You know my love for NBA stats so it is once again fun stats time and we move to Portland as Stephen Curry failed to hit a three pointer in the Warriors match against the Trailblazers. That ended his streak of 268 consecutive games of hitting at least a triple, which is obviously the current record that should hold for a long long time. The last time Chef Curry didn’t hit a three was in December 2018 against the Bucks, when I had only 1.5 years of writing for Razzball and both Vince Carter and Dirk Nowitzki were still active NBA players.
To further provide context on this achievement, one has to combine the next SEVEN guys in the respective list to get to 272 triples and surpass Curry’s streak. Unreal stuff. The only player that has a chance is Damian Lillard, who is currently at 102 games and is thus only the 3rd player in NBA history that surpassed the 100 games mark, along with Curry and Kyle Korver. To give you even more perspective, the 2 players with active streaks after Curry’s 268 record and Lillard’s 102 are Cameron Johnson with 50 games and Bogdan Bogdanovic with 35.
Regarding last week’s suggestions, I can pat myself on the back a little because I think all of the players were good choices, highlighted by Brandin Podziemski and Isaiah Hartenstein, who both have their roles locked up until Draymond Green and Mitchell Robinson return respectively and should easily provide standard league value. The same can be said for Patrick Williams, who has also improved considerably and is standard league material, while Dante Exum performed well and has some value until Kyrie Irving returns.
Buy
Talen Horton-Tucker: As predicted when I mentioned Keyonte George as a “Buy” candidate earlier in the season, Talen Horton-Tucker lost his starting job to the talented youngster. However, an injury to George provided plenty of opportunity to THT and he has capitalized, with 3 excellent performances in a row. As long as George remains sidelined, both Collin Sexton (less available as he is 69% owned) and THT (30% owned) are great streamers for backcourt stats.
Caris LeVert: Darius Garland has unfortunately fractured his jaw and that means an absence of roughly the next 10 games of the Cavaliers. The next man up is Caris LeVert, who despite not starting should get a good usage bump and provide standard league value. His first two games have been uninspiring, as he is averaging only 26 minutes, but I firmly believe the Cavaliers will need his offensive punch and playmaking off the bench so go get him now that he is still available in half of yahoo leagues (52% owned). Isaac Okoro (10% owned) is a deeper league option as well and will see his minutes and value boosted by the absence of Garland, so give him a look if LeVert is unavailable, despite not having a very fantasy friendly game.
Grayson Allen: Grayson Allen will not blow you away with his real-life performances or fantasy production but he does have 2 things going for him that make him standard league relevant. The first and major one is Bradley Beal’s absence due to a right ankle injury, that allows Allen to play over 32 minutes and accumulate useful defensive stats, along with some triples and above average rebounds for his position. The other factor for his value is the schedule of his appearances, as the Suns play in all of the low volume days. The combination of those factors makes him a good streamer until Beal returns (37% owned).
Sell
Russell Westbrook: It is sad to include Westbrook in this column, as his move to the Clippers last year rejuvenated his career and his decision this year to voluntarily move to the bench and help facilitate the quicker integration of James Harden further showcases his leadership qualities. In terms of real-life performances, it has worked wonders, as the Clippers are on a 8-game winning streak and have a 12-3 record since Westbrook’s move to the bench. However, in terms of fantasy value, it has been a disaster for him, as he is playing only 20 minutes per game and is ranked outside the top240 for that period. It is sadly time to move on and drop him, which is apparently a hard decision as he is still owned in 76% of yahoo leagues. A hard but necessary decision.
