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After a busy Monday that had basically everything you could want from an eight-game slate, we got a bit of a “break” on Tuesday with just three games, which I’ll take a look at below.
Bucks 118, 76ers 109
Grayson Allen continued to prove his haters wrong with another fantastic outing consisting of 25 points, two boards, three assists and five triples in 33 minutes, and he was top-50 coming into Tuesday but is somehow rostered in just 53% of Yahoo! leagues. I’m sure there’s someone on your bench worse than Allen if he’s available in your league, so go get him now. Giannis Antetokounmpo is struggling from the line again and hit just 7-of-13 freebies in this one after a poor 5-of-12 mark from there this past Sunday, and what once was a vast improvement has about reached normalcy as his season mark currently sits at 68.6% (68.5% last season). However, that’s all he did wrong, as he went off for 31 points (12-of-26 FG), 16 boards, four assists and two blocks in 36 minutes, including going for 19 and 10 in the second half to help defeat a decimated Sixers team. Bobby Portis is loving life without Brook Lopez (back) and went off for a full 19/10/3/1/2 line with four 3-pointers, and Jrue Holiday made just four of his 14 shots but posted an 8/7/6/2/2 line, which will do, and he’ll be much more efficient than this most nights. Semi Ojeleye posted 11 points on 137.5 eFG% to go with eight boards and three triples, but he had nine points total on the season before this, so ignore him.
Philly has now lost twice in as many nights, but they’ve played two great Eastern Conference teams (lost to the Knicks on Monday) and are incredibly shorthanded with Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Matisse Thybulle all still in protocols and quarantining for now. It’s been Furkan Korkmaz who’s had the hot hand with some extra run, but he was about as bad as he could be on Tuesday with five points on 2-of-18 from the floor and 1-of-12 from range, five boards, five assists and no defensive stats or turnovers in a whopping 45 minutes. His assist-to-turnover ratio was pristine, but I’m just trying to find some good from this, and that’s where it ends. This performance brought his November field goal percentage from 54.2% to 42.4%, but he can’t be worse than this next time out and should be rostered while the protocol guys are out. In much better news, Tyrese Maxey has been ballin’ on his way to top-60 value in this past week, and came through for a team and season-high 31 points (12-of-24 FG), five boards, four assists, one steal, one block, four 3-pointers and no turnovers in 39 minutes, and I think he’s just going to get better, so I wouldn’t even sell-high. Andre Drummond went berserk again with a 17/20/3/1/2 line and should be rostered in more than 83% of leagues as the backup to one of the most injury-prone guys in the league. Shake Milton had a 20/4/6 line in a start with Danny Green (three triples, that’s it) coming off the bench for whatever reason and Paul Reed started again and was quiet on offense but brought the defense with three steals, two blocks, and some nice D on Giannis throughout the evening. Georges Niang stole Korkmaz’s hot hand and went for 21 points and five treys off the bench, and has quietly scored in double figures in six straight, but that’s more or less all he does.
Jazz 110, Hawks 98
As we all suspected, Donovan Mitchell has it going again and led Utah with 27 points (11-of-20 FG), three boards, five assists, three steals, five treys and one turnover in 32 minutes, and his 47-of-102 mark (46.1%) in four November games is a lovely sight to see for his fantasy managers. He’s a top-30 guy right now and could get better. Rudy Gobert had nine points, 14 boards, two steals and two blocks in just 24 minutes, and his backup Hassan Whiteside, who has top-125 value in 16 minutes per game, almost double-doubled with 10 points, nine boards and a block in 23 minutes. I have nothing against rostering Whiteside but his 23 minutes on Tuesday were a season high and he’s backing up one of the most durable and elite centers in the game, so keep that in mind. Royce O’Neale posted an 11/5/4 line with a triple in 33 minutes, and despite no steals tonight, his 1.8 per game alone are keeping him inside the top-100. Jordan Clarkson hit at least 50% of his shots for just the third time this season but had 16 points with four triples and not much else, and Mike Conley was so-so with 12 points, six dimes and two steals in 29 minutes, and he’ll be slightly better than this most nights.
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This was the Hawks’ second half of a back-to-back set and it absolutely showed for some of their guys. With the exception of Cam Reddish (16 points, three boards, one steal, four triples in 30 minutes), the remainder of the Hawks’ bench stuggled on their way to seven total points in a combined 44 minutes, but part of this had to do with Kevin Huerter starting this one and going off. Red Velvet was unconscious and went for a season-high 28 points (11-of-18 shooting, almost hit his career high of 29), three boards, three assists, two blocks, six 3-pointers and two turnovers in 39 minutes. Huerter’s success was pretty directly correlated with Bogdan Bogdanovic (ankle) and De’Andre Hunter (wrist) getting the night off, so just something to keep in mind if he starts again this season. Trae Young was close behind with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting, adding six assists, one steal, five triples and six turnovers in 35 minutes, and it’s nice to finally see his shot start to fall after a sluggish start. Clint Capela is coming off of two fairly quiet games but came through for his managers with a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double with two assists, two steals and two blocks, and keep his matchups in mind when thinking of utilizing him in DFS since he plays much better against true centers. John Collins fought through foul trouble but still played 35 minutes, but did almost nothing with them. He’s playing through a bum foot, but should be fine.
Clippers 117, Trail Blazers 109
Paul George received MVP chants near the end of Tuesday night’s victory over Portland, leading his team to five straight wins and coming through for a team-high 24 points (10-of-24 FG), nine rebounds, seven assists, one steal, three triples and three turnovers in 33 minutes. He was the No. 3 guy in standard leagues before this one and his top-5 finish looks nearly inevitable if he can keep this up. Reggie Jackson is heating up a little again and was close behind PG-13 with 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting with two rebounds, six dimes, one steal, three 3-pointers and two turnovers in 35 minutes, but he’s still shooting just 39.0% on the year which keeps him well outside of top-100 status. Even Eric Bledsoe had a little fun with an 11/5/6 line with two threes and two steals, but I’m still not buying it, while Serge Ibaka’s fun ended at three rebounds in six minutes, and I’m sure not buying that. But out of everyone mentioned, the most surprising by far is veteran Nicolas Batum, who was mega-efficient with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds, one assist, one steal, six 3-pointers and no turnovers in 29 minutes. He’s top-60 per game on the season and is somehow the No. 15 guy in the last week (excluding Tuesday), so I’m not sure how he’s rostered in just 55% of leagues. Keep riding the Batum wave while you can, but he could return to this planet at some point, just not yet.
Similar to Trae, Damian Lillard is another guy who’s starting to get it going from the field a bit, going 11-of-23 on Tuesday night to the tune of a team-high 27 points, five boards, six assists, four treys and two turnovers in 39 minutes. However, it was reported that Dame has had an abdominal injury since the Olympics, and it showed a few times, the latest occurrence being after a fourth-quarter layup after which he grimaced. However, he’s a warrior and he’ll play through it, but there’s no question that it’s probably the biggest variable affecting his slow start. Norman Powell had 23 points on 8-of-13 from the floor with three boards, three assists, one steal and five 3-pointers, and while his main upside is in the scoring department, he doesn’t hurt you anywhere and is one of the more efficient wings in the game, good for top-50 value. Jusuf Nurkic had a 15/13/6 line with a steal, and he’s been playing pretty well but needs to get his blocks up in order to join Norm Powell in the top-50 conversation, and CJ McCollum had his second quiet game in a row with a 13/3/3/1/1 line and his sell-high window is starting to close quite quickly. Robert Covington had a 6/5/6/1/1 line with one three and is still nearly a top-100 guy even after scoring in double figures just twice in 11 games.
Up Next
Wednesday evening will be jam-packed with 13 games, with only the Clippers, Hawks, Jazz and 76ers getting the night off, so make sure your lineups are set for what should be a fun one.
