Thursday Night Recap – Quiet Night

Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Nets Notes:

• Folks are finally starting to catch on to Bruce Brown, whose roster share in Yahoo! leagues nearly doubled to 52 percent. He had a modest line in a blowout victory over Philly, with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, a couple of boards and a steal, but he’s been on a tear since entering the Nets’ starting lineup recently. In fact, over the past 30 days, Brown has actually been a borderline top-50 overall player, with averages of 13.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.6 BPG, and 1.0 3PTM on fantastic shooting while hardly ever turning it over. He’s still out there in nearly half of leagues so check your waivers.
• James Johnson was fantastic in 22 minutes off the bench, producing 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, three rebounds, three assists, three triples, and five swats. Johnson has always had a fantasy-friendly game, with huge stock upside combined with near trip-dub potential, but he’s got a small, inconsistent role on this Brooklyn squad. You never know how much he’ll play or what he’ll do, so as spectacular as he was last night, he can still be ignored (two percent rostered).

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Sixers Notes:

• Despite continuing to start, Matisse Thybulle‘s value has plummeted lately. Against the Nets, he made just one of his five field goal attempts for four points, with no assists, threes, or steals. Thybulle had back-to-back goose eggs in the last week, and has just one steal total over his past four games. It’s past time to cut bait (38 percent rostered).
• Georges Niang led the Philly bench with 11 points, adding a couple of treys, five boards, and a steal. Niang is an unconventional three-point specialist from a big position, but he can fire from beyond. He’s been on a nice roll of late, averaging 12.8 PPG and 3.0 3PTM over his last four outings. Deeper leagues can consider him a streamer for triples (nine percent rostered).

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets

Warriors Notes:

• Kevon Looney continues to hover on the edge of rosterability (is that a word?) with solid, albeit unspectacular play. The veteran center was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor on Thursday to finish with 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Over his past three games he’s averaged 10.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, a surprisingly robust 5.0 APG and 1.0 SPG while shooting 65 percent from the field. He’s a viable streamer for boards and FG%, with a tasty dash of assists (28 percent rostered).

• Jonathan Kuminga keeps impressing in whatever role the Warriors assign him. He came off the bench in this one to drop in 18 points on 7-0f-12 shooting, with a couple of treys and three boards. Kuminga has scored with aplomb over the past month on high efficiency, and has hit his fair share of bombs despite being a shaky outside shooter. Over his past 12 contests, Kuminga has averaged 14.8 PPG and 1.4 3PTM on a scorching 58.3 percent from the field. We’ll see if he’s affected at all by the imminent return of Draymond Green, but I’d keep rolling with Kuminga for now (38 percent rostered).

Nuggets Notes:

• Bones Hyland shook off a knee injury to score 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, with four boards, a couple of dimes, and a steal in 22 minutes off the bench, That’s the fifth time in his last six games he’s cracked double figures in scoring, with averages of 11.0 PPG, 3.5 APG, 2.0 3PTM, and 1.0 SPG. He’s hit-or-miss depending on if his inconsistent jumper is falling or not, but he’s provided enough value of late to be firmly in the streaming category in most leagues (four percent rostered).