New Orleans Pelicans(7-18) at Dallas Mavericks(11-10)
In a rematch from only two days ago, the Pelicans were able to get revenge behind the fantasy star of the night, Brandon Ingram, who hasn’t been as good as last year since his injury but showed up last night with a near triple-double. Ingram finished with 24 points, 12 assists, and eight assists. This was easily Ingram’s best game of the year, and he will look to keep the streak going. While Jonas Valanciunas continues to start at center, his foul troubles recently have opened up more minutes for Willy Hernangomez, who has been stellar off the bench. Hernangomez finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds and should continue to be a solid streamer even with a great center in front of him.
With Kristaps Prozingis out of the lineup, the Mavericks struggled offensively. Luka Doncic led the way, as he usually does, with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. He remains one of the top category players with unlimited upside on a night-to-night basis. Maxi Kleber had 13 points and nine assists while filling in for Porzingis, but his production is too sporadic to justify rostering him.
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Cleveland Cavaliers(13-10) at Washington Wizards(14-9)
The Cavs continue to grow as a young team, winning their fourth straight game 116-101. With Collin Sexton out for the season, Darius Garland has stepped up and continued it last night with a game-high 32 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. Jarrett Allen has been a force of late, posting his sixth straight double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Allen and Garland have built quite a strong connection and it shows on the court and in the box score. Rookie Evan Mobley struggled last night but posted his seventh straight game with multiple blocks. He may have his ups and downs offensively but will remain an elite supplier of blocks regardless of what he does on the offensive end of the floor.
The Wizard lost just their third game at home this season on Friday night. The entire team struggled offensively as Deni Avdija was the leading scorer with 16 points. Every starter for the Wizards lost minutes because of the blowout and as a result, the main guys struggled from a fantasy perspective. The Wizards have been surprisingly good this season, so this game should not reflect their strong start to the season.
Miami Heat(14-9) at Indiana Pacers(9-16)
The Miami Heat walked away with a huge win for them on Friday night, winning 113-104. They were without both Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on Friday. They will be without Bam for the next six weeks at least as he recovers from a torn UCL in his thumb. Last night, Kyle Lowry stepped up and scored 26 points while adding nine assists. Even with Jimmy Butler only being out for a short amount of time, they will need Lowry to step up and help replace the missing offensive production from Jimmy and Bam. Duncan Robinson bounced back after a scoreless game in his last outing, as he finished with 24 points. Dewayne Dedmon has been starting for Adebayo and should continue to hold that job unless something changes in the Heat’s game plan. He should provide decent value for those who need a center replacement.
The Indiana Pacers continue to make fans scratch their heads this season. They fall to seven games under .500, and while they haven’t struggled as a team fantasy-wise, they have been underwhelming with the amount of talent they have on their roster. Caris LeVert broke out of a slump last night with a game-high 27 points but did not provide much for fantasy owners outside of his scoring. He will look to stay hot and will need to do so to provide real fantasy value moving forward. Domantas Sabonis came off the bench last night because of a personal issue but still scored14 points and added 16 rebounds to tie for a league-leading 18th double-double of the season. Sabonis has been excellent recently and is starting to provide fantasy managers with a more well-rounded production of stats in the major three categories.
Minnesota Timberwolves(11-12) at Brooklyn Nets(16-6)
The Brooklyn Nets continue to be a staple of the Friday night recaps and continue to play down to their opponent every Friday. They walk away with a 110-105 win over the Timberwolves behind 30 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists from Kevin Durant. Fellow superstar James Harden finished with 20 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Both Durant and Harden are elite category players but often bounce back and forth as to who will have the better statistical night. Patty Mills was a huge spark last night for the Nets scoring 23 points. He has been very solid with Joe Harris out and should continue to enjoy this role as Harris will be out for the foreseeable future.
The Timberwolves fought hard without their best player, Karl-Anthony Towns, but were unable to close the game out. D’Angelo Russell stepped up with KAT out of the lineup, finishing with a team-high 21 points and 11 assists. Jarred Vanderbilt finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds, and although he benefited from Towns being out, he can be looked at for players in need of rebounds and defensive stats.
Philadelphia 76ers(12-11) at Atlanta Hawks(12-11)
In a rematch of last year’s playoff matchup, the 76ers flipped the script and managed to win a close 98-96 game. Joel Embiid has looked fantastic after his return from the Covid-19 list and finished last night with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds. Embiid is back to his elite form and should continue to be an excellent all-around producer with huge scoring and rebounding upside. Seth Curry continued his career year with an 18-point performance on Friday night. In a year of injuries and illnesses for the 76ers, Curry has remained a consistent scoring option for his team.
The Hawks were in the game the whole way but collapsed behind a nine-point fourth quarter. Trae Young continued his great season with 25 points and 10 assists. He is an elite provider in these two categories, ranking top five in points and assists per game. Danillo Gallinari provided 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench and could provide more performances like this with the Hawks being so thin from injury.
Orlando Magic(5-19) at Houston Rockets(6-16)
In a battle between two of the worst and youngest teams in the league, the Rockets managed to win by a score of 118-116. Eric Gordon led the way with 24 points but he can not be relied on to be a consistent scorer. Christian Wood has been excellent since the Rockets moved him to the starting center position and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds in last night’s contest. The move to center gives Wood a huge fantasy boost as he can dominate the boards as the only big man on the court. Even with all the positives, there was a major downside to this game for the Rockets as Kevin Porter Jr. exited his second straight game with a thigh injury. If he were to miss any serious time, Armoni Brooks and DJ Augustin would see extra minutes, but it is unclear if they would be fantasy-viable players.
The Magic may be one of the worst teams in the league, but they also have one of the most exciting young cores in the NBA. Cole Anthony leads that young core, just like he did last night when he finished with 26 points and seven assists. With Jalen Suggs out, Anthony has seen more usage and ball-handling duties, raising his fantasy production. Wendell Carter Jr. has been on a hot streak lately and continued that with 10 points and 16 rebounds in last night’s contest. Even when sharing the court with Mo Bamba, he finds a way to excel on the boards, while being a solid producer of points, assists, and defensive stats.
Boston Celtics(12-11) at Utah Jazz(15-7)
The Utah Jazz beat the Celtics 137-130 in one of the best games of the night behind a game-winning three-pointer from Donovan Mitchell. He finished with a team-high 34 points while adding six assists. Mitchell has been one of the highest usage players in the league so we could see more performances like this moving forward if he can keep up his hot shooting. Mike Conley added 29 points, hitting all seven of the three-pointers that he shot. This is an outlier game because of his amazing shooting numbers, but he did lead the Jazz in threes on a night where they hit 27 shots from behind the arc.
Jayson Tatum was excellent last night both in real life and for fantasy. He finished with 37 points, six rebounds, and five assists on a night where the Celtics needed everything from their star player without Jaylen Brown in the lineup. He is still the main guy on this team with or without Brown, but he enjoys some extra usage and shot attempts with his star teammate sidelined. Dennis Schroder always enjoys a nice boost when Brown is out and came through last night. He scored 26 points and was a reason that they were able to stay in the game with a team like the Utah Jazz. He won’t put up these scoring numbers nightly, but he has value if either Tatum or Brown ever miss a game.
Los Angeles Clippers(12-11) at Los Angeles Lakers(12-12)
In the Battle of Staples Center, the Clippers defended the home court as the away team, winning 119-115. Paul George stepped up in the win scoring 19 points with nine assists, eight rebounds, and two steals. George had an excellent all-around night and was able to limit his turnovers to three last night. Something note-worthy from last night’s game was the starting lineup change which resulted in Serge Ibaka starting over Eric Bledsoe. If this trend continues, it will hinder Bledsoe’s value while boosting Ibaka’s.
The Lakers continue to have ups and downs as they are finding their chemistry and their full-time starting lineup. Dwight Howard entered the starting lineup on Friday night and finished with 11 points, four rebounds, a block, and a steal. If you are in desperate need of points and rebounds on stronger shooting numbers, Howard can be looked at as long as he keeps the large role he has played in the last two games. Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 27 points while adding 11 rebounds and four assists. LeBron James finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Davis and James were the main producers as Russell Westbrook took a backseat to his fellow superstar teammates. It appears that Westbrook has the least upside while all three are healthy.
Phoenix Suns(19-4) at Golden State Warriors(19-3)
The Warriors finally snapped the 18-game win streak of the Suns, winning 118-96. Each team has defended their home court after these two teams faced back-to-back games. Stephen Curry bounced back after one of the worst games of his career, scoring 23 points in the blowout win. Draymond Green provided fantasy managers with an elite all-around game posting a stat line of nine points, nine rebounds, nine assists, six steals, and three blocks. Draymond has been excellent this season and has shown that he wants to try harder than ever on the defensive end, which will lead to more steals and blocks.
The Suns were without Devin Booker on Friday and it appears that he will be out for at least a few games. In his absence, Cameron Johnson, Cam Payne, and Landry Shamet have all picked up extra minutes and usage. All three can be streamed as long as Booker is out. Johnson has the most all-around upside, while Shamet and Payne can be added if you need points and three-pointers. Deandre Ayton has enjoyed some extra shots with Booker out, leading the way last night with 23 points and six rebounds. He has an excellent connection with Chris Paul which often leads to easy points.
