Fantasy basketball purists certainly remember that awesome 1961-62 campaign for the Lakers that saw Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and, of course, Rudy LaRusso each score a 50-point game that season.
Now that Kevin Durant tallied 51 points in a dramatic loss to Toronto last night, the Warriors join that famously productive Lakers triumvirate as the only other team in NBA history to sport three 50-point scorers in a single season -- Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both already hit this rare milestone this season.
The Raptors beat the Warriors 131-128 in an overtime thriller on Thursday, as Durant continued his hot scoring streak with those 51 points in addition to 11 rebounds and six dimes. Durant became the fourth player in Warriors history with three straight 40-point games, joining Stephen Curry, Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain, per Elias. With the loss, Golden State snapped its eight-game head-to-head win streak against the Raptors.
Durant is the eighth different player to score 50 in a game this season. That's more than twice as many players to do so before December in any other season in NBA history. Ten players did this all last season.
Kawhi Leonard scored 37 points, his most in a Raptors uniform. Leonard aggressively sought to score throughout the game. Per Second Spectrum, Leonard ran 15 isolation plays (his most in a game over the past five seasons) and had 22 drives to the basket (his second most in a game over the past five seasons).
The Warriors' roster doesn't offer much help in regards to widely available waiver acquisitions, but for Toronto, we find names like Danny Green proving productive despite being rostered in just 3.7 percent of ESPN leagues. Green won't wow you with his scoring prowess (just 9.8 PPG), but he can help on defense (1.7 combined blocks and steals) and in shooting (2.5 3PG on 43.3 percent efficiency).
With an eye on meaningful fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's delve into the night that was in the NBA.
Thursday recap
Highlights
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors: 51 points (18-31), 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 TO
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: 38 points (15-27 FG), 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 TO
Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors: 37 points (14-24 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Lowlights
Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers: 2 points (1-6 FG), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 TO
Tyreke Evans, Indiana Pacers: 9 points (2-10 FG), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 TO
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: 6 points (3-9 FG), 6 rebounds, 2 TO
Thursday takeaways
The Lakers started hot against Indiana last night, leading by 23 points after the first quarter, the franchise's largest lead after the first frame since 2004. James produced his third-most points as a Laker, matching his point total from his two previous games combined. It also marked his 144th career game with at least 35 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists -- more than double the next-closest active player, as Russell Westbrook has 67 such performances in his career.
The Pacers, meanwhile, dropped to 3-10 without Victor Oladipo over the past two seasons since acquiring him in the Paul George blockbuster. In terms of where the fantasy value might be with Oladipo ailing, we haven't yet see Tyreke Evans match his offensive efficiency or effectiveness from Memphis last season, while Darren Collison and Cory Joseph can tend to cancel each other out in regards to overlapping roles and usage. The key asset remains Domantas Sabonis, who continued to thrive off the pine with his second-straight game with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. The guy is simply a revelation in regards to scoring and rebounding rates.
The Clippers tallied their 20th straight game scoring at least 100 points, tying last season's team for the longest streak since moving from San Diego in 1984. Dynamic rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed a nice night against the Kings on Thursday, with 17 points on just nine shots and four combined blocks and steals. The performance marked SGA's best game score, which is a simple and linear version of former ESPN analyst and current Grizzlies exec John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating, meant to evaluate the overall contributions of a given player. Alexander has averaged 13.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, and 1.0 BPG in 29.7 MPG the past six games and yet is still floating in free agency in 95 percent of ESPN leagues.
Not to be confused with Bojan of the Pacers, the Kings' Bogdan Bogdanovic netted a career-high 26 points off the bench for the Kings on Thursday against the Clips. This playmaking wing is available in nearly 80 percent leagues and yet has averaged 17.3 PPG, 3.5 APG, and 2.6 3PG during his past eight appearances.
Another talented young King stepped up last night, with Marvin Bagley III producing his third career double-double, all of which have come in the past five games. A slow start to the season has given way to 16.4 PPG, 10.4 RPG and two combined steals and blocks for Bagley the past five outings. Bagley is still a fantasy free agent in a third of ESPN leagues.
Injuries of note
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported last night that Washington's Dwight Howard will likely need surgery to relieve a gluteal injury that has bothered him all season. We'll want to wait for more details, but it's likely getting close to being reasonable to release Howard from most fantasy rosters (save for truly deep formats).
Bagley left the Kings' loss to the Clippers early last night with back tightness, so we'll want to track his status for Saturday's meeting with the Pacers.
Marc Gasol is listed as questionable for tonight's game with the Nets due to an ankle ailment that kept him from Wednesday's team practice, but the sentiment from local coverage is that he's likely to play.
Chris Paul is questionable to play against the Spurs tonight with a lingering hamstring injury, a matchup I discuss in detail below. With the Rockets facing a back-to-back beginning tonight and the Bulls up next on Saturday, it's possible and arguably likely that Paul sits out at least one of these contests.
Aaron Gordon is considered a game-time decision with back tightness for tonight's game against the Suns. Rookie Jonathan Isaac should earn more exposure, but I'm more interested in shares of sharpshooter Terrence Ross, given an expected uptick in usage if Gordon is sidelined.
Analytics advantage for Friday
The 14-7 Nuggets visit the 13-8 Trail Blazers on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN in a matchup between top-five teams in the West. Nikola Jokic is averaging a career-high 7.1 assists this season, ranking 10th in the NBA in that category. The only center in NBA history to average more in a single season was Chamberlain.
Denver is eighth in offensive efficiency, third in defensive efficiency and first in rebounding percentage this season. The Nuggets are holding opponents to just 31.4 percent shooting from 3-point range, best in the league.
Portland, meanwhile, has also been one of the best rebounding teams this season, ranking fourth in rebound percentage. The battle on the glass could prove pivotal in determining the victor. It's also worth noting the Trail Blazers rely heavily on perimeter production, thus the Nuggets' protection of the 3-point line could prove influential tonight.
The Trail Blazers' starting backcourt leads the league in scoring production this season, as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have started all 21 of Portland's games, combining to average 47.9 points. Shares of Jokic, Lillard and McCollum could prove rewarding in DFS play tonight.
Top players to watch tonight
James Harden and Eric Gordon should both enjoy increased usage and shooting volume if Paul sits. Houston led the NBA in offensive efficiency last season, but has dropped to ninth this season. Yet, the defensive end has been a bigger problem; the Rockets are 28th in defensive efficiency and 29th in defensive rebound percentage.
This implies we could see a huge night for LaMarcus Aldridge on the glass and in the post, as Aldridge is averaging a league-high 12.9 post-ups per game, per Second Spectrum.
DeMar DeRozan is averaging a team-high 24 PPG in his first season with the Spurs, while also posting career highs in both assists (6.0) and rebounds per game (5.8) while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, his highest percentage since his rookie season in 2009-10.
For some idea of matchup precedent, the Spurs defeated the Rockets, 96-89, back on Nov. 10th in San Antonio. Aldridge had 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Harden went just 7-of-27 from the field, including 1-for-13 from 3-point range.
