Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets
Bulls Notes:
- Daniel Theis still got the start even with Nikola Vucevic back in the lineup. The former Celtic contributed across the board in his 26 minutes, with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting along with 7 rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks, and a three. Theis (46 percent owned in Yahoo!) has averaged 12.5 PPG over his past six, while also amassing some defensive stats and making close to one triple a game. He’s a great streaming option if he’s still out there in your league.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5-8 | 1-2 |
- Zach LaVine also made his return in this one (though perhaps too late for Chicago’s fading play-in chances) to shake up the guard rotation. Coby White got the start next to him and should obviously be owned, but both Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple are now waiver wire fodder (even despite a solid outing from Temple with 12 points and two dimes/treys/swipes apiece).
Hornets Notes:
- Malik Monk got back to looking like the player he was blossoming into before going down, as he got hot quickly off the bench to the tune of 20 points, seven assists, and six triples in 31 minutes. Pick him back up (13 percent owned in Yahoo!).
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 20 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 7-16 | 0-0 |
- As long as Jalen McDaniels continues to get 20-plus minutes he needs to be rostered (28 percent owned in Yahoo!) for his matchup-swinging upside. The youngster struggled shooting the ball last night (missing all three of his attempts from the stripe), but still managed to record a three, a steal, and two swats.
Brooklyn Nets vs. Dallas Mavericks
Nets Notes:
- Blake Griffin got a rare start for Brooklyn, scraping together a double-double (10 and 10) in 27 minutes. Griffin has been solid of late, ranking inside the top-120 over the past 14 days, but not so solid that I wouldn’t drop him (53 percent owned in Yahoo!) for a category of need or a lottery ticket. It’s winning season—time to go for broke.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4-10 | 0-0 |
Mavs Notes:
- One of those lottery tickets could be Dwight Powell, who has been killing it for Dallas lately. He was perfect from the field and the line on Thursday, scoring 12 points while also compiling 10 boards, five helpers, a steal, and a block. Over his last three games, Powell is averaging 10.7 PPG, shooting 91 (!!) percent from the field, 86 percent from the line (on almost five attempts per game), 9.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG, and 2.0 BPG. Dallas’ center corps has been maddeningly inconsistent all year (including Powell), so buyer beware—but if he continues this hot streak you may have him to thank for your fantasy title.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 12 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4-4 | 4-4 |
Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors
Wizards Notes:
- Raul Neto came up big for the Wizards, racking up a career-high 25 points on just 11 shots, canning five of his seven triple tries, and sinking all six of his freebies. Three assists and two steals completed his night. Though Neto has been starting lately, this was more points than he scored in his past three games combined, so it’s definitely an outlier. That said, Neto (eight percent rostered has been a top-75 player over the past two weeks and has some steaming value as someone who can chip in threes, assists, and steals.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 25 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7-11 | 6-6 |
- Robin Lopez was the alpha of Washington’s troika of centers last night, scoring 24 points while shooting 6-of-8 from the field and an impressive 12-of-14 from the charity stripe. He even threw in seven boards and three rejections. While this was a huge night for Lopez (three percent owned in Yahoo!), Daniel Gafford (30 percent owned in Yahoo!, No. 100 overall over the past 14 days) is still the Wizards center you should add first.
Raptors Notes:
- Khem Birch continues to roll as Toronto’s starting center. The Canadian national put up 17 and 9 on efficient 7-of-11 from the floor, blocking four shots for good measure. He’s still owned in less than half of Yahoo! leagues (48 percent) despite averaging 14.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.0 SPG, and 1.1 BPG on over 60 percent shooting.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 17 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7-11 | 2-2 |
- Gary Trent Jr. returned from injury to score 25 points and hit five treys in 36 minutes. He took full advantage of the absences in Toronto’s guard/wing rotation, so while he’s always an option for points and threes, there are better pickups than Trent (40 percent owned in Yahoo!) for all-around value.
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Detroit Pistons
Grizzlies Notes:
- Coming off two monster games, Desmond Bane got the start for the Grizz, but the rookie managed just two points on 1-for-5 shooting, misfiring on all four of his triple tries. Though with the insane schedule Memphis has played (this was somehow their eighth game in the past 12 days!) you can understand why Bane—and pretty much everyone else—had an off night. He’s still an option as a three-point specialist if that’s what you need (five percent owned in Yahoo!).
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-5 | 0-0 |
Pistons Notes:
- After scarcely playing for the majority of the season, Sekou Doumbouya is finally getting an opportunity in Detroit. The second-year pro made half of his 14 shots to score 14 points, while also grabbing six boards, and picking up a steal and block each. Over his last five contests, Doumbouya (five percent owned in Yahoo!) is averaging a healthy 12.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG. He’s got some volume upside given the minutes and shots he’s currently getting, and he’s got the skills to break into the 1/1/1 club the rest of the way.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 14 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7-14 | 0-0 |
Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers
Hawks Notes:
- Not much fantasy goodness to mine for the Hawks, as they have a steady rotation of contributors, all of whom are pretty universally rostered. I’ll just tip my cap to another great Bogdan Bogdanovic performance. The Serbian sniper has now hit 45 threes over his past 10 games (amazing for anyone not named Curry) and is averaging better than 21 PPG despite taking a grand total of five free-throws in that span.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 28 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 11-18 | 0-0 |
Pacers Notes:
- The Pacers have been playing at a breakneck pace lately. In their last seven games, at least one of the two teams has scored at least 130 points in six of them, so start everyone you can against them. For Indiana themselves, Oshae Brissett has cooled off since Domantas Sabonis’ return. He’s been serviceable still, but unimpressive, and can be dropped if you have other needs (51 percent owned in Yahoo!).
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3-7 | 4-4 |
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors
Thunder Notes:
- The Thunder are still a crapshoot for when it comes to anyone outside Darius Bazley. Ty Jerome may be a decent speculative pickup after scoring 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with three treys and three dimes. That’s the fourth time in his past six outings that Jerome (six percent owned in Yahoo!) has scored at least 15 and has a weekend back-to-back on the schedule.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 23 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8-14 | 4-4 |
Warriors Notes:
- Mychal Mulder has elbowed his way into the Warriors rotation over the past couple of weeks and has shot it really well from deep. He nailed seven of his 13 attempts from beyond the arc to score 25 points on Thursday. Mulder (one percent owned in Yahoo!) has scored in double figures in six of his past eight and is averaging a healthy 3.5 3PTM over that stretch. He’s a nice option as a pure three-point specialist and has another tasty matchup against OKC next on the docket.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 9-15 | 0-0 |
- Juan Toscano-Anderson has also been a fixture in the rotation of late. He’s played 25-plus minutes in nine of his last 10, including 32 minutes last night in which he nearly recorded a triple-double with seven points, nine boards, and eight dimes. He nearly produced a 5×5 a few days ago, so JTA (four percent owned in Yahoo!) is definitely one of those lottery ticket guys you can take a flier on to swing a playoff matchup. Did I mention the Dubs take on OKC again in two days??
LA Lakers vs. LA Clippers
Lakers Notes:
- If Anthony Davis misses any time (like the second half of the Lakers’ current back-to-back) it puts Markieff Morris in play as a streaming option. Morris (six percent owned in Yahoo!) has done a whole lot of nothing in the last three weeks—including last night when he tallied three points and three rebounds—but with an increase in minutes in the cards and practically nobody else to shoot the ball for the Lakers, Morris could be in line for a surprise performance this weekend.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1-5 | 0-2 |
Clippers Notes:
- Reggie Jackson has been a steady contributor at the point for the Clips lately. He’s cracked double digits in scoring in eight of his past 10 (and he had nine each of the two times he missed), including 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in last night’s rout of their crosstown rivals. Jackson (23 percent owned in Yahoo!) is averaging 14.5 PPG and 2.8 3PTM so he’s a viable option for points and treys, with some dimes upside as well.
| PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PTM | TOV | FG | FT |
| 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4-7 | 0-0 |
