Sunday’s NBA schedule consisted of six games, one of which being the Lakers’ trip to San Antonio to take on the Spurs. One of the questions asked before the season began was how much time would Anthony Davis, who has never been a fan of playing the position, be forced to spend at center? Obviously there are a number of factors that go into answering that question, including the health of Kyle Kuzma and the productivity of starting center JaVale McGee and backup Dwight Howard. And thanks in large part to the play of Howard, Davis spent just under six minutes on the court during Sunday’s 103-96 win over San Antonio as the Lakers’ “acting” center.
Howard played 21 minutes, ten more than McGee, and he accounted for 14 points (7-of-7 FGs), 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. The 6-foot-10 center now has two double-doubles on the season, and he’s averaging 6.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 0.8 steals in just over 21 minutes per game. And when Howard shares the floor with Davis, the latter boasts a net rating of plus-43.6. Davis’ net rating when playing next to McGee, who hasn’t been as productive as Howard when comparing the two centers’ averages, in the Lakers’ first six games? Minus-3.3.
Davis finished Sunday’s win with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, one three-pointer and six turnovers, and LeBron James posted a line of 21 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals and one blocked shot with five turnovers. But the story here is Howard, the impact of his play on Davis and how it affects his fantasy value moving forward.
His play against the Spurs meant fewer minutes for Kuzma, who was on a limit of 22 minutes but only played 16, which in turn meant more minutes for Davis at the four. A top-60 player in nine-category leagues and a top-80 player in eight-cat per Basketball Monster, there should be no hesitation in picking up Howard if he’s still available.
The only negative to come from this game for the Lakers was the leg injury suffered by Avery Bradley, who was kicked in the knee area according to coach Frank Vogel. While on most nights Bradley’s value as a defender outweighs what he brings to the table with regards to fantasy stats, he shot 7-of-9 from the field and scored 16 points with three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one three-pointer in 27 minutes against the Spurs. Bradley, who’s considered to be day-to-day, has scored in double figures in each of the Lakers’ last three games.
San Antonio went with the starting lineup that it has now used in five of its six games thus far, with Trey Lyles starting alongside LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray and Bryn Forbes. Aldridge struggled, shooting 2-of-8 from the field and scoring eight points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Aldridge has shot 35% or worse from the field in three of his last four games. Obviously he isn’t a player that you drop onto the waiver wire given his importance to the Spurs offense, but hopefully he’ll be able to get back on track in short order.
Another player who had a tough night for San Antonio was Forbes, who shot 1-of-8 from three and finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in 27 minutes. When he’s on Forbes is capable of providing spacing that’s required in an offense headlined by two players (Aldridge and DeRozan) who do the majority of their work from 18 feet and in. San Antonio’s rotation didn’t change from Friday’s win over Golden State, with the only difference being DeMarre Carroll playing five minutes Sunday night.
Below is a look at what else happened in the NBA on Sunday, beginning with TJ Leaf’s double-double in the Pacers’ home win over Chicago.
Pacers 108, Bulls 95
Indiana was shorthanded in the post on Sunday, as Myles Turner sidelined by a right ankle sprain and Domantas Sabonis by a left calf contusion. As a result JaKarr Sampson and Goga Bitadze started in the front court for the Pacers, and the injuries also freed up additional minutes for TJ Leaf. Leaf and Bitadze both had solid nights in Sunday’s 13-point win over the Bulls, with Leaf accounting for 13 points (6-of-13 FGs), 15 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot, one three-pointer and two turnovers in 22 minutes off the bench.
Bitadze, who was making his first career start, scored nine points (4-of-7 FGs) with four rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists, one three-pointer and one turnover in just 19 minutes. His minutes were impacted by foul trouble, and he would ultimately foul out. As for Sampson, he played 19 minutes and finished with four points, four rebounds, one blocked shot and two turnovers. Of the three Bitadze, who had already locked up a spot in the rotation as the backup center, has the most staying power (long-term) from a fantasy standpoint.
With Leaf, consistency is the key even though more minutes have become available due to injuries. In his four prior appearances this season, the 6-foot-10 forward accounted for totals of 11 points, ten rebounds, two assists and one steal. While it would certainly be understandable to take the “wait and see” approach with Leaf given that lack of production, Indiana may have found something with him playing center in a smaller lineup (necessitated by Bitadze’s foul trouble). Sampson may be able to stay in the starting lineup for the time being, but he isn’t going to have much of an impact fantasy-wise.
Jeremy Lamb shot 9-of-9 from the foul line, which helped make up for a 1-of-6 night from the field. Lamb, who was sidelined by a hip injury earlier this season, filled the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, three blocks, one steal and one turnover. Lamb’s shooting 51.2% from the field on the season, and the fact that he’s producing in non-scoring categories makes the three-point percentage (28.6%) a bit more palatable at this point in the season. T.J. Warren and Malcolm Brogdon scored 26 and 22 points apiece to lead the way, with Brogdon also dishing out a team-high seven assists.
As for Chicago, Wendell Carter Jr. was the only starting front court player to have a good day at the office. In 28 minutes the second-year center tallied 20 points (9-of-10 FGs, 2-of-6 FTs), ten rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. Obviously the free throw percentage wasn’t great, but he’s shooting 73.1% from the charity stripe on the season so Sunday’s effort hasn’t been the norm for Carter.
As for Otto Porter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen (11 points, six rebounds, one three-pointer and two turnovers) it was a day to forget, with the former shooting 1-of-10 from the field and spraining his left ankle during the first half. Porter would play 27 minutes, posting a stat line of four points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal, one blocked shot, one three-pointer and two turnovers. While he did play through the ankle injury, Chicago has a back-to-back coming up on the schedule with the Lakers (Tuesday at home) and Hawks (Wednesday on the road) being the opposition. It would not be a surprise if Porter were sidelined for one of those games.
Chicago’s perimeter rotation remained largely unchanged, with starters Zach LaVine (21 points, six rebounds, two assists, four 3-pointers and three turnovers) and Tomas Satoransky (nine points, nine assists, four rebounds, two steals, one three-pointer and four turnovers) leading the way with 32 and 27 minutes, respectively. Next in line was Coby White, who played 24 minutes, followed by Kris Dunn (19) and Ryan Arcidiacono (17). Among the reserves none played particularly well, with White going 0-of-6 from the field, Arcidiacono fouling out and Dunn shooting 1-of-4 from the field. Dunn did have six assists, however.
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Heat 129, Rockets 100
Justise Winslow missed his second straight game for the Heat due to a back injury, which meant another start for Duncan Robinson. And the sharpshooting wing made the most of his opportunity, shooting 7-of-11 from three and finishing with 23 points, six rebounds, one assist, two blocked shots and one turnover in a team-high 36 minutes. On the season Robinson boasts shooting splits of 51.5/43.5/100.0, while making an average of 2.0 three-pointers per game. His fantasy value will hinge on what he can bring to the table beyond the three-pointers, and on Sunday Robinson was productive on the boards and (surprisingly) as a shot blocker.
With Winslow considered to be day-to-day and Derrick Jones Jr. sidelined by a groin injury, Robinson could have some current value due to his perimeter shooting ability. But that will likely change once those two are healthy enough to play. Another performance that merits mentioning was that of James Johnson, who played 22 minutes in his season debut and tallied 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, two 3-pointers and one turnover. Johnson had been sidelined due to his failure to pass the Heat’s preseason fitness test, but he hit the ground running Sunday night. Another Heat player who was in the proverbial dog house, Dion Waiters, was available but he did not play despite this game being a blowout from the first quarter on.
Due to the nature of the game only two Miami players, Robinson and rookie guard Tyler Herro, played more than 30 minutes. Herro played 35, scoring 12 points (3-of-10 FGs, 4-of-4 FTs) to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal, two 3-pointers and one turnover. Kendrick Nunn, who went off in Thursday’s win over the Hawks in Atlanta, played just 19 minutes as he shot 2-of-10 from the field and finished with five points, five assists, one rebound, one steal, one three-pointer and two turnovers.
On the Rockets side of things Mike D’Antoni changed his starting lineup, inserting Eric Gordon in place of Danuel House Jr. If there was any hope that this move would snap Gordon out of his early-season shooting slump after he went 0-of-7 from the field in a loss to the Nets on Friday, it didn’t work. He shot 2-of-10 from the field, finishing with four points, one rebound, one steal, one blocked shot and two turnovers in 23 minutes. As for House he was better, scoring ten points in 19 minutes to go along with one rebound and one blocked shot.
And there could be another spot in the starting lineup to fill for Monday’s game in Memphis, as D’Antoni said after the game that Russell Westbrook would likely get the night off as it’s the second game of a back-to-back. Westbrook struggled in Miami, finishing with ten points, six assists, four rebounds, one steal, one blocked shot and seven turnovers in 26 minutes. His likely absence means even more time at the point for James Harden (29 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, three 3-pointers and six turnovers), with players such as House, Chris Clemons (16 points, three rebounds, one assist, one block and four 3-pointers) and Austin Rivers being DFS options worth considering. And Ben McLemore made the most of his 21 minutes, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting with three 3-pointers and an assist.
Kings 113, Knicks 92
After his team failed to show much fight in a 21-point loss to Sacramento, Knicks head coach David Fizdale was none too thrilled with a question regarding the minutes being played by RJ Barrett. The rookie guard played 41 minutes Sunday, scoring 22 points with five rebounds, three assists, one block, one three-pointer and two turnovers. Barrett’s averaging just over 37 minutes per game on the season, and with his recent struggles shooting the ball some have wondered if he’s playing too much. That didn’t sit well with Fizdale, who said that “we got to get off this load management crap” before citing Barrett’s age (19) and the fact that Latrell Sprewell played an average of 42 minutes per game (Sprewell averaged 43.1 per during the 1993-94 season). It goes without saying that so long as he’s healthy, the rookie out of Duke will play all the minutes that he can handle at this point.
Fizdale made a change to the starting lineup, replacing Mitchell Robinson with Bobby Portis. The hope was that by starting a more offensively inclined player at the center position, that would open things up for Julius Randle. The move didn’t work. Portis played 20 minutes and accounted for two points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal on 1-of-6 shooting, and Randle wasn’t much better as he finished with eight points (4-of-13 FGs), seven rebounds and two assists. Robinson on the other hand played 25 minutes, accounting for ten points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 25 minutes. The second-year center’s ring finger on his left hand appeared to be bothering him for much of his time on the court, but Robinson was still on the court late in the fourth quarter despite the Kings leading by a comfortable margin. [[ad:athena]]
Lastly Frank Ntilikina started but played just 15 minutes due to early foul trouble, and this combined with the Knicks’ lack of depth at the point opened up minutes of Allonzo Trier. The second-year guard played 24 minutes, scoring 11 points with four rebounds, four assists, one blocked shot and three turnovers. With Dennis Smith Jr. and Elfrid Payton still sidelined due to a death in the family and a hamstring injury, respectively, there should be minutes available to Trier especially given the lack of offensive production from Ntilikina. But you just never know when it comes to Fizdale’s rotations.
For Sacramento all five scorers finished in double figures, with Harrison Barnes (19 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and three 3-pointers) and Richaun Holmes (14/10/3 with one block) seeing increases in minutes after playing 31 and 20 minutes respectively in Friday’s one-point home win over the Jazz. Barnes played 40 minutes while Holmes 30, taking away some minutes from reserves Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon. Ariza (32 minutes vs. Utah) and Dedmon (27 minutes) played 25 and 15 minutes each on Sunday, due to a combination of both the matchups and the fact that Barnes and Holmes were both playing well. Barnes is a must-own at this point, especially with Marvin Bagley III out with a thumb injury, while a good case can be made for Holmes as well.
As for the other members of the usual rotation not much changed, as the Knicks put up a modest fight that resulted in the Kings starters seeing a few more minutes than expected in the fourth quarter. De’Aaron Fox played 35, finishing with 24 points, six assists, two rebounds, one steal, one block and one three-pointer, while Buddy Hield posted a 22/4/1/1/1 line with five 3-pointers in 30 minutes. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cory Joseph completed the rotation, with the quartet of Wenyen Gabriel, Caleb Swanigan, Yogi Ferrell and Justin James getting a few minutes once the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Mavericks 131, Cavaliers 111
Luka Doncic did something that no NBA player has done since the great Oscar Robertson back in 1965, post a stat line of at least 25 points, 15 assists and ten rebounds in back-to-back games. Two days after his outstanding performance in an overtime loss to the Lakers, Doncic accounted for 29 points, 14 rebounds, 15 assists, five 3-pointers and five turnovers in 34 minutes Sunday night in Cleveland. While he looked to be a bit banged up after taking a shot to the head late in regulation on Friday, the second-year guard looked fine throughout his 34 minutes on the floor Sunday night.
He was one of seven double-digit scorers for Dallas, as the only rotation players to not score at least ten points were Dwight Powell (nine points, four rebounds and one steal) and Delon Wright (eight points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and one three-pointer). Rick Carlisle did make a change to his starting lineup for this one, replacing Dorian Finney-Smith with Jalen Brunson to better match up with Cleveland’s young backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Brunson played 30 minutes tallying 14 points, six assists, two rebounds and two 3-pointers, while Finney-Smith played 23 minutes and accounted for ten points, five rebounds and one three-pointer.
Among the other noteworthy performances for the Mavericks were Kristaps Porzingis going for 18 points and nine rebounds with six blocks, and Seth Curry shooting 3-of-5 from deep after making just one of his four attempts from distance Friday night. Also of note for Dallas was the absence of Maxi Kleber, who was out with a sore right knee. While the original thought was that his minutes would be split up amongst the healthy big men, that wasn’t exactly the case. Brunson’s 30 minutes were double what he played Friday, while Powell and Boban Marjanovic (ten points, eight rebounds in 15 minutes) only saw slight increases in their playing time. Kleber was benched for precautionary reasons, so there’s no need to panic when it comes to his availability moving forward.
After hanging tough for three quarters Cleveland limped across the finish line, as its struggles to defend the high pick-and-roll proved to be too much to overcome. Despite starting, the tandem of Garland and Sexton only played 26 and 25 minutes respectively, with Brandon Knight being the beneficiary. After playing just six minutes on Friday, Knight was on the court for 20 minutes Sunday, finishing with ten points, six assists, one rebound, one steal and three 3-pointers. What also boosted Knight’s playing time was the absence of Matthew Dellavedova, who was away from the team for personal reasons. This isn’t the time to rush out and pick up Knight however, as he hasn’t been a consistently productive player (as either a scorer or passer) in Cleveland’s first five games.
Kevin Love played 35 minutes, scoring 29 points with eight rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block and five 3-pointers to lead the Cavaliers in both points and made three-pointers (tied with Jordan Clarkson, who was 5-of-10 and finished with 17 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in 22 minutes). Tristan Thompson filled the stat sheet with 11 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot, but the free throw numbers (3-of-9 vs. Dallas) remain a concern. While he should be owned in most leagues, it would be wise to have a player on the roster who can help cover for Thompson’s poor free throw shooting (44.4% for the season).
Clippers 105, Jazz 94
Kawhi Leonard didn’t have his best night shooting the basketball, as he was just 9-of-26 from the field, but after scoring just five points in the first half he racked up 25 in the second. On the night Leonard finished with 30 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals, one blocked shot and two 3-pointers in 34 minutes. Only four Clippers players played at least 30 minutes, with Patrick Beverley (33), Lou Williams (32) and Montrezl Harrell (30) being the others. Williams (five rebounds and three assists) and Harrell (eight rebounds, two assists and one block) scored 17 and 19 points, respectively, and Beverley filled the stat sheet with four points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
And after nine players reached double figures in minutes in Thursday’s win over San Antonio, ten did Sunday night as Rodney McGruder played 12 minutes. But the four extra minutes didn’t make much of a difference with regards to his production as he accounted for four rebounds and a blocked shot while failing to score. Moe Harkless lost a couple minutes in this development, as he played 18 minutes and finished with two points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal after playing 20 vs. San Antonio.
One Clipper who made the most of his limited minutes was center Ivica Zubac. Doc Rivers’ desire to have Harrell on the court can cap Zubac’s fantasy value, but he can still be worth checking out in deeper league. Against the Jazz he accounted for 11 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and one steal, and for the year he’s averaging 9.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Those aren’t bad numbers for a player who’s averaging 16.6 minutes per game.
Sunday’s game in Los Angeles was Utah’s first full game without Ed Davis, who suffered a fractured fibula during Friday’s loss to the Kings. The good news is that surgery won’t be required. The bad news is that the veteran’s absence leaves Utah down a player capable of helping defensively and on the boards. Tony Bradley has moved into the backup center role, and in 14 minutes he accounted for eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Not a bad effort for Bradley, but he isn’t on the fantasy radar and speaking in non-fantasy terms the Jazz will need other to step forward in the rebounding department. That didn’t happen Sunday, as after Rudy Gobert (12 points, 14 rebounds) no other player grabbed more than five rebounds (Bradley and Joe Ingles).
Donovan Mitchell was outstanding offensively, as he scored 36 points to go along with six assists, four rebounds, two steals and four 3-pointers in 34 minutes, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points, four assists, three rebounds, one steal, one blocked shot and three 3-pointers in 35 minutes. But at what point should there be concern regarding the play of Mike Conley? The offseason acquisition has struggled with his new team, and on Sunday he scored just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting while also tallying just one assist. Fantasy owners shouldn’t panic hastily release or trade Conley, but for teams that have depth it may not be a bad idea to put him on the bench for a bit until he snaps out of this current slump.
Monday’s Schedule (all times Eastern)
Detroit at Washington, 7 PM
New Orleans at Brooklyn, 7:30 PM
Houston at Memphis, 8 PM
Milwaukee at Minnesota, 8 PM
Philadelphia at Phoenix, 9 PM
Portland at Golden State, 10:30 PM
