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Three games, three more double-digit victories on Tuesday evening, and two of them being blowouts means fewer fantasy gems all in all. There was no shortage of stats, however, but spoiler, Stephen Curry and Dejounte Murray stole most of them.
Warriors 117, Nets 99
This game was close at the half and then Stephen Curry and the Warriors blew it open in the third quarter, winning that period by a 35-18 count, and held the fort down late to get their 12th win in 14 games. Golden State has thrived in third quarters, and over their last seven games have a plus-89 in those 84 minutes, with the plus-17 tonight perfectly illustrating that. Chef Curry was up to his old tricks yet again, torching the Nets for 37 points (12-of-19 FGs, 4-of-4 FTs), seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block, nine 3-pointers and two turnovers in just 29 minutes. He was in a bit of foul trouble but you couldn’t tell, and who knows what would’ve happened if the game was close and he played minutes in the 30s (although it’s Curry’s fault the game wasn’t close). He hit nine triples on Tuesday and has hit at least that many in a game 37 times now, and for some context, no one in the history of the game has reached double digit occurrences of such a feat. There’s just no one like him. Andrew Wiggins continued his nice play as of late with 19 points but didn’t give his fantasy managers much else, and 13 of these points were scored in the last six minutes of the second quarter, including a three to beat the halftime buzzer. He’s not quite top-100 yet and it’s because he’s not blocking shots anymore, but he could start to soon. Draymond Green was fine with an 11/6/8 line on 5-of-6 shooting with a steal and three turnovers, while Jordan Poole went 6-of-13 shooting (but somehow 0-of-7 from downtown) to give him his ninth straight game in double figures, also chipping in four boards, four assists, a block and five turnovers in 28 minutes. There’s not much to see on the Dubs’ bench, but rookie Jonathan Kuminga (seven points, six boards, one block in 19 minutes) has an insane motor and was everywhere, but he likely won’t be a fantasy option for any part of this season.
Kevin Durant was finally inefficient, going just 6-of-19 for a 19/5/3 line with two 3-pointers, no defensive stats and two turnovers in 32 minutes, but he’s been historically efficient this season. In fact, it was his worst shooting performance of the season by far, as his season-low before this was a 12-of-27 (44.4%) performance against the Pistons on November 5. James Harden was subpar for his standards with a 24/4/4 line (6-of-13 FGs, 10-of-11 FTs) with no defensive stats and five turnovers, but Brooklyn’s two studs should both get a pass given the lopsided outcome. Bruce Brown wasn’t bad with an efficient 14 points, five boards, three assists, three steals, one trey and no turnovers in 27 minutes, and he’s only on the verge of top-150 conversation because of the steals. Patty Mills got the start for Joe Harris (ankle sprain, will miss a “few games”), but was underwhelming with just eight points, four assists, one steal and two 3-pointers in 32 minutes, but he’s worth deploying at least for as long as Harris is out as there’s no way he’s worse than this. LaMarcus Aldridge didn’t even enter the game until the third quarter, likely due to the Warriors always going small, and had just two points in nine minutes. DeAndre’ Bembry was quietly solid in 31 reserve minutes with a 9/5/1/2/1 line but is a more important player in real life than in fantasy hoops, so it’s fine to disregard him.
Jazz 120, 76ers 85
The last couple days have been chock-full of blowouts, with this demolition being the biggest one over that span. Donovan Mitchell didn’t need to do much and had a 13/3/3/1/1 line in just 22 minutes, and while this broke a streak of eight straight games of at least 20 points for Spida, there’s nothing to worry about here. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way with 27 points (9-of-12 FGs), six boards, two assists, five treys and one turnover in 27 minutes, but his game isn’t overly fantasy friendly since all he does is score. Rudy Gobert did his thing with 15 points, 17 boards and four swats, Mike Conley had a 13/2/7 line with a pair of threes and Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points (8-of-20 shooting) off the bench with seven boards and a dime. This Utah team is much better than their 9-5 record suggests.
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The 76ers were a mess and shot 36.7% from the field as a team, including 20.7% from three, and they’re really missing Joel Embiid (protocols) right about now. Shake Milton led Philly in scoring with 18 points to go with three boards and four assists, with Tyrese Maxey not far behind with 16 points, four boards, two dimes and two triples, but neither guard tallied any defensive stats. Tobias Harris was quiet especially for his standards with a 12/4/5 line with a triple and two swats, Andre Drummond played just 12 minutes for six points and six boards with a steal and a block and Furkan Korkmaz has been residing in Struggle City with another miserable 2-of-12 performance for six points and five boards. One of the only impressive Sixers in this one was Isaiah Joe, who returned from a six-game absence (protocols) and tallied eight points, eight boards, two assists and one 3-pointer in 24 minutes. He entered the game and nearly immediately drained a trey and hit a transition layup and looked pretty good, but you needn’t do anything more than keep an eye on him at the moment.
Clippers 106, Spurs 92
The Clippers lost to Chicago on Sunday but have otherwise been red hot, winning eight of their last nine with Paul George being the force behind it all. PG-13 scored a November-high 34 points (10-of-24 FGs, 12-of-13 FTs) with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, two triples and six turnovers in 34 minutes, and he’s a top-5 fantasy guy and has been basically the whole season. Reggie Jackson posted a 21/6/4 line with a pair of blocks, but he had to chuck up 17 three-pointers to get there, sinking five of those and just eight of his 22 shots overall, so it wasn’t all good for R-Jax. Eric Bledsoe had 11 points, six boards and three steals (four turnovers, however) and is back in standard league territory as he’s getting it going again, Ivica Zubac hauled in a game-high 13 boards in 31 minutes and Nicolas Batum played just 14 minutes with just a board and two assists. Batum is fine and Ty Lue said after the game that they were managing his sore Achilles, which makes sense given his age. This and Terance Mann’s (ankle) absence on Tuesday led to more minutes for Amir Coffey (5/2/2 with a block in 25 minutes) and Brandon Boston Jr., who played very well in his 20 minutes with 13 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and two triples. He’s so talented and it’s a shame he may not carve out a key rotation role when Batum and Mann are fully healthy, but at least he came through with the quotes of the night. After the game, Boston Jr. said “I don’t know what I’m gonna do, so the defense doesn’t either”, and said he treats the basketball with respect like a girlfriend, claiming “Happy wife, happy life.” He needs to play more not just because he’s good at the game, but also so that we can get some more postgame gold. Please, coach Lue?
The Spurs put up a nice fight and they likely can’t say enough good things about Dejounte Murray, who was just an assist shy of his second straight triple-double with his stat line coming out to 26 points (12-of-21 FGs), 12 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, one 3-pointer and four turnovers in 39 minutes. He came in just shy of top-15 value and may be there after this one, and his ADP looks like a joke at this point. Derrick White was hot early and finished with a 19/3/3 line with a steal and a trey and Keldon Johnson took just nine shots but posted a decent 10/5/3/1/1 line. Drew Eubanks (eight points, 10 boards) and Thaddeus Young (10/4/5 with two steals) may have seen the end of their fun with Jakob Poeltl potentially playing in Thursday’s matchup with the Timberwolves. Devin Vassell is coming off of a 19-point performance against the Lakers on Sunday but was nearly invisible on Tuesday with two points in 19 minutes, but he’s still a hold and has plenty of rest-of-season upside.