For all the talk of the power imbalance between conferences in the NBA, this past weekend of action confirmed two of the league's truly elite teams in both real and fantasy terms reside in the Eastern Conference.
With no offense [Editor's note: pun intended?] to Boston and their top-ranked defense, ranking 27th in offensive rating isn't exactly favorable for fantasy purposes. Instead, I'm talking about the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, two Eastern powerhouses who have a combined record of 17-2 and rank third and fourth, respectively, in offensive efficiency.
Even with Kawhi Leonard missing Sunday night's game at the Staples Center with a sore foot, the Raptors drubbed LeBron James' Lakers. The Lakers trailed by as many as 31 points in the first quarter, becoming the first team in the past 20 seasons to trail by at least 30 in the first quarter at home. Kyle Lowry likely could have tried to chase Scott Skiles' 30-assist opus from 1990, given he had a career-high 12 dimes at the half against the Lakers, but settled for 15 in the convincing win.
The Bucks trounced the otherwise surging Kings on Sunday afternoon via scoring 144 points, their most in a non-overtime game since 1979 against the Spurs. Giannis Antetokounmpo produced his 11th career triple-double in the victory -- and his first accomplished within three quarters -- snapping the Kings' five-game winning streak.
We already knew Lowry and Antetokounmpo were impact fantasy contributors, but how about finding affordable paths to shares of these elite rosters?
For the Raptors, we find Serge Ibaka surging statistically as if he were a young member of the Thunder again. Ibaka delivered a career-high 34 points (15-17 FG) against the Lakers and started the game by hitting his first 14 shots from the field -- the most consecutive field goals made to begin a game since Shaquille O'Neal made his first 14 back in February of 2006 against the SuperSonics, per Elias.
Ibaka joins Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns as the only players averaging at least 18 PPG and 1.4 BPG this season and yet is available as a fantasy free agent in nearly half of ESPN leagues.
If Ibaka is already scooped up in your league, how about Pascal Siakam? The defensive-minded forward earned an endorsement in my recent waiver wire update thanks to averaging 1.7 combined blocks and steals while producing solid rebounding results and efficient scoring production. Siakam has averaged a rewarding 33.1 MPG the past five games, all starts, and merits to be rostered in more than 12 percent of ESPN leagues.
For the Bucks, I'm all about affordable shares of Malcolm Brogdon, who is available in roughly 70 percent of ESPN leagues despite providing clean shooting rates and generally positive production (low turnover rate, solid rebounding and assist metrics).
Even Brook Lopez is providing blocks and 3-pointers at uniquely helpful rates for a center. When evaluating teams that prove to be elite in real metrics such as net rating and offensive efficiency, it can help to look to the fringes of the roster for the fantasy-relevant complementary players such as Ibaka, Siakam and Brogdon.
With an eye on meaningful fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's dive into the weekend that was in the NBA.
Saturday and Sunday recap
Highlights
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 26 points (8-11 FG), 15 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 TO
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: 39 points (10-18 FG), 17 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 TO
Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons: 38 points (12-21), 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 TO
Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors: 34 points (15-17 FG), 10 rebounds, 2 steals
Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors: 21 points (8-19 FG), 15 assists, 2 steals, 1 TO
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks: 24 points (9-19 FG), 15 assists, 1 blocks, 5 TO
Lowlights
Nemanja Bjelica, Sacramento Kings: 4 points (2-8 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 TO
Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics: 4 points (2-10 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz: 4 points (1-5 FG), 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 TO
Weekend takeaways
James Harden and Devin Booker returned to action during the weekend, on the mend from respective hamstring injuries. Harden consumed a Westbrookian usage rate of 37.5 percent in downing the Bulls on Friday, while Booker nearly matched Harden with a 35 percent usage rate against the Grizzlies on Sunday. Most impressively, Booker produced 14 of 25 points on Sunday in the final frame and hit the game-winning shot with 1.7 seconds left. ESPN Stats & Info found Booker is now five of 12 during his career on potential game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final five seconds. Managers of these gifted combo guards must be confident about such rousing respective returns from injury.
While his name remains at the center of trade talks for Jimmy Butler, the Heats' Josh Richardson set a new career-high in scoring on Saturday night and remains available in roughly half of ESPN leagues. Richardson is now 14th in minutes per game, a rate that should only rise if Goran Dragic's injury persists. Teammate Rodney McGruder, meanwhile, continues to shine and is found at 23rd in minutes per game.
I've afforded a good bit of digital ink to Zach LaVine's tremendous offensive start to the season, but now another surging Chicago talent merits attention; rookie Wendell Carter Jr. had a solid statistical weekend and is now one of nine players currently averaging at least 11 PPG, 7 RPG and 1.9 BPG. "WCJ" can be added in free agency in more than 30 percent of ESPN leagues.
Brooklyn's Caris LeVert was brilliant in a drubbing of the Sixers on Sunday and scored at least 20 points for the sixth time this season after having entered the season with just seven 20-point showing in 128 career games. One of my favorite deep sleepers entering the campaign, LeVert is one of only eight current NBA players averaging at least 20 PPG, 1.5 3PG and 1.5 SPG. The others on this list? James, Leonard, Butler, Harden, Victor Oladipo, Paul George and Donovan Mitchell.
Injuries of note
Raptors coach Nick Nurse described Leonard's injury as a "jammed foot" to reporters after he left Friday's tilt with the Suns early. Leonard has been resting during one part of back-to-backs so far and could miss additional time with this foot ailment, but neither Leonard nor the team appear to be very concerned about the injury.
Dragic missed Saturday's loss to the Hawks with a toe ailment and is questionable for tonight against Detroit. Hassan Whiteside left Saturday's game against Atlanta with a right knee injury and is now listed as questionable ahead of Monday's game against the Pistons.
Houston's Eric Gordon missed Saturday's game against the Bulls with a right leg injury and is considered day-to-day. Teammate James Ennis III returned on Saturday from a hamstring injury and makes for an intriguing deep-league target for those in need of 3-and-D production.
Analytics advantage for Monday
A matchup of contenders on Monday has the Nuggets hosting the Celtics in a matchup of two of the league's best defenses thus far; Boston leads the league in defensive rating, and the Nuggets have the third-best defensive efficiency mark with just 100.9 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Boston has posted a dominant defense for several seasons now, while Denver was 23rd in defensive efficiency last season. I view tonight as a sizable challenge for both rosters, with the Celtics needing to improve on sub-par offensive rates and Denver still trying to prove this new defensive identity is enduring.
Top players to watch tonight
Sticking with tonight's pivotal matchup in Denver, let's focus on the key individual matchup in the game. Boston's Al Horford is found at sixth in defensive win shares and has a well-earned reputation as a lockdown defender.
Denver' Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, had 16 assists in the Nuggets' last game, the second-highest total of his career. Jokic has been making plays for others all season, leading the Nuggets with 7.7 assists per game. Jokic is creating 17.7 points per game off his assists. No other center is creating more than 11.5.
This matchup of top centers will prove pivotal for both daily fantasy and redraft competition.
