While the Lakers are still reeling, the Clippers just continue to win. The Clippers moved to 12-1 in their past 13 matchups with the Knicks, thanks to another solid showing on Sunday from their deep and diverse rotation.
Young sharpshooter Landry Shamet set the franchise record for a rookie with seven 3-pointers in the win, six of them coming in the third quarter, tying the franchise record for a quarter. Since the move to the west after playing his first 54 career games in Philly, Shamet has nearly doubled his per-game 3-point production and is also producing twice as many steals in his new destination. It certainly helps Shamet's statistical stock that he's playing 28.1 MPG for the Clippers, starting in seven of nine games, compared to just 20.5 MPG and four starts for the Sixers.
In addition to Shamet's emergence as a worthy shooting specialist, we find veteran point guard Patrick Beverley bullying his way to real value despite modest scoring results. As I cover in this week's fantasy hoops free agency breakdown, Beverley regularly flirts with triple-doubles and can help carry your team in steals.
Saturday and Sunday recap
Highlights
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 43 points (15-26 FG), 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Alex Len, Atlanta Hawks: 28 points (9-18), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 42 points (14-31 FG), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz: 46 points (15-32 FG), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 TO
Lowlights
Kevin Knox, New York Knicks: 6 points (1-6 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 TO
CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers: 6 points (2-13 FG), 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 TO
Marcus Morris, Boston Celtics: 0 points (0-3 FG), 3 rebounds, 2 TO
Weekend takeaways
There is something about centers moving to Atlanta and becoming deft 3-point shooters. First, it was Dewayne Dedmon, who has become a legitimate stretch center after spending much of his career as a traditional backup big. Now it's Len sinking five 3-pointers in Sunday's win over Chicago, marking the second-most points in his career, while securing consecutive games with at least 20 points for the first time in his career. The Hawks have produced three straight games with at least 120 points, their longest streak since doing so in three straight games in the 1990-91 season -- when just four current Atlanta players had already been born.
Speaking of Atlanta's rising offense, they delivered an epic performance on Friday in a quadruple-overtime game that resulted in the third-highest scoring game in NBA history. The 168-161 win for the Hawks over the Bulls marked just the seventh game in NBA history during which each team scored 155 points. Trae Young produced 49 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds, becoming just the fourth rookie ever to post 45 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds in a game, joining Michael Jordan (twice), Earl Monroe and Oscar Robertson in this unique club. Young became the fourth rookie since the ABA-NBA merger to score 35 or more points in at least three straight games, joining Bernard King, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson. On Friday night, Young scored or assisted on 86 points, the most in a game by a rookie in NBA history. The draft day trade with Dallas involving Luka Doncic could be the rare win-win for both parties.
Avery Bradley must love Memphis BBQ, because the dude is enjoying an absolute renaissance on offense after an abysmal year on that end for the Clippers. Bradley has averaged 17.4 PPG with more than eight combined assists and rebounds per games in nine appearances with the Grizzlies, while he averaged just 8.2 PPG for the Clips. Even after last night's brilliant game against the Thunder, Bradley is available in free agency in the clear majority of ESPN leagues.
Part of the Pistons recent surge is thanks to Luke Kennard being on fire from beyond recently, as Detroit's young floor-spacer is averaging 14.9 PPG and 3.1 3PG on 51.9 percent shooting from 3-point range the past nine games, with Detroit winning seven of those contests. Kennard is rostered in 7.4 percent of ESPN leagues and should be considered if Shamet is already scooped up.
Harden delivered his 24th 40-point game this season on Sunday, while only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had more 40-point games in a season since the ABA-NBA merger. Eric Gordon tied a career-high with eight 3-pointers and joined Harden in becoming the first Rockets duo with at least 30 points through three quarters since Harden and Terrence Jones in April of 2014. Chris Paul is back in full force, by the way, and is now just 24 steals away from passing Alvin Robertson for ninth on the all-time steals list and 22 assists away from passing Isiah Thomas for seventh on the all-time list.
Some other fun milestones to watch, compiled by ESPN Stats & Info: LeBron James needs 40 points to pass Jordan for fourth on the all-time scoring list and is just 17 steals away from passing Bryant for 15th on the all-time list; Dirk Nowitzki, meanwhile, is 62 points away from passing Wilt Chamberlain for sixth on the all-time scoring list and three games played away from passing John Stockton for third on the all-time list; Vince Carter is just nine points away from passing Reggie Miller for 20th on the all-time scoring list and 13 games played away from passing Karl Malone for fifth all-time; Harden is just 21 3-pointers away from passing Nowitzki for 11th on the all-time list; and Klay Thompson is 19 3-pointers shy of passing Peja Stojakovic for 17th on the all-time list.
Injuries of note
Atlanta's John Collins missed that riveting game with the Bulls on Friday with flu-like symptoms and is considered questionable for tonight's game against the Heat.
Anthony Davis' status is somewhat murky heading into Salt Lake City tonight, but even if he is active, we can again expect him to sit out the final frame with a minutes restriction around 25.
Analytics advantage for Monday
It's a somewhat wonky seven-game slate tonight, given the likelihood for four double-digit spreads. Which is to say, it's a minefield of potential blowouts for those looking to identify streaming and DFS candidates for Monday's schedule. With the fantasy playoffs underway, maximizing the margins is imperative, thus, paying closer attention to potential outcomes could be a savvy and simple way to sift potential games to target.
For tonight's slate, this means possibly focusing on the Nuggets visiting the Spurs in a game that opened as a pick with a healthy point total of 228. Another surprisingly strong fantasy climate is found in Miami, with Kelly Olynyk, Dion Waiters, Bam Adebayo and Dwyane Wade presenting strong streaming value for the Heat. The Hawks, meanwhile, love to run the score up and invite fun fantasy outcomes, as this past weekend's series with Chicago revealed.
Top players to watch tonight
Sticking with that matchup in Miami, I'm loading up on shares of Young in DFS play, since I missed out on him far too often in seasonal leagues. The beauty of dabbling in daily fantasy is an opportunity to enjoy the statistical successes of players you might have missed on in redraft play. Countering Young, I'll also take on shares of Miami's Josh Richardson, fleshing out a roster stack with the names mentioned above.
