send out some buy low offers for him.
Trey Lyles: Continues to put up huge lines night after night. 19/9/0/01 on 8-for-11 FG (2-for-3 3P, 1-for-4 FT) and three TOs. He doesn’t block many shots for a big man, but he gets plenty of out-of-position threes to make up for it. There’s no way he’s still unowned in leagues, right?
Jamal Murray: 18/5/0/0/2 on 7-for-16 FG (3-for-8 3P, 1-for-1 FT) and five TOs. He’s really good!
Gary Harris: 17/4/3/1 on 6-for-11 FG (3-for-5 3P, 2-for-2 FT) and one TO. He’s also really good!
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 34/12/7/2/1 on 12-for-17 FG (1-for-1 3P, 9-for-10 FT) and three TOs. My goodness.
John Henson: 11/11/2/2/2 on 5-for-8 FG (1-for-2 FT) and two TOs. Another rainbow alert!
Khris Middleton: 20/5/1/1 on 5-for-14 FG (2-for-6 3P, 8-for-8 FT) and three TOs.
Eric Bledsoe: 21/4/4/3/1 on 6-for-11 FG (2-for-2 3P, 7-for-8 FT) with two TOs. He doesn’t put up eye-popping numbers these days, but since joining the Bucks he’s been more than valuable, putting up more than 18/4/4 on career-high FG%, 3PM and steals.
John Wall: 16/3/16/1/1 on 5-for-19 FG (1-for-2 3P, 5-for-6 FT) with six TOs. The shooting and turnovers are ugly, but the assists are a season-high and definitely juicy.
Markieff Morris: 14/10/2/1 on 6-for-9 FG (2-for-3 FT). Definitely worth a pickup if he’s out there.
Marcin Gortat: 17/7/1/0/3 on 7-for-10 FG (3-for-6 FT).
Bradley Beal: 20/5/1/1/2 on 7-for-19 FG (1-for-7 3P, 5-for-7 FT) and four TOs. Not his best game, the Wizards lost a close one, and he was also laid out by Matthew Dellavedova. Poor guy.
That about does it for this week’s Any Given Saturday. As always, leave any questions, concerns or comments down below! Cheers guys!
