Be ready for some James Bond references.
It’s an Oddjob guarding James Harden. And De’Andre Hunter found out the Harden way. Because Agent 0013 tied Agent 0023, one Michael Jordan, for the third-most 60-point games in NBA history with his fourth such game (it only took him three quarters). And he had the Goldfinger going as well, dishing out eight assists, which is also tied for the third-most assists in a 60-point effort (Harden is also first on that list, putting together the only recorded triple-double in a 60-point game when he had 10 rebounds and 11 assists two years ago). 0013 knows that You Only Live Twice, and He Only Missed Thrice from the free throw line, going 20-for-23 and continuing to lead the league with a staggering 14.4 attempts per game, leading runner-up Giannis Antetokounmpo by more than three attempts in each contest. He’s the Man with the Golden Shot, sinking eight threes for the third time this year. And most importantly, Harden was Dr. No in allowing the Hawks to even get close in this one… his +/- of 50 trails the highest +/- of the past two decades by only 7 points (Luc Mbah a Moute with the Rockets, believe it or not). Here is his full stat line:
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 60 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8-14 | 16-24 | 20-23 |
Alright, that’s it with the Bond references. Was that enough? For me it was, but for 0013, the World is not Enough. Here’s what else occurred in a four-game slate on Saturday.
Ben McLemore
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6-11 | 9-14 | 0-0 |
In games where McLemore has gotten 30 minutes this month, he’s had four threes in all of them and averages 19.5 ppg. Unfortunately, his role is too inconsistent, and Danuel House has the starting job locked down.
Russell Westbrook
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1-1 | 6-11 | 2-2 |
A modest display from Russ, who had no choice but to take the backseat to Harden. This was his fourth-straight game with four or more turnovers, but he does everything else (except blocks) if you’re willing to punt turnovers away.
Trae Young
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 37 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5-9 | 10-16 | 12-13 |
So I’m going to try and dig real deep into Basketball Reference and see if I can find the highest scoring effort in a game where a player’s team lost by 40 points. Because I have a feeling this is up there.
Update: What record does Wilt Chamberlain not hold? He scored 46 in a 109-150 loss against the Syracuse Nationals in 1962.
Nikola Jokic
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 7 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0-3 | 3-11 | 1-2 |
Jokic at least chipped in with good rebounding and passing, but his scoring average is way down this year, his three-point percentage has dipped significantly, and it was just downright hard to watch him try and play defense against some of the quicker Kings.
Gary Harris
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 25 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4-9 | 8-16 | 5-6 |
Harris was feeling himself early on in the game, hitting consecutive threes to put Denver up big. He unfortunately cooled off later on, but put up a solid stat line overall and continued his nice steals numbers. Scoring outliers like this are welcome but not likely to occur often for this kind of boring fantasy asset.
Will Barton
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 14 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1-6 | 6-15 | 1-2 |
Barton capped off a strong week, in which he was close to being a top-50 player. He’s giving good value based on his late-round draft position in most leagues.
Harrison Barnes
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 30 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1-4 | 10-19 | 9-10 |
Barnes put up a season-high 30 and did so efficiently. Efficiency has been the key to Barnes’s success this year, as he shoots the ball at a 50% clip and has a decent usage rate as the second fiddle to Hield.
Buddy Hield
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 21 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3-13 | 7-20 | 4-5 |
A shortage of threes will never be an issue for Hield, who trails only Harden in attempts per game. He still put up numbers without shooting at his usual level.
Nemanja Bjelica
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 10 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1-1 | 3-11 | 3-3 |
Double-double in 25 minutes. He’s making a case for the top-100 despite only being 30-40% owned.
Richaun Holmes
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0-0 | 6-9 | 1-2 |
Joel Embiid shut him down a couple nights ago. Nikola Jokic did not. His scoring is up and down, but he’s a tenacious rebounder and has provided top-50 fantasy value more often than not.
T.J. Warren
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 29 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4-4 | 11-19 | 3-3 |
Warren had the hot hand against Philly, stealing the spotlight away from the T.J. who spent so much time as a key cog in the Process. He should be owned in all leagues, as his scoring average climbs toward the 20.0 mark, shoots efficiently, and doesn’t hurt his owners with turnovers.
Myles Turner
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0-3 | 1-8 | 1-2 |
See: Joel Embiid’s defense.
Domantas Sabonis
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 13 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0-1 | 4-7 | 5-6 |
Sabonis fouled out as Embiid really got in his head and frustrated him. A more solid statistical showing than his demeanor would suggest at the time of his ejection, and he’s as good a double-double threat as there is.
Malcolm Brogdon
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 28 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2-5 | 9-15 | 8-8 |
This man does not miss from the charity stripe. He’s looked completely fine since returning from injury and has made his role perhaps the most important one in the Indy lineup.
Joel Embiid
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 32 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1-2 | 8-15 | 15-15 |
He deserves MVP consideration for so many reasons. The offense, the defense, and free throw shooting, the swagger, the determination… he’s an absolute stud.
Ben Simmons
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0-1 | 4-13 | 7-7 |
Huge steals down the stretch, great ball distribution, a three point attempt (!), a perfect line from the free throw line (!!!!!!!!!!) … not much to complain about here.
Tobias Harris
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 22 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1-2 | 8-16 | 5-6 |
There was some isolation scoring in this one from Tobi, which is a positive sign going forward. You’d love to see his three-pointer return to the level it was at in LA, but where he seems to excel most now is in the mid-range.
Devonte’ Graham
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 24 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4-9 | 10-18 | 0-0 |
Another positive effort in a complete blowout. The fact that he’s only committing one turnover in a lopsided game like this with such a big role is encouraging, though turnovers have been an issue (12 in a two-game stretch earlier in the week).
Bismack Biyombo
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0-0 |
I had been lauding Biyombo, and so had the rest of community as his ownership went up 14%. The Bucks owned him and he couldn’t do anything, making this a tough last game for Biyombo before Zeller returns. We’ll see how it affects his role going forward, but I still think he can provide decent production and higher upside than Zeller depending on the matchup.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 26 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-5 | 11-19 | 3-7 |
It’s laughable that the Freak did this in 19 minutes. Nineteen minutes. The Hornets were completely at his mercy.
Eric Bledsoe
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
Not much Bledsoe was needed as the Bucks coasted to victory, and he put up 10 assists for the second time in three games. He also failed to score over 13 points in his fifth-straight game, but he’ll likely bring that production back up to the tens when he gets it going again.
Khris Middleton
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | 3PT | FG | FT |
| 15 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0-2 | 7-14 | 1-1 |
Middleton’s climb back to full health and full speed continued, though I’m not sure he wouldn’t have played more minutes had the game not been such a blowout. He did this all in 16 minutes, and his usage was very high.
