An APB was sent out in Philly last night. Suspect was described as 6’2″ with a condor-like wingspan; wanted for dropping bombs and stealing everything in site.
Oh, that was just De’Anthony Melton against the Lakers in a 133-122 win. Melton finished with 7 steals and added 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting and 8-12 from deep, along with 4 boards and 2 assists. The 76ers have relied on Melton to keep the team afloat through a string of injuries. The man they can Mr. Do Something has done just that, and it seems he’s not done being a major part of Philly’s success going forward. He’s a bit of a rare bird: a shorter combo guard type player who doesn’t need a ton of usage to produce quality stats. He’s currently a Top 50 player in per game value, with a 19.5 usage rate on average. Melton is a great source of threes and steals who contributes across the board. Any worry his fantasy value would drop significantly with the return of James Harden (28-4-12-2-1) is quickly melting away.
Joel Embiid won the battle of elites with 38-12-5 and a steal; tho Anthony Davis’ line of 31-12-0-2-2- was just as nice (anyone buy high on Davis?). Austin Reaves produced after a 5-game slump, scoring 25 (9-15 FG, 4-6 3pt, 3-4 FT) with 5 dimes and 2 steals.
Speaking of buying high, I think Jaren Jackson Jr. is worth a target if his owner isn’t convinced he can remain a top 20 player. He went 20-5-2-2-4 with his normal efficiency as Memphis shot down the Pistons 114-103. I’m convinced he can keep it up. But I was wrong once. Ja Morant did his thing with 15-6-12-3-1.
Jalen Duren doubled up in his first career start, with 10 points, 12 boards and nothing else. Marvin Bagley III moved to the bench and played just 20 minutes, but still produced 14 points, 9 boards and 4 blocks. But, at this point, I’m not really trusting anyone in Detroit to produce much for standard leagues.
Zion Williamson capped off a dominating night with a disrespectful 360 jam in the closing seconds of a 128-117 win over the Suns – and I’m all for it! I was this close [holds thumb and index finger a centimeter apart] from streaming Larry Nance Jr., who posted 17-9-5-4-1 off the bench. Damn! Trey Murphy III had another off night, and Jose Alvarado another banger, with 20 bench points (6-10 FG, 3-5 3pt, 5-7 FT) with 3 steals and 2 assists.
Chris Paul scored a season-high 24 points in his 2nd game back, hitting 6-of-9 from deep and adding boards and 7 assists.
Toronto was given a Tour De Franz on their Orlando vacation, as Wagner the sizzlin’ sophomore scored a season high 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting, with 5 boards and 2 each of dimes-steals-threes. His brother from the same mother [timeout: somehow, I’m just now realizing these two are brothers] Mo Wagner again started over, and got mo run than Mo Bamba. While Wagner had mo buckets (11 points, 4-11 FG, 1-4 FT), but Bambo mo crashed the glass, finishing with 13 boards. Wendell Carter Jr. will be back soon, and it’ll be mo confusing which Mo to go with. MO-ving on …
The Magic shot 60% as a team in the 113-109 win over on of the top defenses in the league. Pascal Siakam posted 36-9-7-1-1 (13-27 FG, 2-9 3pt, 8-9FT) on a usage rate of 38. Gary Trent Jr. scored 20 points in 35 minutes, and tallied a bunch of 2s elsewhere in the boxscore. Trent Jr. had multiple threes and steals in 5 of his last 6 games. Not sure he gets to Top 50 value like he did last year, but with the Raptors finally all healthy, his 6th man role will solidify and should improve his current 110 ranking in per game value.
Buddy Hield, professional bucket getter, scored a season high 28 points (12-19 FG, 4-10 3pt) to go with 4 boards, three assists and a steal and block. Hield is kinda boring yet very productive for fantasy owners, currently ranked 66th in per game value, and 39th in total value thanks to his squeaky clean attendance record so far this season. That’s the sort of stuff to expect from Bennedict Mathurin (18-8-1-1-0; 8-15 FG, 2-7 3pt) as he matures and picks up some more counting stats.
Kristaps Porzingas and Kyle Kuzma led the Wizards with 29-9-2-0-2 and 27-7-7, respectively. Jordan Goodwin had a game for himself off the bench, with 19 points (6-10 FG, 3-5 3pt, 4-4 FT), 4 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Goodwin is putting up quality numbers in just 20 minutes this season. He’s 77th in per 36 fantasy value with something around 12-7-5-2-1 in that category.
The Nets topped the Hawks 120-116 in normal fashion, with a big games from their Big 2 – Kevin Durant with 34-4-4-1-2; Kyrie Irving with 33-11-3 with 5 threes – complementary performances around. Ben Simmons posted a Dray-ish line of 6-6-7-4-0. T.J. Warren scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting with 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. …. “What’s that? Ohh. We’re getting word that Yuta Watanabe will rejoin the Nets Saturday night! Yuta Wanabet if he’ll be in my lineup?”
Maybe Bogdan Bogdanovic can give Trae Young some shooting lessons? Bogs hit 7-of-9 from behind the arch on his way to 31 bench points. Young has hit 7 threes … in his last 6 games. Oof. He was 2-7 from deep in this one. But he also scored 33 points, dished 11 dimes and had 3 steals … but also 8 turnovers … does Trea “But Also” Young work as a nickname?
Julius Randle’s hot streak continued, posted 33-7-2-1-1 with 4 threes in a 121-102 blowout over the HORNETS [someone may of may not have submitted a post last Saturday calling them the Bobcats – my son’s team name – providing Son a fit of laughter and a trip down memory lane. You’re Welcome!]. Mitchell Robinson had 6 points, 13 boards, a steal and three blocks and is once again the alpha of the Knicks center rotation. In fact, Robinson had provided Top 30 value the last two weeks, averaging nearly 2 blocks and 11+ boards while shooting 70% from the field.
Scary Terry Rozier shot 10-of-19 from the field, 3-of-7 from deep, with a 24-6-4 stat line and continues to trend in the right direction.
Domantas Sabonis (sounds like a dinosaur) posted a juicy 18-18-6-3-2 stat line as the Kings downed the Cavs 106-95. Kevin Huerter nabbed 3 steals, too, to go with 19-5-2 and 3-of-7 from deep. Rookie Keegan Murray got hot from deep, hitting 6-of-8 threes. Davion Mitchell posted 8-4-6 as he started for a resting De’Aaron Fox, who’s been playing through a foot injury the last month, it was revealed – probably from chasing too many hens in the henhouse [booo, trrble dad joke] – which is definitely a red flag to keep an eye on.
Cedi Osman teased again that he could be fantasy relevant, scoring 17 with 4 boards, 3 steals, an assist and block. But, his game-to-game value is just too Cedi to trust [better]. Caris LeVert made a cameo as the fantasy player formerly known as Caris LeVert!, posting 22-6-6 in a spot start for resting Donovan Mitchell.
Kyle Anderson made a buck-twenty in dimes, posting a 15-7-12-2-1 as Minnesota silenced the Jazz 118-108. D’Angelo Russell went bananas in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his 30 points (12-16 FG, 4-6 3pt, but zero free throws?) and has certainly found more of a rhythm with KAT sidelined. Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 13 boards while facing his ex – but, no blocks.
Mike Conley returned from a 9-game absence, scoring 17 points with 6 assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
Finally, we end with the stat of the night: the hilariously horrible terrible no good free throw shooting by the Mavs, missing 14 of 24 from the charity stripe, allowing the Bucks to sneak in a 106-105 win on a Brook Lopez layup. Milwaukee is back to their normal rotation, and I guess Grayson Allen (12-5-5-2-0) is the 5th starter going forward. Sorry Jevon Carter, it was a good run!
