With the All-Star break just days away, it's officially nearing crunch time for fantasy basketball managers. While the NBA took it easy on Sunday (only two games) due to the Super Bowl, we were treated to nine games on Saturday night, which featured debuts for a number of players who were moved at the trade deadline.
Let's take a look at the top storylines from the weekend and assess the fantasy basketball implications:
Kings ruin debut of Luka-Kyrie show on Saturday with tough overtime win
Luka Doncic returned from a four-game absence with a right heel contusion and hit 11-of-20 shots for 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two three-pointers in 41 minutes in Saturday's overtime loss to the Kings. Kyrie Irving hit 11-of-21 shots and four three-pointers for 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block as we finally got to witness the dynamic duo playing together for the Mavs.
Josh Green started and added 23 points, five rebounds and five triples on 8-of-12 shooting and Christian Wood had 15 points, three rebounds and a block in just 18 minutes off the bench. I'm not sure why the Mavs aren't running Wood more minutes, but they need to going forward.
Tim Hardaway Jr. left the game with right hamstring tightness and is questionable Monday, allowing Reggie Bullock to get 40 minutes off the bench to finish with eight points and two three-pointers on 2-of-7 shooting. Hardaway's absence would mean more minutes for Green and Bullock
With the All-Star break just days away, it's officially nearing crunch time for fantasy basketball managers. While the NBA took it easy on Sunday (only two games) due to the Super Bowl, we were treated to nine games on Saturday night, which featured debuts for a number of players who were moved at the trade deadline.
Let's take a look at the top storylines from the weekend and assess the fantasy basketball implications:
Kings ruin debut of Luka-Kyrie show on Saturday with tough overtime win
Luka Doncic returned from a four-game absence with a right heel contusion and hit 11-of-20 shots for 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two three-pointers in 41 minutes in Saturday's overtime loss to the Kings. Kyrie Irving hit 11-of-21 shots and four three-pointers for 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block as we finally got to witness the dynamic duo playing together for the Mavs.
Josh Green started and added 23 points, five rebounds and five triples on 8-of-12 shooting and Christian Wood had 15 points, three rebounds and a block in just 18 minutes off the bench. I'm not sure why the Mavs aren't running Wood more minutes, but they need to going forward.
Tim Hardaway Jr. left the game with right hamstring tightness and is questionable Monday, allowing Reggie Bullock to get 40 minutes off the bench to finish with eight points and two three-pointers on 2-of-7 shooting. Hardaway's absence would mean more minutes for Green and Bullock going forward.
While the Mavs didn't get the win, Doncic and Irving played very well together. The Mavericks' defense is terrible now so they're going to have to score a ton of points in order to win games. And their 128 points weren't enough on Saturday. Green should be rostered everywhere as long as he's starting for Dallas.
De'Aaron Fox had 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime alone to finish with 36 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals in 42 minutes in the tough win for the Kings. The recently-named All-Star replacement is third in the league in fourth-quarter scoring behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, and took over the game to help the Kings get their third win in four games as they sit in third place in the West -- just 6.5 games behind the first-place Nuggets.
Domantas Sabonis hit 10-of-12 shots for 22 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out in the overtime period and Terence Davis stepped up off the bench to hit 10-of-17 shots and two three-pointers for 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Kings. Davis is worth keeping an eye on in case Saturday wasn't a fluke and the minutes continue to climb.
Zion Williamson not returning anytime soon
Zion Williamson (hamstring) aggravated his injury recently and will miss additional weeks after the All-Star break. This is terrible news for Zion and the Pelicans and it's starting to look like another lost season for the big man. Zion has played in just 29 games thus far and he'll probably be lucky to hit 41 games, or half the season, this year. Larry Nance, Trey Murphy and Naji Marshall will all get additional minutes as long as Zion's out.
Khem Birch (knee) sidelined through All-Star break
Khem Birch was traded to the Spurs at the deadline and while he wasn't expected to offer much fantasy value, his pre-existing knee injury is going to cause him to miss time going forward. His absence should mean that new starting center Zach Collins gets all the minutes he can handle going forward. Collins went off for 29 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out of Friday's game but came back to earth on Saturday with nine points, five rebounds, a steal, a block and a three-pointer in 23 minutes on Saturday against the Hawks. Isaiah Roby and Gorgui Dieng are going to get some big-man minutes for the Spurs, but Collins is the guy you want to have on your roster going forward.
Malaki Branham hit just 4-of-15 shots on Saturday for 10 points, six rebounds and two three-pointers and is also worth grabbing in all formats. Had he hit some more shots his fantasy line would have looked much better. Jeremy Sochan is back from his back injury and had 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists, a steal, a block and two three-pointers on Saturday and is also worth rostering everywhere now that he's healthy again.
Sochan and Keldon Johnson (ankle) are both listed as probable for Monday against the Cavaliers. Tre Jones has already been ruled out for Monday due to his foot injury, giving Branham and possibly Devonte' Graham a boost.
LeBron James has missed two straight, D'Angelo Russell makes Lakers debut
LeBron James (ankle) is questionable for Monday's game after missing the last two with his ankle injury. We haven't seen him since he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record but it sounds like there's a chance he'll be out there Monday. Anthony Davis (foot) is probable, as usual. Dennis Schroder has led the Lakers in scoring in the last two games (25 & 26 points), Davis had 16 rebounds in each of them and Schroder also had 12 dimes on Thursday against the Bucks.
D'Angelo Russell made his latest Lakers' debut on Saturday and had 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and a three-pointer in 35 minutes and a start in his return to the Lakers. Schroder and Russell started in the backcourt together in that one and it will be interesting to see if that continues once LeBron is ready to return. Either way, Schroder is a risky add with Russell around, but he looked good on Saturday.
OG Anunoby has still not been cleared for contact and remains out indefinitely
Anunoby (wrist) still doesn't have a timetable to return from his injury for the Raptors. Precious Achiuwa and newly acquired big man Jakob Poeltl are going to fill in for him and Poeltl's arrival is going to hurt Achiuwa's fantasy value. Poeltl and Achiuwa both started on Sunday against the Pistons and Achiuwa had 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Poeltl had six points, five rebounds, two steals and three blocks in the one-point win. Fred VanVleet led the way with 35 points, eight assists and six three-pointers, Pascal Siakam had 28 points and Scottie Barnes scored 20 in the win.
Big man Jalen Duren suffered a right ankle injury on Sunday and lasted just 21 minutes while trying to play through the injury. He'll be questionable for Wednesday's game against the Celtics and James Wiseman will see a boost if Durent can't go. The Pistons have already said that they plan to start Wiseman so he's worth adding in most leagues. Once Duren is healthy things are going to be crowded up front for the Pistons with Isaiah Stewart, Duren and Wiseman all fighting for minutes and shots. All three are worth holding until we see how things shake out in Detroit.
Gary Trent Jr. missed Sunday's game with a left calf strain and he'll probably be questionable for Tuesday against the Magic. No one really gains value in his absence other than VanVleet, who is already rostered everywhere.
Point guard Reggie Jackson plans to sign with the Nuggets
Reggie Jackson will be bought out by the Hornets and plans to sign with the Nuggets once the paperwork is complete. Bones Hyland is with the Clippers now and Jackson will be worth a look for streaming and in DFS on nights when Jamal Murray is resting or injured. Murray has missed four straight games with inflammation in his right knee and is listed as questionable for Monday's game. Bruce Brown has been starting for him and had 14 points and five assists on Saturday, but Jackson will likely be starting when Murray is out once he's finally settled in Denver.
Nikola Jokic had 30 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists on Saturday and has triple-doubled in five of his last six games. Aaron Gordon missed Saturday with a rib injury and is questionable tonight against the Heat. Vlatko Cancar started in his place on Saturday and had 12 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes. He's not worth using in most formats and will disappear once Gordon is back.
New-look Nets rotation is going to be messy
The Nets started Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie in Saturday's loss to the Sixers. Sadly, Cam Thomas came off the bench and played just 18 minutes, but I'm not ready to write him off just yet. He still had 14 points despite the short run.
Bridges led the way with 23 points and a full stat line and Joe Harris scored 18, but Finney-Smith, Claxton and Dinwiddie were all in single digits in the scoring column. Royce O'Neale, Harris, Ben Simmons and Thomas all got minutes off the pine and it's going to be a rough ride to have to rely on most of these guys on a nightly basis.
Simmons is particularly worrisome, as he failed to score with just three rebounds, three assists and a block in 18 minutes. If you feel like you will sleep better by cutting him, feel free to do so. Thomas is also a drop candidate but I'd like to see what happens this week before making any big moves with Nets players. We'll get another look at them tonight against the Knicks and Seth Curry (adductor) has already been ruled out. When he comes back it's going to be even more crowded on the wing in Brooklyn.
Josh Hart scores 11 in debut for Knicks
Josh Hart scored 11 points with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two three-pointers in 25 minutes in his Knicks debut on Saturday. Hart came off the bench in that one and it will be interesting to see if Quentin Grimes, who had one point on 0-of-3 shooting in 22 minutes, can hold him off.
Jalen Brunson went bonkers with 38 points, five assists, a steal and two three-pointers in what was probably a message to the folks who decided that he's not worthy of playing in the All-Star Game this season. Julius Randle scored 31 and RJ Barrett had 20 in the win over the Jazz, while Lauri Markkanen bounced back with 29 points for Utah.
Cavaliers winning streak at six games and counting
The Cavaliers got their sixth straight win on Saturday, taking out the Bulls 97-89. Donovan Mitchell had 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, a steal, two blocks and three three-pointers after scoring 30 against the Pelicans on Friday and he's rolling again. Jarrett Allen stayed hot with 23 points, 10 rebounds and a block on 10-of-13 shooting and Darius Garland had 19 points and seven dimes in the win.
They'll look to make it seven straight wins on Monday against the Spurs, who have somehow lost 12 straight games. In case you're wondering, the Spurs' last win came back on Jan. 17 against the Nets. They will have a shot at winning at Charlotte on Wednesday, but it won't be easy on the road.
Talen Horton-Tucker drops 23 points on Saturday
Jazz wingman Talen Horton-Tucker came off the bench to hit 8-of-12 shots for a season-high 23 points, seven assists, a steal, a block and a three-pointer in 27 minutes of Saturday's loss to the Knicks. THT is going to see a boost with Mike Conley now in Minnesota and he's had at least six assists in his three games since the trade. THT is worth a roll of the dice if you need a wing but the Jazz only have two games this week.
All-Star break creates limited schedule for the next two weeks
The All-Star Game takes place this Sunday meaning we'll see a limited NBA schedule for the next two weeks. The Pistons, Grizzlies, Kings and Raptors all have just one game this week, while the Bulls, and Wizards play three times. Every other team only has two games this week.
Every team plays at least twice next week, while the Cavaliers, Nuggets, Thunder, Kings and Raptors all play three times. Be sure to keep the schedule in mind when you're setting rosters and picking up players over the next two weeks.
Kyle Lowry out indefinitely for Heat
Kyle Lowry (knee) is out through the All-Star break and Gabe Vincent (ankle) is probable Monday due to right ankle soreness. Vincent had 20 points and four three-pointers with two assists and a steal in Saturday's win over the Magic and is worth picking up given Lowry's issues.
Monday's injury Report
Check out RotoWire's NBA Injury Report page for up-to-the-minute news on every player for every game.
