The game of the night on Monday featured the "not really that bad" Los Angeles Lakers against the "quietly better than you realize" Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers entered the game on a five-game winning streak, while the Trail Blazers had won six in a row. I talked a lot about this matchup yesterday, as both teams had been playing great offense and good overall basketball. It seemed very likely to be a good one -- and it was.
The Lakers were actually in control for most of the game, leading by seven points going into the fourth quarter, and by 11 points with 5:26 remaining in the game. That was when Damian Lillard took over, scoring 19 fourth quarter points to lead Portland all the way to a five-point win. In fantasy, Lillard is always the centerpiece of whatever the Trail Blazers want to do and Monday was no different as he produced 39 points (12-25 FG, 9-12 FT), 6 assists, 6 3-pointers, 5 rebounds and 4 TO.
It was the sixth time in his last 10 games that Lillard scored between 35 and 50 points. It's probably no coincidence that Portland won five of those six games. Lillard doesn't do it alone, though, and his main lieutenant is CJ McCollum. McCollum was the only other Trail Blazers player to score 20-plus points on Monday, notching 22 points (6-15 FG, 8-13 FT) with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 3-pointers and 1 steal on the night.
Outside of the backcourt, there is one other potential impact player on the squad. Jusuf Nurkic has superstar potential, but has had trouble maintaining game-to-game consistency over the season. He was traded to Portland late last season, and his high level of play and synergy with the backcourt led the Trail Blazers to a formidable finish -- before he got injured and the team tailed off.
Nurkic has had his ups and downs this season as well, but is trending upwards of late, including yesterday's 16 points (6-13 FG, 4-4 FT), 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 3 TO. He is now averaging a double-double in his last five games, which is a big reason that the Trail Blazers have moved up to the No. 3 slot in the Western Conference.
The other Trail Blazers are basically role players, both in real life and in fantasy. No one else on the team scored in double-figures on Monday, though Al-Farouq Aminu (83.5 percent availability) is the other Portland player worth considering as he has low double-double potential in any given game and has averaged 9.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 3-pointers and 1.0 steals in his last 23 games.
The talent is relatively concentrated in Portland, but there is enough of it there to make noise in both the regular NBA, as well as on the fantasy basketball front.
Monday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Larry Nance Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers: 22 points (9-15 FG, 4-5 FT), 15 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
Bojan Bogdanovic, Indiana Pacers: 29 points (9-13 FG, 6-8 FT), 5 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Lowlights:
LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs: 7 points (2-8 FG, 3-4 FT), 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 TO
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: 5 points (1-3 FG, 3-4 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 TO
Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks: 6 points (1-7 FG, 4-5 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Monday takeaways
Bobby Portis moved into the starting lineup for the Chicago Bulls on Monday, but it actually resulted in a down game for him. After scoring in double figures in 11 straight games, he managed only seven points (2-8 FG, 3-3 FT), 6 rebounds and 1 assist on Monday. While he will have to share the ball with more offensive-minded players instead of being the instant offense off the bench himself should he continue to start, Portis should have better games than this ahead.
Hassan Whiteside had been battling Bam Adebayo for late minutes recently, but Adebayo had a personal absence on Saturday and played only five minutes on Monday. That let Whiteside flex his muscles and he led the way for the Miami Heat on Monday with 24 points (10-13 FG, 4-5 FT), 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 TO.
Rudy Gobert was also dominant on Monday, turning in his third straight double-double with 21 points (9-10 FG, 3-6 FT), 17 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal and 2 TO against the Orlando Magic. "The Stifle Tower" is living up to his nickname of late, averaging 16.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.1 rebounds during his last 10 games.
Injuries of note
Kyrie Irving missed Monday's game with a sore left knee, and it has been reported that he could miss multiple games. At the very least, he is extremely questionable to play on Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Shane Larkin started in Irving's place on Monday, with Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart both in large roles despite coming off the bench.
Pau Gasol banged into his "little" brother Marc on Monday and injured his shoulder, leaving him questionable for Thursday's game against the Golden State Warriors. If he is unable to play, Davis Bertans and Joffrey Lauvergne are the most likely to get a minutes boost.
Derrick Favors missed Monday's game with neck spasms, a particularly painful-sounding injury that currently has him questionable for Wednesday's game as well. In his absence, Jonas Jerebko started and scored 12 points with 4 rebounds and 3 3-pointers in 20 minutes on Monday.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
Oklahoma City has allowed the seventh-most 3-pointers per game (11.1) in the NBA this season. On the other side of the ball, the Rockets make, by far, the most treys in the league at 15.5 per game. This matchup of extremes likely means that many Houston players are going to be knocking down a lot of 3-pointers in their game on Tuesday.
Top players to watch tonight
Former teammates and MVP rivals Russell Westbrook and James Harden face off tonight. While they rarely have their best games against each other, any time "The Hulk" and "The Beard" square off, it is must-see TV.
Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard go at it again on Tuesday, in a game of slight-future versus slight-past, where both are still playing at a high level. With that said, they played just a few days ago and Embiid was dominant. Howard epically struggled. On Tuesday, we'll see if that dynamic repeats, or if Howard is able to get some "revenge" against his young opponent.
