Monday was a full night of action, with a lot of great things going on, but the biggest potential story of the night is the injury of Blake Griffin. As detailed in the "Injuries of note" section below, Griffin had a teammate fall awkwardly against his extended left leg and injure his knee. Griffin's knee will be tested on Tuesday, so as of now, the severity is unknown. However, Griffin has missed major time in the past few seasons with various knee injuries, and the fact that the knee visibly buckled doesn't instill confidence.
The Clippers have flat out struggled without Chris Paul this season and were already on pace for one of the worst records in the league. If Griffin goes down for any extended period, the team instantly begins to resemble a potential lottery entrant.
It is unclear whether DeAndre Jordan can step forward and be the offensive focal point with both Paul and Griffin gone, but he did show signs of that ability last season. Lou Williams never met a shot that he didn't like, so in the event of an extended Griffin absence, Williams and Jordan would be the most likely to step forward with team-leading statistics.
This would also open space for Austin Rivers and Wesley Johnson to continue to produce at higher volumes.
Monday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons: 26 points (10-12 FG, 6-8 FT), 22 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 TO
Lou Williams, LA Clippers: 42 points (12-21 FG, 14-14 FT), 4 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 37 points (13-20 FG, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 8 3-pointers, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 TO
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: 30 points (11-24 FG, 8-9 FT), 11 rebounds, 1 TO
Lowlights:
Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers: 2 points (1-11 FG, 0-9 3FG), 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 TO
Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers: three points (1-7 FG, 1-6 3FG), 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 TO
Al Horford, Boston Celtics: 11 points (5-of-8 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 3-pointer, 1 TO
Monday takeaways
Drummond channeled his inner Wilt Chamberlain on Monday night, becoming the first player to register at least 25 points, 20 boards and 5 assists against the Boston Celtics in Boston since Wilt "The Stilt" in February of 1967. Teammate Tobias Harris helped him dominate the Celtics inside, contributing 31 points on 16 shots with eight boards himself. Not surprisingly, the Celtics struggled in the middle, as epitomized by Horford's pedestrian line.
Harden continues to show that he can not only co-exist with CP3 but can continue to thrive in his focal role. Paul is the member of the partnership who subsumes his numbers a bit (only four points last night), but he was still able to toss 14 assists with zero turnovers and add six rebounds in 31 minutes.
Williams is stepping into the scoring gap that the Clippers have on the perimeter and exploded for a 42-point effort on Monday. If Griffin has to miss extended time with his knee injury, Williams could be the primary scorer for the team on a night-in and night-out basis.
Ben Simmons and Covington make up one of the most promising young frontcourts in the NBA, but they aren't LeBron James just yet. James outproduced both 76ers combined on Monday night by a lot -- to the tune of 30 points (vs. 12 combined), 13 rebounds (vs. 12 combined) and 6 assists (vs. 6 combined). Instead, it was Embiid who produced the stat line that battled with King James.
Ball continues to struggle with his shot. This was a night when it was off, and it seemed to affect his whole game. His down effort did allow space for backcourt mates Jordan Clarkson (17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists in 26 minutes off the bench) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 3-pointers, 3 steals in a team-high 37 minutes) to shine.
Injuries of note
Players who went down last night, are uncertain or expected back tonight or just relevant injury info -- and players who may benefit from another's absence or recede with return of teammate.
Griffin's knee: Griffin and Ball were scrambling for a loose ball when Rivers fell on the side of Griffin's knee. Griffin's leg was extended, and visibly buckled inward. He tried to keep playing, couldn't move in subsequent plays, and eventually had to leave the game entirely. Doc Rivers acknowledged that the injury "didn't look good" but further tests won't be performed until Tuesday.
Simmons' ankle: Simmons returned to the court on Monday and played 31 minutes before coming down on a foot and twisting his ankle. He stayed in the game for a few plays before leaving for good. X-rays were negative.
Kevin Durant missed his third straight game and fourth of five with an ankle injury, and Stephen Curry missed his first with a hand injury. Both Warriors are considered day-to-day, and their absence opened things up for Patrick McCaw to up his game Monday.
Victor Oladipo returned Monday from a one-game absence due to knee soreness and proceeded to torch the Orlando Magic team that drafted him. Oladipo turned in 26 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 4 3-pointers, 4 blocks, 2 steals and 5 turnovers in 33 minutes. Teammate Lance Stephenson also had a huge game off the bench, scoring 18 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, a 3-pointer, a steal, a block and three turnovers in 24 minutes.
Kristaps Porzingis returned from a one-game absence due to lower-back tightness, and returned to pace with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 3-pointers and 2 combined steals/blocks. On a smaller note, there was also a Joakim Noah sighting, as he returned from a long absence with two points and a rebound in three minutes of action.
Tony Parker made his season debut after rupturing his quad in last season's playoffs, playing 14 minutes and turning in six points with four assists. While Parker got the attention, the Spurs' bigs dominated the game with LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol combining for 58 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 total steals/blocks.
Paul George was held out of Monday's practice with an illness, which could affect his ability to play in Tuesday's game. Check his availability closer to game time tonight.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
The four worst defensive teams in the NBA, according to team defensive rating, are playing on Tuesday. Four of the five games feature one of these defenses: Phoenix Suns (111.7 points allowed per 100 possessions) at Bulls, Sacramento Kings (110.7 points allowed) vs. Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers (110.5 points allowed) vs. Heat and the Timberwolves (110.5 points allowed) vs. Wizards. Thus, on a relatively sparse night in the NBA, some high scores could go up on the board.
Top players to watch tonight
With John Wall still out, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. will be relied upon to produce against a high-scoring/weak defensive Timberwolves squad. Tim Frazier could also be interesting as Wall's direct replacement. The Timberwolves could be without Jeff Teague again, who is day-to-day with a sore right Achilles tendon, and if he sits, it opens things up for Tyus Jones to get another start after his near triple-double in his last outing.
LeBron and Dwyane Wade host their former Miami Heat squad on Tuesday. While James is a nightly threat to explode, this is a game in which Wade could have dibs on the emotional aspect and potentially put up big numbers in his role leading the bench squad.
The Bucks now have three potentially dominant producers on any given night, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, but with strong support efforts that could turn into leading roles on any given night from Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton. They are exciting to watch, and interesting to watch from a fantasy perspective as they work out their new "normal."
