I hit the fantasy news hard in the sections below, but I just wanted to take a quick moment here to give major props to Kobe Bryant for taking home the Oscar on Sunday for his animated short, Dear Basketball. This was an amazing accomplishment for Bryant, in a career that's been full of them, and it's a big thing for the NBA as a whole. As Bryant alluded to in his speech, there are those who want basketball players to just "shut up and dribble". However, NBA players like LeBron James, whom that comment was originally directed towards, Bryant and many others are showing the world that they are much more than just athletes.
Stephen Curry has been tireless in his philanthropic and charitable efforts of late. Jaylen Brown, the 21-year-old young star of the Boston Celtics, is an intellectual speaker who just gave an address at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Jalen Rose, Brown's namesake from the previous NBA generation, spoke at the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference about the charter school that he established in his hometown of Detroit.
These are just a few mentions from the waves of amazing things that NBA players are accomplishing off the court. Yes, in this space we're all about fantasy basketball and examining how best to make the numbers work for your virtual teams, but fantasy basketball is part and parcel of the NBA as a whole. And the very talent, intelligence and drive that make NBA players great are the same factors that allow them to find success in all parts of life. Bryant's Oscar epitomizes that greatness, and I give him a standing ovation.
Sunday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 35 points (14-23 FG, 6-10 FT), 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 3-pointer, 1 block, 4 TO
Elfrid Payton, Phoenix Suns: 11 points (5-13 FG, 1-1 FT), 14 assists, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 TO
Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans: 30 points (12-19 FG, 4-4 FT), 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 3-pointers, 1 TO
Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers: 33 points (11-20 FG, 9-10 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 3-pointers, 1 TO
Lowlights:
Thaddeus Young, Indiana Pacers: 0 points (0-5 FG), 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 TO
Emmanuel Mudiay, New York Knicks: 0 points (0-6 FG, 0-2 FT), 3 assists, 1 rebound
Marvin Williams, Charlotte Hornets: 2 points (1-6 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO
Sunday takeaways
The Nets had an odd night on Sunday, with the five starters combining for 45 points and the four contributors off the bench combining for 75 points. Caris LeVert led the way for the bench mob, scoring 27 points (11-19 FG) with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 3-pointers, 2 steals and 1 block in by far his best game since the days of January when he was proving himself capable of being an impact player. Joe Harris (19 points, 6-11 FG, 4-4 FT, 5 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 1 assist), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal) and Dante Cunningham (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 3-pointers, 1 steal, 1 assist) all played well off the bench as well. DeMarre Carroll (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 3-pointers, 1 assist, 1 steal) was the only starter to play well on a Nets squad that now runs about eight players deep and has potential impact fantasy contributors on any given night.
The LA Clippers seem to be settling into a bit of a scoring pecking order with this iteration of the team, post trade-deadline but with Danilo Gallinari injured. Tobias Harris (26 points, 11-19 FG, 2-2 FT, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 2 3-pointers), Lou Williams (21 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 3-pointer) and Austin Rivers (27 points, 10-15 FG, 3-4 FT, 5 rebounds, 4 3-pointers, 3 assists) are the primary scorers with DeAndre Jordan (17 points, 4-8 FG, 9-10 FT, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) dominating on the glass. By the way, read that again...Jordan went 9-for-10 from the line on Sunday!
T.J. Warren gave Payton a fight for player-of-the-night for the Suns on Sunday, scoring 35 points (16-26 FG, 2-2 FT) with 4 rebounds, 1 3-pointer and 1 TO, but Payton took it with a strong triple-double. Those two, along with Devin Booker (20 points, 3 3-pointers, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal) are the only consistent contributors on the Suns right now. Josh Jackson is good more days than not, though he only managed 10 points and four rebounds on Sunday. There was also a Marquese Chriss sighting, as he turned in 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 3-pointers, 1 steal and 1 assist in only 18 minutes off the bench.
The Toronto Raptors keep winning, and they keep doing so without any one or two stars standing out for them every game. On Sunday, it was Jonas Valanciunas who led the way with 18 points (8-15 FG), 13 rebounds, 2 3-pointers, 2 blocks and 1 steal. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had the next two best statistical games, but both were relatively down games for them. Serge Ibaka was also strong, scoring 17 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 FT) with 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 3-pointers and 1 steal on the night.
Holiday led the way for the Pelicans on Sunday, and Nikola Mirotic played well (see below). However, the matchup that caught my eye was Anthony Davis against Dirk Nowitzki. As far as I can tell, I'm one of the few analysts who sees young Nowitzki as perhaps the best player-comparison comp for Davis. Thus, it was nice to see them go head up and for Nowitzki to have enough juice to make it a good battle (both scored 23 points, though Davis had better peripheral numbers and his team got the win).
Injuries of note
Stephen Curry tweaked an ankle on Friday. He doesn't consider it serious, but it's worth paying attention to moving forward in case it slows him or forces him to miss any time in the short term.
Willie Cauley-Stein missed Sunday's game due to a back injury, and Zach Randolph sat due to a Coach's Decision. The Kings still beat the New York Knicks, though, with a balanced effort from their starting lineup. They started Kosta Koufos (12 points, 8 rebounds, 6-10 FG, 1 assist) and Skal Labissiere (14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 3-pointer) in their two big men slots and got solid production from each.
Tristan Thompson sprained his right ankle on Sunday in the first half of the game, then played through it in the second half. However, it has already been announced that he will sit out at least the next two games with the injury, presumably leading to a larger role for Larry Nance Jr.
Kelly Oubre sat out Sunday with a sore left foot and should be considered questionable moving forward.
Emeka Okafor sat out Sunday's game with a right ankle sprain. This put Nikola Mirotic back into the starting lineup, and he responded with 24 points, 6 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in 31 minutes of action.
Analytics advantage for Monday
The Los Angeles Lakers have scored more than 100 points in 17 straight games, a period during which they have averaged 114.4 points per game. Their offense is being pushed by their perimeter players in conjunction with Julius Randle. With Brandon Ingram questionable with a hip injury that kept him out on Saturday, the Lakers' now high-powered offense seems to center around Randle, Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Isaiah Thomas and Kyle Kuzma as they head into Monday's game against a Portland Trail Blazers squad that has scored 100 or more points in six straight games themselves (107.3 ppg during that stretch).
Top players to watch tonight
LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo are both in a similar situation, trying to put together monster games to carry teams that are in that scrum of eight teams within nine games of each other that separate the third seed from the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. James has to carry the more consistent load right now for his team to stay competitive, but the Bucks seem to be best when it's Antetokounmpo whp leads the squad from the front.
In the Analytics section, I mentioned that the Lakers have been scoring at will of late. However, they also are giving steady minutes to one of the worst defensive guards in the league in Isaiah Thomas. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard has scored between 35 and 50 points in five of his last nine games, and could be in for a monster performance on Monday.
