The highlight of Thursday's four-game slate was undoubtedly James Harden's dazzling 50-point triple-double in a needed win over the Lakers.
Harden didn't seem to have to work as hard for what would be his second 50-point game of the season. Per Second Spectrum, Harden had 33 fewer touches and 319 fewer dribbles in this 50-point game compared to the one in late November against the Wizards.
The bearded one wasn't the only one making noise on Thursday, as dysfunction in Chicago persists with an update last night that the team has removed Jabari Parker from the rotation going forward, per ESPN's Malika Andrews. The Bulls signed Parker to a lucrative short-term deal this past summer, albeit with a team option for a second year that seems increasingly unlikely to be activated.
Parker played just four minutes and missed his only shot in the team's loss to the Magic in Mexico City last night. Rostered in 72.1 percent of ESPN leagues as of Friday morning, Parker almost surely won't have real statistical utility the rest of the way in Chicago. Hitting only 29.1 percent of his 3-point attempts while sporting a decidedly poor net rating of minus-18 (the rate at which the team is outscored with him on the floor), it's tough to imagine another team taking on Parker's contract, making this somewhat untenable for fantasy managers currently invested in Parker.
If there is a pivot on the Bulls to consider, bruising forward Bobby Portis is intriguing; he maximized his 22 minutes of play last night with 15 points and seven boards and could take off if the team eventually buys out or trades Robin Lopez. Portis, meanwhile, is available in more than 90 percent of ESPN leagues.
For another key name to consider on Chicago, it remains remarkable that Justin Holiday is rostered in just 9.3 percent of ESPN leagues despite being fourth in the NBA in 3-pointers as well as fourth in total minutes played in the entire league.
With an eye on important fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's delve into the night that was in the NBA.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 50 points (16-28 FG), 11 assists, 10 boards
T.J. Warren, Phoenix Suns: 30 points (11-17 FG), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 TO
Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic: 26 points (11-21 FG), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 TO
Lowlights
Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns: 7 points (3-13 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 TO
Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls: 7 points (2-10 FG), 5 rebounds, 1 TO
Thursday takeaways
Adding to the historical context of Harden's fourth career 50-point triple-double, he surpassed former teammate Russell Westbrook for the most such games in NBA history, per Elias. Harden joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to post a 50-point triple-double against the Lakers. Harden and Chamberlain are also the only players with multiple 50-point games against the Lakers. Thursday was Harden's second such game, while Chamberlain has 19.
The Suns snapped a 10-game losing streak with a win over the Mavericks on Thursday evening. The star of the show was Phoenix's Warren, who produced a season-high in points and is now up to a career-best 44.4 percent from 3-point range on the season on a career-high 3.9 attempts per game. This is remarkable, given Warren shot 24.5 percent from beyond the arc the previous two seasons -- a sample size that included 131 games. With Warren's free throw rate also making a sizable jump in efficiency this season, it's become clear he is a markedly improved shooter.
I remain intrigued by speculative shares of Warren's teammates, Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson, as an eventual Trevor Ariza trade could make it so that Phoenix can feature all three young combo forwards in the coming months. Despite struggling with his shot last night, Jackson led the Suns in attempts and continued to play with energy and intent even when efficiency wanes.
Dirk Nowitzki made his season debut in the loss to Phoenix but logged just six minutes in the process. While his workload will inevitably increase in the weeks ahead, it's unlikely he'll be fantasy-relevant this season, meaning his ownership rate of four percent is likely too high at the moment.
Orlando's Jonathan Isaac netted six combined blocks and steals in the win over the Bulls last night. Isaac's per-36 minute defensive rates are simply astounding (3.2 combined blocks and steals), signaling that if the team eventually goes full tank-mode and deals off Vucevic and his expiring contract to a contender, this second-year forward could shine as a fantasy contributor.
The Spurs drubbed the Clippers last night, as LA has now lost four of five games, all by double-digits. In the win, San Antonio's Rudy Gay sustained his strong offensive work of late with 21 points on just 10 shots to go with three combined blocks and steals. Gay has rightfully been one of the most popular free-agent additions in ESPN leagues the past two weeks.
Injuries of note
Boston's Al Horford will be sidelined for a few more games with an ailing knee, per reports. For now, this seems like a contending team being patient with a veteran, but we'll want to watch how long this lingers. Marcus Morris remains a must-add during this stretch of downtime for Horford.
Philadelphia is 10-3 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup this season, but 9-7 without him. Butler sat out Wednesday's loss to the Nets with a strained groin and is considered questionable for tonight's tilt -- one discussed in greater detail below.
Kawhi Leonard is considered questionable for tonight with a hip ailment that has kept him out of the past two contests.
Hassan Whiteside is expected to rejoin the Heat from paternity leave. It's a spot for Whiteside to get a stable workload given Memphis counters with a pure center in Marc Gasol.
Analytics advantage for Friday
The Thunder visit the Nuggets on Friday at 10 ET on ESPN. Denver leads the Western Conference with a 66.7 win percentage, while the Thunder rank third (65.4 percent), slightly behind the Warriors (65.5 percent). Per Elias, this is the latest into a season that Denver has led the West in win percentage since Dec. 18, 1984. The Nuggets made it to the Conference Finals that season, before falling to the eventual champion Lakers.
The Thunder are first in the league in defensive rating (101.9) and the Nuggets are fifth (104.5), which implies that we might want to avoid stacking or streaming multiple complementary players in this contest. This isn't to say that nightly triple-double threats such as Westbrook or Nikola Jokic aren't going to return value, but that this could be a playoff-like game that sees a great deal of usage and raw opportunity rates concentrated in the handful of stars in action in this contest.
Which is to say, the game's tight point spread (Nuggets favored by two) and healthy-enough point total (217) reveal this is still a game worth targeting tonight in daily fantasy, but one that might prove top-heavy in the box score.
Top players to watch tonight
The 76ers host the Pacers on Friday at 7:30 ET on ESPN. The Sixers have only two home losses this season to 14 wins, while the Pacers enter having won a season-high five straight games.
The narrative with Philly is almost always centered around their dominant and media-savvy center, Joel Embiid. For tonight's conference showdown, let's instead focus on the matchup of the offensive engine for the Sixers: Ben Simmons, who is averaging 15.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 8.1 assists for his NBA career. Oscar Robertson is the only player in NBA history to average 15-8-8 through two NBA seasons. For a more specific slice of production, Simmons is shooting 72.4 percent from the field over his past six games (42-58).
Victor Oladipo, meanwhile, returned from injury recently after missing 11 games with knee soreness. Simmons and Oladipo will cross paths on both sides of the ball, given Philly's switch-centric defense, so it will be interesting to see how Oladipo navigates Simmons' size on both sides of the floor, while Simmons will be tasked with closing out on Oladipo in pick-and-roll actions. The Sixers have struggled to contain quick pick-and-roll playmakers all season, with Kemba Walker and Spencer Dinwiddie posting career-best scoring outings against Philly this season.
