"Unbreakable, what you thought, they'd call me Mr. Glass?" -- Kanye West, from "Through the Wire"
Injuries were the name of the game on Wednesday. In fact, they were pervasive, changing the dynamics of a majority of the games on the schedule. Yet, somehow, all of these injuries seemed to cancel each other out, making for some really close, high-scoring, competitive games.
The Washington Wizards are still without John Wall, but on Wednesday they faced a Boston Celtics team missing Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. Both of these teams were in the playoff race and eager to put their "best foot forward" despite the injuries. Instead of it being a mismatch, the Celtics took advantage of home court and their deep bench and made it a game against a Wizards squad on the second half of a back-to-back. The Celtics were up by 20 points about halfway through the contest, but the Wizards put together a big comeback, pushing the game into double-overtime before squeaking out a 1-point win. When the final buzzer sounded, 249 total points had been scored.
The Miami Heat are in the playoff race, while the Sacramento Kings are deep in the lottery. However, the Heat were missing Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson and Dwyane Wade. Their short-handedness gave the Kings a bit of a talent advantage at home. The Kings rushed out to a big lead in this game, but the remaining Heat pushed back late, forcing the game into overtime. Eventually the Kings' superior depth tipped the scales for a 4-point win. Overall, though, the game was a high-scoring 242-point affair.
The Golden State Warriors are the once again in the mix for the best record in the league, while the Los Angeles Lakers are still firmly out of the playoff hunt -- even though they've been playing well of late. On a normal day, with the Warriors playing at home, this game would have been an almost certain blowout, unless the Lakers were feeling extra scrappy. However, the Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. The Lakers "countered" with injuries to Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. The result was a relatively straight-forward win for the Warriors, but again in a high-scoring fashion with 223 points scored. Not bad for no overtime.
At this time of year, injuries and player absences are everywhere. These bumps and bruises can be game-changing phenomena, overriding other matchup or playoff considerations when it comes to trying to predict game outcomes. Whether for fantasy or DFS, injury tracking down the stretch is one of the most important things for a successful fantasy manager to do.
Wednesday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 38 points (16-29 FG, 5-5 FT), 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 34 points (14-27 FG, 3-6 FT), 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 TO
Jonathon Simmons, Orlando Magic: 35 points (11-22 FG, 6-7 FT), 7 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 TO
Goran Dragic, Miami Heat: 33 points (11-21 FG, 8-9 FT), 3 3-pointers, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 3 TO
Marcus Morris, Boston Celtics: 31 points (11-22 FG, 5-7 FT), 9 rebounds, 4 3-pointers, 2 steals, 1 assist, 2 TO
Lowlights:
Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards: 2 points (1-4 FG), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 TO
Wednesday takeaways
There were very few below-par performances from starters on a Wednesday slate with only four games. The lowest output for any team was the Lakers at 106 points. No other team scored under 117 points on the night, which made for plenty of big numbers and very few disappointments.
The Wizards-Celtics game turned into a "Morris Bowl" as twins Marcus and Markieff Morris went up against each other. Markieff was solid with 20 points (6-15 FG, 6-8 FT), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 3-pointers and 3 TO. He was outplayed by brother Marcus, though, who earned a spotlight above. Of course, Markieff got the last laugh when his team won in double-overtime.
Simmons and D.J. Augustin both put together huge nights to lead the Magic over the Bucks. Simmons' 35 points were a career-high, while Augustin posted a season-high 32 points (9-15 FG, 8-8 FT), with 6 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 TO on the night. Nikola Vucevic chimed in with 22 points (8-14 FG, 5-5 FT), 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, 1 3-pointer and 4 TO to round out the primary production for the Magic in their eventual victory.
Injuries of note
Klay Thompson was diagnosed with a fractured thumb before Wednesday's game, and will sit out until at least March 22, when he'll be re-evaluated. There's no guarantee, however, that he will be able to return at that time. While he's out, Andre Iguodala and Nick Young would seem to be the most likely to garner more minutes. Stephen Curry is out until at least next week with his ankle injury, and Draymond Green is day-to-day with his shoulder injury after sitting out on Wednesday. This could also open up space for Shaun Livingston, Omri Casspi and/or Quinn Cook to produce for the Warriors over the next week.
Kyle Kuzma sat out Wednesday's game with a sprained ankle that he suffered on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets. Consider him questionable for Friday's game against the Heat. Isaiah Thomas started for the Lakers in his place on Wednesday.
Josh Richardson (foot) joined Hassan Whiteside (hip) and Dwyane Wade (hamstring) on the bench for the Heat on Wednesday. All three players should be considered questionable moving forward.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
The New York Knicks saw their poor 3-point defense come back to haunt them in their last game against the Dallas Mavericks, with Dallas dropping 14 treys (40 percent) from behind the arc. On the season, the Knicks have allowed the fourth-most 3-pointers (11.4/game) at the fourth-highest percentage allowed (37.2 percent). Similarly, the Cleveland Cavaliers have allowed the second-most 3-pointers per game in the NBA this season (11.8/game), at the seventh-highest percentage allowed (37.1 percent). This bodes well for the long-distance shooting of both of their opponents, the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, tonight.
Top players to watch tonight
LeBron James and Damian Lillard are both playing at high levels on teams that are fighting for playoff position right now, and could put up fireworks on Thursday.
Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Aldridge will square off in a game that both teams need to try to get into the playoffs out West.
The Houston Rockets and LA Clippers go another round on Thursday, which puts all of the players on both teams into play. With the way they've played lately, DeAndre Jordan and James Harden seem like the most likely ones to shine, but Montrezl Harrell has been playing well and has motivation against his former team.
Nikola Jokic against Andre Drummond is a battle of two of the best offense/weakest defense bigs in the NBA.
