Four of the seven games in the NBA on Tuesday were decided by five or fewer points, including the Brooklyn Nets' comeback win over the Chicago Bulls that saw savvy scoring guard Shabazz Napier produce 24 points in 25 minutes of action.
Capably filling the offensive-centric sixth-man role vacated by an injured Spencer Dinwiddie, Napier, who is available in free agency in more than 90 percent of ESPN leagues, has averaged 20.7 PPG with strong peripheral stats during his past three appearances.
Over these past three games, Napier is consuming a healthy usage rate (an estimate of the number of plays used by a specific player) of 30.9 percent, a clip that would tie him for ninth in the NBA with Damian Lillard and Kemba Walker if sustained over a full season. Dinwiddie, for some context, has netted a usage rate of 25.8 percent this season, making him peers of De'Aaron Fox and CJ McCollum in this advanced metric that surmises overall opportunity.
Brooklyn has struck real success relying heavily on an efficient tandem of backcourt scorers comparable to how the Trail Blazers have competed the past several seasons. The Nets secured 11 wins in January, the franchise's most in a calendar month since March of 2014. D'Angelo Russell already has nine games with at least 30 points this season, and four of them surfaced in January, but he can't carry the offensive workload by himself, which is where Napier steps up.
Tuesday recap
Highlights
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: 38 points (14-19 FG), 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 TO
Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers: 36 points (16-20 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 TO
Jahlil Okafor, New Orleans Pelicans: 27 points (11-15 FG), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 4 TO
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: 23 points (7-12 FG), 14 rebounds, 14 assists, 5 TO
Lowlights
Thomas Bryant, Washington Wizards: 5 points (1-5 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Robin Lopez, Chicago Bulls: 4 points (1-7 FG), 2 rebounds, 1 TO
Jonathon Simmons, Orlando Magic: 5 points (1-6 FG), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
Tuesday takeaways
The Lakers fell to 6-11 without LeBron James in the lineup. Kyle Kuzma was also sidelined against the Sixers last night, affording Ingram the opportunity to pursue a career high in points to extend his streak of games with at least 20 points to three straight games. Ingram's impressive efficiency marked the best field goal percentage by a Lakers player since Shaquille O'Neal in 1998 (with a minimum of 20 field goal attempts). It appears James is close to returning, which will then require a reevaluation of the players around him.
Despite lofting just nine shots, Jimmy Butler delivered a uniquely impressive line that included 20 points, 5rebounds, 6 dimes and 5 steals, marking the first game of his career with as many as five steal, assists and rebounds. The 76ers deployed Butler as the primary backup point guard to Ben Simmons, affording him distribution duties in lineups with Joel Embiid deep into the game. Whatever Butler might sacrifice in scoring upside, it appears he can make up with assists and steals with this interesting point-forward experiment.
The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a nine-game home losing streak and won consecutive games for just the second time this season, thanks in part to the stellar play of Cedi Osman, who poured in 26 points on only 16 shots to go with 12 combined boards and dimes in the win over the Wizards. Osman is rostered in just around a fifth of ESPN leagues.
In leading the Pelicans to a win over the Rockets, Jrue Holiday became the first guard with 15 points, 6 assists and 6 blocks in a game since Michael Jordan in 1986 (Dec. 2, 1986 at SuperSonics). If Anthony Davis were to be dealt by next week (which would prove somewhat surprising), Holiday might deliver elite fantasy value the rest of the way. The Pelicans battered the Rockets in the paint, securing their 10th game of the season with at least 70 points in the paint, more than twice as many as any other team in the NBA. Okafor is now averaging 21.2 PPG, 11.0 RPG and 2.6 BPG in his past five games with Davis sidelined and merits trust until Davis is back in the fold.
James Harden scored 37 points on 32 field goal attempts last night, finishing January averaging 43.6 PPG. Per Elias, this marks the most points per game in a calendar month by any player since Wilt Chamberlain averaged 45.8 PPG in March of 1963. Harden became just the fourth player in NBA history with 600 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a calendar month, joining Jerry West in Dec. of 1965, Oscar Robertson in Feb. of 1962 and Elgin Baylor in Dec. of 1961. This offensive bender from Harden will be remembered for a very long time.
Injuries of note
Embiid and the 76ers endured an injury scare as the big man toppled over after a missed dunk late in the win over the Lakers. The Sixers' superstar center returned to the floor after stretching his lower back out, but we'll want to monitor what has been a lingering ailment for Embiid the past few weeks.
Kyrie Irving is considered doubtful for tonight's meeting with the Hornets due to a left hip strain. Terry Rozier becomes a strong streaming option and DFS building block in Irving's place.
Analytics advantage for Wednesday
The Portland Trail Blazers host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at 10:30 ET on ESPN. The Jazz enters with an 11-3 (.786 win percentage) record during January, trailing the Warriors (11-1, .917) for the best record in the NBA this month. In that same span, Utah is outscoring opponents by 8.1 PPG, the third-highest mark in January.
Vegas seems to think this matchup could prove compelling, as the game opened with Portland as one-point favorites. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 29.7 PPG in his last 12 games, while the Jazz are 10-2 in that stretch. Paired with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who is also having the best offensive season of his career, this duo makes for a fine stacking option in DFS tonight.
Though Portland's backcourt has led the way, their best five-man lineup has been among the NBA's most effective. The Trail Blazers' best lineup has been Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Evan Turner and Al-Farouq Aminu, a group that has outscored opponents by 15.8 points per 100 possessions this season, the second-highest mark among 27 five-man lineups to play at least 200 minutes. Only the Warriors sport a stronger five-man lineup.
Top players to watch tonight
Speaking of close spreads, tonight's matchup with the Wizards and Pacers opened as a pick-em. Bradley Beal is averaging 28.8 points, 6.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds in 17 games without John Wall this season, signaling he's an excellent building block facing an Indiana team still reeling from the season-ending injury to their best perimeter playmaker and defender in Victor Oladipo.
In the 13 games Oladipo has missed this season, six different Pacers have averaged double figures, led by Bojan Bogdanovic (19.2). I'm looking to shares of Bogdanovic, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner for tonight's game against a patchwork Washington frontcourt.
