I feel like Scottie Pippen under the shadow of Michael Jordan’s greatness. I feel like John Stockton, always having to sacrifice for Karl Malone to finish the play and get the glory. I mean seriously… having the NBA Wednesday recap after Luka Doncic’s historic Tuesday night feels like ordering a bacon cheeseburger and getting lettuce on a piece of bread.
In what was surely the regular season game of the year, Luka’s Mavs came from nine points down with 27 seconds to go, then ultimately won in overtime by the score of 126-121. If that insane comeback wasn’t enough in itself, Doncic proceeded to pop off for 60 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists – the single greatest triple-double in the history of the game. How do I follow this act? It’s like trying to follow Sebastian Maniscalco after he just killed a comedy set.
But hey, hey… we had some magic of our own on Wednesday night. The Nuggets and Kings had their fans sweating in Sacramento – a real barnburner. Were my Nets able to secure their tenth win in a row? And how about a tight, explosive battle between the young Pelicans and Timberwolves? I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve got a lot for you to see. Let’s jump right in.
The “King” made a “Joke” about the Court Jester
Wooooooo, they were sweatin’ in Sacramento last night! Mike Brown’s Kings have been one of the NBA’s pleasant surprises thus far this season, and that positivity continued last night with a narrow 127-126 victory over the conference-rival Denver Nuggets. I don’t know how he does it, but all this guy does is win, right? Brown’s 365-231 career coaching record is shockingly good when you weigh that against the many criticisms he’s faced over the years.
In our fantasy realm, well, I mentioned Stockton and Malone earlier right? The league’s current version might be De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, who are running the most seamless pick-and-roll in the game right now.
Against the Nuggets’ inconsistent D, floor general Fox went for 31 points and 13 assists, while Sabonis racked up 31 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. These performances are certainly not flukes and us pros saw this coming well before the season. The Kings had a high level of predictability in their stat distribution, thus Fox is one of my most-drafted players this season. Expect more of the same throughout the year, as the Fox-Sabonis pick-and-roll serves as the heartbeat of Brown’s productive offense. Wednesday’s surprise was sharpshooter Malik Monk, who scorched the Nuggets for 33 points in 30 minutes of action.
On the other side? Same old story. It was a ho-hum 40 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Nikola Jokic. Tough loss during another standard day at the office.
10 in a row – why not? I don’t think we’ll lose another game all year
My Brooklyn Nets continued their dominance of the Eastern Conference last night, winning their 10th in a row in a tough battle with the Atlanta Hawks (sans Trae Young). A word about saying “we” and “us” in sports journalism – if you’re going to show your cards the way I do, you also have to criticize your team when they suck. I RIPPED the Nets for their embarrassing playoff performance against the Celtics last year. But now? I gotta ride the high of a 10-game winning streak and being the talk of the league.
Stat wise, it was similar to Sacramento’s situation last night: The Usual Suspects. Kevin Durant (26 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists) and Kyrie Irving (28, eight and five) led the way for the Nets, with Nic Claxton (17 and 10) supplying yet another double-double. Claxton is currently leading the NBA in field goal percentage by a wide margin, and he’s exactly the receiver KD and Kyrie need as they play the dual quarterback role for this club.
On the other side for Atlanta – I’ve told you about Onyeka Okongwu before. Whenever this kid gets increased playing time, he delivers in a major way. Last night it was 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in 36 minutes of high-energy action. Per minute, and relative to initial investment, I think Okongwu is one of the best fantasy centers in the game right now.
Where there’s a Williamson, there’s a way
Zion Williamson had his way with the Minnesota Timberwolves last night – I’m not gonna lie, it got ugly out there. The bouncy young forward stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 43 points, five assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block. He was more aggressive as a pure scorer than usual, likely due to the absences of Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones and a handful of others.
That Rudy Gobert trade was supposed to shore up Minnesota’s defense, but I didn’t see any of that yesterday, as the Pelicans’ entire offense got to their preferred spots on the floor whenever they wanted to. Minnesota’s offense was good enough – Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Gobert, D’Angelo Russell, Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell were all in double figures – but I don’t think that was the intended purpose of the massive trade that totally depleted the Wolves’ future assets. Looking forward into the future, I think this move was a bust.
Three for the price of one – Wednesday’s pleasant surprises
Alec Burks, Pistons: The crafty veteran came out of nowhere Wednesday night to destroy the Magic to the tune of 32 points off the bench. Young guard Killian Hayes got ejected relatively early, so Burks made sure to capitalize upon his increased opportunity. He could do more of the same in future games, but I doubt the Pistons are looking to be so competitive. This is a tank team at the bottom of the conference.
Rui Hachimura, Wizards: 30 points for Rui?? Like Burks, this totally came out of nowhere. Rui can absolutely be a double-double machine, but he tends to be on the low end of that (12 and 10, 13 and 11 etc) – yet against the experienced Suns he dropped 30 off the bench by carving his way into the paint and taking advantage of increased minutes from Phoenix’s “others” (Devin Booker, Cam Johnson, Cam Payne and Landry Shamet all out).
Donte DiVincenzo, Warriors: I liked this roster fit from the beginning. DiVincenzo has always thrived in the open court, the main issue has simply been keeping him on the court. Wednesday night he looked sharp, putting together 19 points, four rebounds and a couple steals in a 112-107 over the tumbling Utah Jazz.
I think we followed Luka Doncic just fine! I’ll see ya right back here next week.
John Frascella is a published sports author who has been covering the NBA for 19 years. Follow him on Twitter @LegendSports7 for all things fantasy basketball, football and baseball.
