Another Saturday, another mid-sized slate of games in the NBA. As has been the case a shocking amount of times in recent memory, there were a number of career-best performances around the Association. Jaylen Brown propelled the Celtics to a win over the Knicks, Domantas Sabonis powered the Pacers past the Jazz, and Giannis Antetokounmpo did MVP things again. Oh, and how could we forget about the incomparable Lance Stephenson? Let’s get into Saturday’s action!
Grizzlies 123, Clippers 108
Even with Ja Morant sidelined, Memphis earned its eighth straight victory to match a team record. Jaren Jackson picked up the scoring load in this one and went 26/8/3 with three steals, five swats and two triples. The stocks were a season-high, the points were one off his season-high, and this was one of the best all-around games of his career thanks to a massive two-way effort.
Brooks returned to the Grizzlies’ lineup Thursday with a full line but left after seven minutes with an ankle injury in this one. Ziaire Williams is worth an add in the short-term while De’Anthony Melton should be on your radar if he’s available on your waiver wire. Steven Adams was out tonight due to protocols, but Brandon Clarke stepped up in a big way with an 18/15 double-double that included three dimes and three swats. He’s been playing well recently, and tonight’s performance makes him a clear pickup for managers in need of big-man stats.
Desmond Bane was out with quad injury Thursday - his first miss of the season - but he returned with a full 23/7/4/2/1 line. Melton managed 4/8/6/1/2 across 21 minutes Thursday after missing his last six due to protocols and went 8/11/6/2 Saturday.
There’s not much in the way of fantasy value for the Clippers right now. The lone bright spot for this team recently has been Marcus Morris, who’s scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games. He went for a season-high 29 points to go with eight boards Saturday. If he’s somehow available, he’s an immediate add. Nicolas Batum started and went 9/2/2/1/1 with two triples, and Reggie Jackson scored 18 with a rebound and a steal. Ivica Zubac’s (eight points, seven rebounds and a block over 19 minutes) return to the starting five pushed Serge Ibaka back to the bench, but he shouldn’t have been on your roster in the first place.
Hornets 114, Bucks 106
Charlotte took down the reigning champs with a strong team effort in this one. After going for 32 points and nine triples Wednesday, Kelly Oubre cooled off with 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting and 2-of-11 from three. Miles Bridges went 21/8/3/1 in another solid effort. His 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 dimes, 1.9 triples and 1.2 steals this season are all career-highs, and he’s one of the favorites to win Most Improved Player.
LaMelo Ball went 19/9/8/1 with two triples, though it took him 19 shots to get there. This game was more akin to his early-season stats. In nine games prior to this one, he averaged 17.4 points, 6.4 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 triples and 1.2 steals after returning from protocols. This is a noticeable decline from the 19.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 2.9 triples he averaged prior to landing in protocols.
Terry Rozier went for 28/4/4/2 with six triples, and he’s now hit 36 triples over his last eight games. Mason Plumlee didn’t do much in this one, and if you need to drop him, he’s not a must-roster player in 12-team leagues at this point.
Khris Middleton teased a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine dimes to go with four triples and six turnovers. The rebounds and assists are both season-highs, and this was his first double-double of the season. After averaging 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists over his last two games, this was an even better showing.
With most of Milwaukee’s backcourt in the health and safety protocols, Wesley Matthews has started each of the Bucks’ last three games. He went 9/1/1 with two triples and two steals Saturday and averaged 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 stocks and 2.5 triples in his two prior starts. He’s not on the radar in 12-team leagues.
Despite the loss, Giannis Antetokounmpo went off for 43/12/3 with a steal, two blocks and three triples. This was his fifth 40-point game of the season (tied for most in the NBA with Stephen Curry) and fourth game with at least 40/12. Bobby Portis finished with 19/13, an assist and two steals for his second straight double-double and third in his last four games. He now has 14 double-doubles, which ties his career-best mark set in 2018-19. There’s still more than half the season left for him to blow through that personal best.
Pistons 97, Magic 92
In a battle of the NBA’s two worst records, at least one team had to get a win, and that was Detroit. The Pistons lost both games of their back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday by at least 30 but bounced back here for a much-needed victory. The Magic shot just 33.7% from the floor as a team which surely contributed to the narrow loss.
Isaiah Stewart returned from protocols Thursday with minimal impact and had another bland effort Saturday with 6/8/1 and two blocks over 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Trey Lyles finished with 16/13/2 with a steal and two blocks over 28 minutes. Fantasy managers should take notice of Lyles and make a speculative add, especially if they’re already rostering Beef Stew.
Saddiq Bey posted back-to-back stinkers, including three points Thursday, but bounced back for 16/6/3 Saturday. Cade Cunningham shot poorly again, going for 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting and 0-of-5 from three. Cory Joseph returned o go 8/5/5 in 24 minutes, but he’s not on the fantasy radar in standard leagues right now.
For the Magic, Mo Bamba finished with five points, seven boards, two assists and four blocks. He went 19/8 with two blocks and two triples in his last game after two straight stinkers, so fantasy managers have got to be breathing a sigh of relief. Cole Anthony appeared in just his third game in Orlando’s last 11, and he went 19/8/6 with three triples and two steals for another solid effort.
Orlando missed Wendell Carter Jr., who had double-doubled in five straight, but he was sidelined due to a sore hamstring. Freddie Gillespie started in his place, but he’s not worth an add, especially after going 2/2/2 with a block over 14 minutes.
Franz Wagner‘s streak of double-digit scoring efforts came to an end at 21 after he went for just nine points. It was a down night, but Wagner leads all rookies in scoring and is one of only two rookies (Cade Cunningham) averaging at least 1.1 steals and 1.3 triples. Gary Harris led the Magic in scoring with 28 points and six triples. Harris has averaged 17.8 points, 2.5 triples and 1.4 steals on 47/40/85 shooting splits over his last 10. He’s been a top-90 player over the last 30 days and is just 36% rostered on Yahoo. That level of production might not be sustainable for the rest of the season, but he could realistically finish inside the top-120, making him a useful guy to roster in 12-team leagues.
Pacers 125, Jazz 113
Even with Malcolm Brogdon (Achilles) and Caris LeVert (protocols) still sidelined, Indiana pulled off the upset Saturday with a convincing win over Utah powered by the dynamic duo of Domantas Sabonis and Lance Stephenson.
After Wednesday’s marvelous 30-point game and 20-point first quarter, Stephenson set a new career-high in assists with 14 to go with his 16 points and four swipes off the bench. His previous high of 13 assists came on Jan. 31, 2015, and he’s been a breath of fresh air for Indiana in his third stint.
Jeremy Lamb and Chris Duarte returned from protocols with solid bench efforts, but neither need to be rostered. Keifer Sykes and Duane Washington have seen increased run as of late. Sykes went 7/5/4/1, while Washington went 16/3/5/1. With Brogdon and LeVert on the verge of returning, the time to stream Sykes or Washington is drawing to a close.
The catalyst for Indiana was Sabonis, who finished with a career-high 42 Saturday to go with 6/3/1/1 and three triples. He’s established himself as a reliable offensive option, and all of his top-9 scoring games have come within the last calendar year. In six games prior to Saturday’s eruption, he averaged 22.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.0 triples and posted a triple-double.
After sitting nearly the entire roster Friday, Utah returned Mike Conley, who went 9/5/72 and Bojan Bogdanovic, who scored 21 to mark his fifth straight game scoring at least 20 points. Donovan Mitchell went 36/2/9/1 with six triples for his 11th 30-point game of the season. Hassan Whiteside, one of basketball’s most highly efficient per-minute players, has posted back-to-back lines of 8/8 in 25 minutes Saturday and 7/7 in 30 mins Friday. These are his two highest minute totals of the season and his two most inefficient outings - go figure.
Celtics 99, Knicks 75
After Thursday’s thrilling win that ended with an R.J. Barrett game-winner, Boston stomped New York for a massive victory. The Knicks’ 75 points tonight are tied with Dallas (Oct. 29 @ DEN) for the fewest in a game this season. New York is the only team to score 80 or fewer points in multiple games in 2021-22.
Julius Randle went 13/12/6 with a steal and six turnovers and shot 6-of-19 from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. RJ Barrett scored 19 on 7-of-21 and he’s now combined to score 32 points on 11-of-36 shooting over his last two games.
After scoring 19 on 6-of-20 shooting in his first game back from protocols, Tatum finished with an efficient 36 on 12-of-21 shooting to go with nine dimes and six boards Thursday. In the rematch with New York, he went 19/3/1/1 on 6-of-14 shooting in another ugly effort.
Tatum didn’t need to take over, as Jaylen Brown posted his first career triple-double with 22/11/11 and a steal. In 12 games prior to this one, he averaged 27.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 triples. He’s been a top-12 player over the last week and outplayed Tatum convincingly.
Fresh off a career-high seven blocks against New York in the first meeting, Robert Williams went 12/7/2/1 with four blocks. He’s provided fantasy managers with top-10 value over the last two weeks, and he’s finally stringing together multiple quality performances in a row.
Heat 123, Suns 100
The Suns became the first team to reach 30 wins Thursday, but they were knocked off by a Jimmy Butler-less Heat team behind the strong play of Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven and six players who scored in double figures.
Yurtseven went for seven points, 16 boards and eight dimes, shattering his previous career-best of four assists. In six prior starts, he averaged 12.8 points, 15.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals, and he extended his streak of games with double-digit rebounds to 11 with Saturday’s performance.
Over his last six games, Max Strus has been cookin’ with averages of 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.2 triples. He started Saturday and went for 14 points, four rebounds and four triples. He’s someone who can be added in 12-team leagues.
Tyler Herro led Miami with a season-best 33 points, the third-highest scoring game of his career. Duncan Robinson went off for 27 points and eight triples. He’s one of three players to hit eight triples in multiple games alongside Stephen Curry and Patty Mills. Kyle Lowry posted a 14-point, 13-assist double-double, his 12th of the season.
Deandre Ayton missed six straight but returned for a modest 12/8/1 line with a block in 32 minutes. As expected, his return to the starting five wiped out nearly all of Jalen Smith‘s fantasy value. Smith has been huge in Ayton’s absence, averaging 17.3 points, 9.5 boards and 1.0 blocks across 25.0 minutes in his last four starts. Saturday, he went for just two points and four boards over 13 minutes off the bench.
JaVale McGee missed the Suns’ last four but returned to play six minutes and grab one board. Bismack Biyombo was a DNP-CD. With Ayton back, none of the other Phoenix centers need to be rostered in fantasy leagues, though Smith remains a high-upside hold if you have the bench space.
Devin Booker was ice-cold Thursday and again Saturday as he went just 5-of-15 from the floor. He managed 26 points, thanks in large part to his perfect night at the charity stripe where he hit all 13 of his attempts. After a strong triple-double Thursday, Chris Paul fell back to earth and went 9/2/7/1 with four turnovers. Cameron Johnson extended his double-digit scoring streak to 19 games with his 15-point effort.
