Tuesday Recap I Fantasy Basketball I Razzball

So, the Warriors might be good again, yeah? Coming into Tuesday’s showcase against Brooklyn with the best record in the Association, Golden State has spent the early-season feasting on one of the softest schedules in the league, and generally looking really good doing it. Steph Curry is in MVP-form, Draymond Green is locked-in and energized, and Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole have been steady, positive contributors. The bench is already deep and there’s help on the way as James Wiseman and Klay Thompson inch their way back to the rotation. Going into Brooklyn and getting the Nets at home, even sans Kyrie, figured to be a good, real test for the Warriors (if there is such a thing in November) as their schedule firms up ever so slightly. The Nets are a quality opponent. Despite the sluggish start from James Harden and getting nothing at all from Irving, Kevin Durant has been fabulous even by his own standards, and that’s been good enough to power Brooklyn to a totally-respectable 11-4 start. It was supposed to be a competitive, compelling game.

It wasn’t.

Steph Curry

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
37	7	5	2	1	9	12/19	4/4	2

I mean, what’s left to say about Curry? The best shooter ever is currently the number one player in fantasy basketball despite the fact that his 38.7% from three this year is way, way down from his career average. Steph managed to throw this line together in 29 minutes, as his services were barely needed following another explosive third quarter for Golden State. This dude is not human and the Warriors look loaded for another title run.

Here’s what else I saw on Tuesday night in the NBA…

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Draymond Green

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
11	6	8	1	0	1	5/6	0/0	3

More or less the platonic ideal of a Draymond Green box score. He didn’t even miss any free throws!

Andrew Wiggins

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
19	2	1	0	1	2	7/11	3/3	3

A second-period burst powered a nice scoring line from Wiggs, but the rest of the box score was a little light. He’s a solid contributor for points, trips, and swats, but that’s about it. I can’t imagine the usage will be moving in the right direction for him down the road. Offload him after a big night in the future, maybe?

Jordan Poole

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
17	4	4	0	1	0	6/13	5/6	5

The man who stands to lose the most by a healthy Klay Thompson, Poole has struggled with the shot recently. He’ll hold some value regardless, but you’d love to see him do a bit more to seize the moment, as the clock is ticking.

Jonathan Kuminga

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
7	6	1	0	1	0	3/6	1/2	3

The playing time keeps climbing for the 7th overall pick. Tonight’s 18 MPG was a career-best, which is still probably below the threshold of him being useful to your fantasy league. He’s got the build to be an impact defender, so he might continue to see a modest allotment of minutes. The Warriors are deep and getting healthier, but maybe there’s a deal that shakes loose some PT. He’s an intriguing prospect, though limited by his present circumstances.

Kevin Durant

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
19	5	3	0	0	2	6/19	5/6	2

After 12 points in the first quarter, KD did something truly out of character: he fell off. Thirteen missed shots in a game? I guess we’ll have to settle this time around and be comforted by the career-best 58.6 FG%

James Harden

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
24	4	4	0	0	2	6/13	10/11	5

Whew. He still doesn’t look great, but he’s clearly improving. Even with the rough patches, the Beard is still posting second-round value, so while he’s disappointed so far, he’s not killing you. Harden is playing without a ton of burst, so being able to bully into 24 points and 11 free throws (including a potential four-point play) is definitely encouraging. Tightening up the handle would be lovely, and could be a component of his improving bill of health.

Bruce Brown

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
14	5	3	3	0	1	6/8	1/2	0

Still on the outside of the top-100, Brown is kicking in value on steals and FG%, as seen above. The usage rate has an anchor tied to it though. DeAndre Bembry saw more time than BB tonight, but this one was over well before the horn. As for BB, consider him a specialist who will walk into some nice nights on occasion.

Blake Griffin

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
4	2	1	1	0	0	0/4	4/4	0

In the past, Son has suggested we call him “Lake Griffin” because he never Blocks shots. Now that his entire defensive ambitions have boiled down to sliding in front of driving opponents and hunting charges (at least three taken tonight), I find myself wanting to call him worse names. Not a fantasy asset and an infuriating watch.

LaMarcus Aldridge

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
2	1	1	1	0	0	1/3	0/0	0

In nine minutes. Yikes. The Ws played small for much of the night, and LMA managed a -14 +/- in a disastrous Brooklyn third quarter, so I wouldn’t panic about the minutes just yet.

The perpetually shorthanded Sixers slid into Salt Lake losers of their last four, and their situation did not improve against Utah. The Jazz were up by 30 in the middle of the third quarter and held that margin for the rest of the contest. I guess the good news is Philadelphia had so few healthy bodies that the guys who suited up were forced to soak up some heavy minutes. Though given how poorly they shot, that actually might not have been the best outcome. Mercy rule next time?

Tyrese Maxey

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
16	4	2	0	0	2	7/14	0/0	1

Tobias Harris

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
12	4	2	0	0	1	4/9	3/3	0

Shake Milton

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
18	3	4	0	0	0	7/19	4/5	0

Pretty grim when the combination of Philly’s three best lines results in zero stocks and just three triples. But if you think that’s bad, wait until you see what else happened.

Andre Drummond

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
6	6	1	1	1	0	3/6	0/1	2

Ugly.

Georges Niang

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
7	3	0	2	0	1	3/6	0/0	1

Ugly.

Furkan Korkmaz

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
6	5	3	0	1	0	2/12	2/3	0

Double ugly.

Seth Curry

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
5	1	2	2	0	1	1/8	2/2	1

Extra ugly with a dash of little brother syndrome.

Rudy Gobert

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
15	17	1	0	4	0	6/10	3/7	0

Philly played without a real big for long stretches of the game (they don’t really have one other than Drummond), allowing Gobert to feast on one end and beast on the other. Even when Drums was in the game, it didn’t really matter. The Jazz were in control the whole time, mostly by pounding the paint.

Jordan Clarkson

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
20	7	1	0	0	4	8/20	0/0	1

Bojan Bogdanovic

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
27	6	2	0	0	5	9/12	4/4	1

And when Utah wasn’t smashing Philly into the basket, Clarkson and Bogdanovic were getting busy behind the line. The Jazz looked capable of scoring 150 tonight, but 120 was more than plenty. From a fantasy perspective, Bojan is a top-100-ish player, while Clarkson lags much further behind.

Donovan Mitchell

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
13	3	3	1	1	1	5/12	2/3	0

Of course, this is the line he coughs up after I called attention to the strong start that Spida has enjoyed this season. The shot wasn’t working tonight, but Utah was not in need of Mitchell’s very best against the skeleton Sixers. The usage is still super high, so the production will likely be there tomorrow. These nights happen.

Mike Conley

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
13	2	7	0	0	2	5/8	1/2	1

Conley’s usage has tumbled below 20% for the first time since the early Grit and Grind days. Given the quality of the roster around him and Father Time’s nasty habit of punishing smaller guards, this could be cause for concern for the 34-year-old Conley. The true shooting has never been higher, so at least he’s making the most of his attempts.

Dejounte Murray

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
26	12	9	3	0	1	12/21	1/2	4

This is what a breakout looks like. Murray’s counting stats are all up across the board, but it’s the scoring (18.9 PPG now, 15.7 last year) and diming (8.1 now, 5.4 then) that are propelling his ascendance into the top 20. If the 25-year-old Murray ever develops a consistent jumper, look out. Dejounte is currently the 16th best player in fantasy, and he’s doing it while shooting 33% from deep and 67% from the line.

Derrick White

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
19	3	3	1	0	1	8/14	2/2	1

That’s more like it. After a rough five-game stretch where White shot 11/45 from the field, it must have felt great to see the ball go in again. Unfortunately, the trend of decreased dimes still seems to be at play here, so baby steps in the right direction will have to do for now. To his credit, White has pushed his combined stocks number to 2.0 on the season, and he’s canning 1.4 triples per game, which has kept the bottom from falling all the way out. If nothing else changes, his value should float around the top 100.

Keldon Johnson

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
10	5	3	1	1	2	4/9	0/0	3

Young Keldon’s steals rate (1.1 per game this season) has been a welcome development, but there isn’t a whole lot here outside of scoring and rebounding. After spending the summer in the USA Basketball accelerator program, there was the hope that Johnson would be a bit more of a fantasy asset in 21-22. Despite a usage rate just shy of 23%, getting into the top 100 will take some doing. Category leagues are not his optimal format.

Drew Eubanks

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
8	10	1	0	1	0	3/7	2/2	1

Jakob Poeltl is out of the quarantine period and his return to action seems to be delayed only by his conditioning. I’d imagine Poeltl is back in the rotation by the weekend, which means those of us who have been getting by on Eubanks will have to turn elsewhere for our big man stats. To his credit, Eubanks has been serviceable while drawing 20+ MPG, but his time is nigh.

Thaddeus Young

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
10	4	5	2	0	0	5/11	0/1	3

Unlike Eubanks, Young’s well-rounded fantasy has been more than serviceable since being reinserted into the rotation. Poeltl’s return will cramp Thad’s style, though it’s not entirely clear to me how big of a dip we’ll see in Young’s MPG. If you can, I would hold him for a bit longer to see what Pop does. Still, it’s not an amazing situation.

Paul George

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
34	9	4	2	0	2	10/24	12/13	6

Honestly not sure if any of his makes drew iron — the jumper is just too pure. PG’s offensive game is clicking right now, and the whole thing is beautifully smooth. PG chillin’ indeed.

Reggie Jackson

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
21	6	4	0	2	5	8/22	0/0	3

Poised for a forgettable night, Jackson was able to connect on some threes in the second half that salvaged the line. He missed 12 triples, but you can’t stay hot until you get hot, and you can’t get hot unless you hoist it.

Ivica Zubac

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
8	13	1	1	0	0	3/7	2/2	1

In 31 minutes. Zu doesn’t normally see this heavy of a workload, which is a pity, because his game is pretty bankable for fantasy. There’s a limit on the points upside, but the rebounding and defensive stats definitely play and his FT% sets him apart from other low-end bigs.

Brandon Boston

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG	FT	TO
14	4	1	1	0	2	4/7	3/3	1

Evidently, Nic Batum was banged up tonight, but rather than giving him the night off completely, Ty Lue opted instead to limit him to 14 minutes and just one shot attempt. Enter Brandon Boston, who picked up 20 minutes of action and looked lively out there. The Clipper broadcast crew were loving him up, calling this his coming out party several times. Not sure how much we should make of this yet, so keep an eye on how the minutes are split up in the near future. Batum isn’t a pillar of health, so maybe Lue will pull an Augustana on us.