The Houston Rockets are making winning look casual these days. Chris Paul has missed the last three games to rest his sore hamstring, and role players Luc Mbah a Moute (knee) and Ryan Anderson (rest) also sat out on Sunday, but it did nothing to keep the team from winning their 60th game of the season with an easy 19-point win over the Atlanta Hawks.
With their offensive system and just one of their engines (James Harden) in place, they continue to produce very usable fantasy role players. On Sunday, Harden produced a "ho-hum" triple-double with 18 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 3-pointer in only 30 minutes. Eric Gordon started next to him -- in Paul's place -- and produced 22 points, 4 3-pointers, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
PJ Tucker (95.5 percent available) and Trevor Ariza (43.9 percent available) both started and fulfilled the wing "3-and-D" roles with a combined 26 points and 8 3-pointers. However, it was fan favorite Gerald Green (94.7 percent available) who was the star of the game, scoring 25 points (10-15 FG) with 7 rebounds, 5 3-pointers, 2 assists and 1 steal in 32 minutes off the bench.
The Rockets have a 5.5-game lead over the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference with only eight games to go, and the Warriors are absolutely riddled with injuries to their star players. This race is essentially over, and will likely be mathematically clinched before the week is out.
Look for the Rockets to have extended garbage time over the last weeks of the season, which will likely lead to inconsistent minutes for their star players. However, it should also lead to more of these kinds of role-player 3-point explosions down the stretch.
Sunday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers: 37 points (14-19 FG, 8-10 FT), 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO
LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs: 34 points (12-21 FG, 10-12 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers: 34 points (14-24 FG, 1-2 FT), 5 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO
Terry Rozier, Boston Celtics: 33 points (12-16 FG, 1-1 FT), 8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, 1 TO
Lowlights:
D'Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets: 12 points (4-11 FG), 4 3-pointers, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 TO
De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings: 11 points (5-10 FG), 1 3-pointer, 1 assist, 3 TO
Larry Nance Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 points (1-5 FG, 0-2 FT), 1 rebound, 1 steal
Sunday takeaways
Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the lineup for the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday after missing time with an ankle injury. The return wasn't enough for me in the league where I was relying on "The Greek Freak" for the fantasy basketball playoff semifinals. His absence was just enough for me to lose by less than 2.0 points. Arggh! Hopefully your luck was better than mine.
The Washington Wizards lost to the New York Knicks on Sunday, and are fading down the stretch without John Wall (knee) in the lineup. They won their first five games after Wall went down, prompting some to question whether the team wasn't actually better off without him. However, they have now lost three straight games (and eight of their last 12), so no one is really asking that anymore. Nobody on the Wizards scored over 14 points on Sunday, and it took Bradley Beal 17 field goal attempts to get even that many. Tomas Satoransky (71.6 percent available) was still solid, with a near double-double of 9 points (3-4 FG, 2-2 FT), 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block and 1 3-pointer. He remains a viable option until Wall can make it back on the court.
Speaking of the Knicks, Trey Burke (84.6 percent available) has played well in three straight games, and finally took over the starting point guard job from the struggling Emmanuel Mudiay. On Sunday, Burke finished with 19 points (8-15 FG, 3-4 FT), 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes.
Injuries of note
Stephen Curry suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain on Friday, and will be re-evaluated in three weeks. However, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is not expecting Curry back anytime soon:
Breaking: Steve Kerr said there's "no way" Steph Curry (knee) will play in the first round of the playoffs. https://t.co/fsUuKrIb6U pic.twitter.com/SFyhFzNyWH
- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 25, 2018
In other Golden State injury news, Draymond Green sat on Sunday with an illness. He, however, is expected to return soon.
Kyrie Irving has been battling a sore knee for the last couple of weeks, and on Saturday underwent surgery that is expected to keep him away from basketball for 3-to-6 weeks. Like Curry, Irving will miss the beginning of the playoffs and may be unable to play until (potentially) the second round. This keeps the onus squarely on Terry Rozier to produce for the Celtics, and thus far he's been up to the task.
Marcus Morris was unable to play on Sunday with an ankle injury, joining the myriad of other Celtics injuries. Morris had been playing great ball of late, including a 30-point effort on Friday, prior to getting hurt. The Celtics got Jaylen Brown back on Sunday, though, which helped to mitigate the loss of Morris
Dennis Schroder has missed two of the last three games with an ankle injury. With the Hawks far out of the playoff hunt, there is no real impetus for them to hurry him back onto the court before he's fully healthy.
Tyreke Evans has missed the last two games for Memphis due to unexplained personal reasons. He continues to be (arguably) the most unreliable impact fantasy player in the league right now. Consider him day-to-day until more information is released.
Isaiah Thomas is still dealing with his surgically repaired hip, and is currently out of the lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers. Thomas has never quite played up to expectations this season, and his current absence strongly suggests that the hip had never fully healed in the first place.
Rajon Rondo missed Saturday's game with a wrist injury, and Nikola Mirotic sat with a hip injury. Consider both Pelicans to be day-to-day until more information is released on the extent of their injuries.
Zach Randolph has missed the last two games for the Kings with gastroenteritis. In his absence, Skal Labissiere has been the main beneficiary with averages of 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 3-pointers and 1.5 blocks in 30 minutes.
Analytics advantage for Monday
The only Monday contest pitting two teams battling for the playoffs is the Denver Nuggets-Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers have clinched a playoff spot, but are still fighting for home-court advantage. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are currently 1.5 games out of the playoffs in the West. Both Denver (109.8 PPG, No. 7) and Philadelphia (108.5 PPG, No. 9) rank in the NBA's top 10 for points scored per game. Rebounding should tip the scales tonight, as the 76ers lead the league with 46.9 RPG. However, the Nuggets have allowed the fewest rebounds (41.2) this season. Something has to give on Monday night, and with the size and athleticism that the 76ers have in their frontcourt, the expectation is that they'll be the ones to dominate the middle -- and the game.
Top player to watch tonight
Ben Simmons has triple-doubles in four of his last seven games, and had a fifth game in that stretch with double-digit rebounds and assists where he just came up short in scoring.
Ben Simmons just joined Oscar Robertson as the only rookies ever to average a triple-double over a 7-game span. (via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/XIKKTew5DU
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 25, 2018
He's peaking at the right time of the year, and is moving even more ahead of his peers in the Rookie of the Year race.
