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Oh, what a night. Late March back in ‘22.
The Association gifted us with a small, four-game slate, and the first two games ended in blowouts. Fortunately, the evening ended with a bang as the last two games were closely contested affairs with plenty of intriguing storylines. Let’s dive into them now!
Timberwolves 138, Bucks 119: Towns, Edwards lead Wolves to win over Bucks sans Giannis
The Bucks were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo, so the results of this one were hardly surprising. Minnesota owns the NBA’s best record since the All-Star break at a nifty 11-2. With this victory, the Wolves pull within half a game of the Nuggets for the 6th seed in the West and have a chance to avoid the dreaded play-in game.
Patrick Beverley came into this one averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 stocks and 2.5 triples across his last two games, so naturally he got tossed in the first quarter after just 10 minutes and a 3/1/1/1 line. Yuck. If you rolled him out in this one, my condolences.
D’Angelo Russell bounced back nicely from the six points, six assists and a rebound he provided in Wednesday’s win over the Lakers. He finished this one with 16/9/3 and four triples while shooting an efficient 6-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Karl-Anthony Towns kept his tremendous play going with 25/11/5/2. For those keeping score at home, that’s 115 points and 36 rebounds in three games this week. If you had him in your lineup, you’re likely a winner, but if you faced him… I offer my condolences once more. Anthony Edwards matched Towns with 25 points of his own and added five boards, five triples, four dimes and three swipes. He came into the game riding solid averages of 17.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.2 triples and 2.6 stocks across his last five appearances.
Naz Reid and Taurean Prince led the bench with 14 points apiece, though it was Prince who had the better fantasy line with four rebounds, two assists, three steals, two triples and a block. He’s averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 threes, 1.7 assists and 1.3 stocks over his last three and scored at least 13 in three straight. Make sure he’s not on your waiver wire, as he should continue to see plenty of run off the bench while Jaden McDaniels is out.
Bobby Portis finished with four points, 10 boards and a block while shooting just 2-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from downtown. He’s been pretty stinky over his last three with averages of just 7.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 stocks and 0.3 triples while shooting under 40%. Jrue Holiday (14/7/2/2), Khris Middleton (15/4/1/2) and Brook Lopez (15/4/1/2) picked up the slack for Giannis, while Jevon Carter and Pat Connaughton had solid showings off the bench. Connaughton nailed five triples and Carter (Let’s Go Mountaineers!) finished with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Hornets 128, Mavericks 109: Doncic’s 37 not enough for Hornets’ three-point barrage
Charlotte got some well-balanced scoring across the board, and the team went 20-of-42 from beyond the arc to topped Dallas and move above .500 with a fourth-straight victory.
Luka Doncic finished with 37/4/3 and eight triples, but another Herculean effort just wasn’t enough, and Doncic finished as a -30 in the box score. He posted 17/7/10 in Friday’s loss to Philly after scoring at least 20 in 14 prior outings and averaging 34.4 points per game in that span.
Luka didn’t get much help from his teammates. Dorian Finney-Smith finished with just 8/1/1/1 and put up his first defensive stat in three games. Jalen Brunson ended the night with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals after averaging 18.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 triples over his last three games.
Neither of Dwight Powell (two points, four rebounds, two assists) or Maxi Kleber (nine points, seven boards, block, steal) are rosterable in 12-team leagues. Marquess Chriss nearly double-doubled with 10/9/1 and two blocks, but he played just 17 minutes in a blowout. You don’t need to pick him up off the waiver wire.
While Dallas’ rotation is a blackhole of fantasy options outside of Luka, Charlotte continues to provide elite value from top to bottom. Terry Rozier finished with 18/6/6 and a block with four triples. Over his last 10 games, he’s averaged 24.8 points, 5.3 dimes, 4.6 boards, 2.3 steals and 4.1 triples with 51/47/91 shooting splits. That’s good for first-round value, ladies and gentlemen. Scary Terry has certainly been terrifying if you’ve faced him in any of your recent fantasy matchups.
Miles Bridges totaled 23/8/3/1/2 for yet another dominant performance. He’s averaging 20.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.9 stocks and 1.9 triples this season – all career highs for the fourth-year man. LaMelo Ball had a nice night as well, going 17/4/7/4/1 with five triples after averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 dimes, 6.5 boards, 3.0 triples and 1.8 stocks across his last six. Both Bridges and Ball have been top-40 plays over the last 30 days.
P.J. Washington erupted for 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc with three rebounds and no other stats. The points represent a season-best effort and just his second 20-point game of the season. He’s been a top-105 guy over the last month thanks in large part to defense and triples. Kelly Oubre took advantage of the Hornets’ comfortable margin of victory and went for 17/6/1 in 28 minutes. He’d averaged just 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 triples across 16.8 minutes in his last four games.
Cavaliers 113, Pistons 109: Cavs pull away late to overcome Grant’s 40-point night
As expected, this one was gritty and low-scoring. Unexpectedly, we saw another massive scoring effort from Detroit, but this time it wasn’t Saddiq Bey (who scored 51 on Thursday).
Jerami Grant went off for his first 30-point game since Nov. 28 and set a new career-high in made triples with seven. He finished with 40 points, falling just three shy of his career-best set in his first season with the Pistons.
Cade Cunningham returned after a two-game absence due to illness, and he finished with 15 points, 10 dimes, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Down seven with time expiring, Cunningham threw up a 37-footer that miraculously went in, and Detroit covered.
The Pistons are now 11-0-2 against the spread since the All-Star break which is just slightly better than Minnesota’s 11-2-0 mark in that span for best in the NBA. This young team is showing plenty of heart late in the season.
The aforementioned Bey finished with 20 points, while Isaiah Stewart pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go with eight points.
Evan Mobley had a productive showing with 12/11/6 and three stocks, and he continues to thrive with Jarrett Allen out of action. Lauri Markkanen has been a top-60 player over the last 30 days behind averages of 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 triples, 1.3 assists, 1.6 stocks and just 1.1 TOs in 11 games. He had a let-down showing in this one, however, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and two assists while shooting 3-of-8 from the field.
Darius Garland posted his seventh double-double in his last 10 games, going for 24 points, 12 assists and two steals. He averaged 26.3 points, 10.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 triples and 1.3 steals in his prior nine.
Lamar Stevens made his fourth consecutive start and finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Don’t get too excited, as he averaged just 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in three prior starts.
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Wizards 127, Lakers 119: LeBron passes Malone on the all-time scoring list, but Lakers blow fourth-quarter lead
This was a great game overall, but I’m not going to bury the lead by jumping off with fantasy stats and implications. History was made tonight folks, so let’s acknowledge LeBron James’ greatness. The King tied Karl Malone for second-most points all-time in the second quarter with a triple before cutting to the basket for an easy layup a few minutes later to surpass the Mail Man with his 36,929th and 36,930th career points.
Malone’s final season was LeBron’s rookie year, so how do the two stack up at the time each of them scored their 36,928th point?
LeBron:
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1,363 career games
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19th season
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Playing with the Lakers
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Age 37-79 days
Malone:
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1,476 career games
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19th season
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Playing with the Lakers
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Age 40-265 days
LeBron averages 27.1 points per game in his career, so it’s reasonable to expect him to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points all time at 38,387. Among active players, Carmelo Anthony is next at 28,205, but it’s unlikely he cracks 30,000. Kevin Durant is right behind him at 25,176 and averages the same as LeBron at 27.1 points per game which ranks third all time behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
Ok, now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way… on to the game!
The Lakers had a comfortable lead for much of the contest but folded in the fourth quarter as Washington outscored LA 34-20 to steal one in front of its home crowd. LeBron had 36/9/7 and two blocks in Friday’s win over the Raptors, and in four prior games on the second of a back-to-back set, he’d averaged 32.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.5 blocks and 4.8 triples. He didn’t disappoint fantasy managers against the Wizards, going for 38 points, 10 boards, six assists and four triples.
Russell Westbrook kept up his hot play with 22/10/8/1/1 after going for 22/10/10 in Friday’s OT win in which he hit the game-tying shot in regulation. Maybe fantasy managers will start getting some consistently good play out of him? It’s nice not having to conjure up the nickname “Westbrick.”
Kristaps Porzingis scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to guide Washington to victory. He’d averaged 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 triples in six prior games with the Wizards. Fantasy managers are getting elite production when Porzingis is on the court, but concerns about his health remain. With Kyle Kuzma out, Washington got plenty of help from its role players.
Corey Kispert scored 13 (at least 14 points and two triples in four of his last six games), Deni Avdija and Daniel Gafford each put up 17 and Tomas Satoransky put up 16 points, six dimes and two steals while hitting all six of his shot attempts. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went off against his former team with 18 points and 10 boards, matching a season-high in rebounds for his second double-double of the 21-22 campaign.