The two best games on Tuesday night were the Denver Nuggets at the Toronto Raptors, and the Portland Trail Blazers at the New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, while the first game was great in real life, the Raptors bench ate so much into the team's overall production that there weren't any big fantasy stories to be found there.
Portland and New Orleans were much more fantasy-friendly, however, so let's dig into that action. The Trail Blazers entered the game in third place out West, while the Pelicans were 2.5 games behind them, among the mass of teams between Nos. 4-10 in the conference, all separated by less than four games. Thus, both teams were motivated by the desire to secure a better playoff spot. In fact, neither club was as of yet mathematically guaranteed to even make the playoffs. Both teams leaned on their MVP candidates to lead the way, and neither disappointed:
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers: 41 points (18-33 FG, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 3-pointers, 0 TO
Dame was cooking. �� pic.twitter.com/2qW6CR2nTv
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 28, 2018
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: 36 points (15-24 FG, 6-6 FT), 14 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
The Pelicans lost, but Anthony Davis got his numbers. He recorded his 3rd 35-point, 10-rebound and 5-block game of the season, tying Yao Ming in 2006-07 for 2nd-most over the last 20 seasons. Only Shaquille O'Neal in 2000-01 had more (4). pic.twitter.com/hwgWaWiFDO
- ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 28, 2018
The Pelicans are dealing with a lot of injuries. Rajon Rondo (wrist) and Nikola Mirotic (hip) had both sat out their last game, and both were considered questionable for Tuesday. Mirotic played, but didn't look like himself with only 2 points (1-6 FG) and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Rondo was replaced in the lineup by Ian Clark, who managed only 8 points (4-11 FG) with 2 assists.
Instead, the Pelicans relied more heavily on Jrue Holiday to pick up the slack, and he didn't disappoint with a strong triple-double: 21 points (9-17 FG, 3-3 FT), 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 blocks and 6 TO. Outside of Davis and Holiday, E'Twaun Moore was the only other Pelican in double-figures with 11 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 3-pointer and 1 block.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers were pretty close to full strength overall. Jusuf Nurkic was Lillard's main lieutenant with 21 points (10-14 FG, 1-1 FT), 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 1 steal. Al-Farouq Aminu also turned in a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 3-pointers and 1 block. Evan Turner was solid with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Really, the only Portland player to struggle was the usually strong CJ McCollum, who turned in only 7 points (3-19 FG), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 3-pointer, 1 steal and 3 TO.
Overall, this was another example of the types of games we've been getting from playoff contenders -- especially Western playoff contenders -- when they've faced off down the stretch. These matchups continue to be my favorite streaming and DFS targets from which to pull. Keep your eyes open for more of these to come.
Tuesday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 29 points (11-21 FG, 4-4 FT), 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 3-pointers, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 TO
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 26 points (10-16, 5-9 FT), 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 block, 1 3-pointer, 4 TO
Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets: 31 points (11-17 FG, 1-2 FT), 8 3-pointers, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal
Lowlights:
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers: 18 points (7-18 FG, 4-5 FT), 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 6 TO, 0 3-pointers
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 7 points (3-8 FG), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 3-pointer, 3 TO
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: 5 points (2-7 FG, 1-2 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 TO
De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings: 5 points (2-10 FG, 1-1 FT), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks: 5 points (2-9 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Tuesday takeaways
The Wizards blew out the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, and to the point that neither team had good fantasy production. The Spurs went through the floor when LaMarcus Aldridge had to leave the game (see below), and the Wizards bench put the screws in, thus helping depress the numbers of the starters. On the whole, I tend to avoid games involving the Spurs or the Utah Jazz since those games tend to be low-scoring and fantasy unfriendly.
Chris Paul (hamstring) returned for the Rockets on a night where both James Harden and Clint Capela rested. It didn't much matter, though, as they were facing a lowly Chicago Bulls team that is wracked with injuries and settled into their lottery slide. Lauri Markkanen (back) returned for the Bulls, but they were still severely outgunned -- and seemed to know it -- in a meek blowout loss.
The Cavaliers continue to struggle against the Heat in Miami, now winless there since the 2011 season. James struggled, and once Kevin Love went down (see below) the Cavaliers didn't put up much fight in this game. This tweet did a great job of visually summing up Tuesday's game:
Cavs-Heat game summary: pic.twitter.com/yXTIP7RjqT
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 28, 2018
Injuries of note
Kevin Love had to leave Tuesday's game in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the head, and is being evaluated for a concussion. He also had a front tooth knocked loose. He will be re-examined on Wednesday morning to determine whether or not he has to enter the NBA's concussion protocol, so he is very questionable to play tonight against the Charlotte Hornets.
Damian Lillard will fly home for the birth of his child on Wednesday, and will thus miss the team's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
LaMarcus Aldridge suffered a left knee contusion towards the end of the first half of Tuesday night's game, and didn't return. Pau Gasol started the second half in his place, and could see an increased workload if Aldridge has to miss any time.
Analytics advantage for Wednesday
The Trail Blazers have the third-highest free throw percentage in the NBA (80.1 FT%), while the Grizzlies (their Wednesday opponents) are the most foul-prone team in the NBA with 27.1 free throw attempts allowed per game. As noted above, Portland will be playing without Damian Lillard, but this could be a good day for mainstays CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, as well as substitute Shabazz Napier.
Top players to watch tonight
On Monday, New York's Trey Burke and Michael Beasley combined for 69 points. Can they come anywhere close to replicating that kind of production on Wednesday, against a playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers squad? Speaking of the 76ers, Markelle Fultz returned from injury on Monday and scored 10 points with 8 assists and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes. What will he do for an encore?
