The Miami Heat are, well, heating up. Miami drubbed Detroit by 34 points on Wednesday evening, their largest margin of victory since January of 2012 when the "Heatles" were still intact. The Heat started the third quarter on a 21-0 run, securing just the eighth quarter in franchise history outscoring an opponent by as many as 25 points. The Heat extended their lead on the final playoff berth in the East to two games over the Magic and Hornets.
While the Heat's defense was brilliant in holding Detroit to just 25 points in the second half, tied for the Pistons' fewest in a single half in the shot-clock era (1954-55), we also witnessed some strong offensive play from Miami, namely with Justise Winslow producing 16 points on 11 shots while securing the best net rating (plus-28) on the roster.
Winslow, meanwhile, is rostered in only 40 percent of ESPN leagues despite slashing for 14.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.5 SPG and 1.6 3PG during his past dozen games.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
John Collins, Atlanta Hawks: 27 points (11-17 FG), 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 TO
DeMarcus Cousins, Golden State Warriors: 27 points (11-16 FG), 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: 31 points (12-23 FG), 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, 5 TO
Lowlights
Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns: 2 points (1-9 FG), 9 rebounds, 2 steals
Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons: 5 points (1-3 FG), 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 5 TO
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors: 2 points (1-5 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 TO
Wednesday takeaways
Westbrook notched his league-leading 26th triple-double of the season, already tied for the fourth-most triple-doubles in a season in NBA history. The performance also marked Westbrook's 40th career 30-point triple-double. Only Oscar Robertson (106) has more such performances in league history, per Elias. The Nets pulled ahead big early, but Paul George looked his best since returning from injury in helping the Thunder mount their 14th comeback win from a double-digit deficit this season. Only the Bucks (15) have more such wins this season.
Donovan Mitchell netted 26 points on 18 shots in a sound win over the Suns on Wednesday in Phoenix and is now averaging 29.5 PPG during the past month, tied with LeBron James for fourth best in the NBA over that span. Jae Crowder, who is a worthy streaming candidate to consider, trailed only Mitchell in net rating last night and has scored in double-figures in five straight off the pine for Utah while posting strong shooting and defensive metrics.
Cousins flirted with a triple-double and set season highs in points and dimes in the rousing win over the Rockets. Cousins, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 81 points, their most in a game as teammates. The Warriors moved to 50-7 when Thompson scores at least 30 points in a game, which is the best record in NBA history (min. 50 games) for 30-point performances.
CJ Miles sank eight 3-pointers in a somewhat random 33-point performance, good for the second-most 3-pointers in Grizzlies history (Mike Miller made nine twice in the 2006-07 season). Speaking of former Florida Gators, Joakim Noah slashed for 12/8/5 in 24 minutes and finished ninth among centers in fantasy points on DraftKings on Wednesday. I don't buy Miles' big game as a sign of rising fantasy stock, but Noah has proved productive enough to consider in deeper leagues.
The Hawks produced 132 points last night and lead the NBA in scoring since the All-Star break (averaging 123.3 PPG), thanks to leading the league with 16 3-pointers per game since the All-Star break. Taurean Prince is an overlooked 3-and-D option from Atlanta's young and impressive roster, while Alex Len was sixth in DFS scoring among centers on Wednesday and is worth targeting in deeper leagues down the stretch.
Thomas Bryant tallied 21 points on 12 shots off the bench for the Wizards as part of a dominant bench unit that helped sway the win over Orlando. This marked Bryant's second game off the bench this season with at least 20 points and 10 boards, becoming the first Wizards player with multiple 20-10 games off the bench in a season since Larry Stewart in 1992-93. Washington's bench poured in 59 points (second most this season), while Jabari Parker also looked good off the pine in the win.
Injuries of note
The Raptors' Kyle Lowry didn't participate in practice on Wednesday due to a sore left ankle but is considered probable and likely to face the Lakers tonight.
Detroit's Reggie Jackson rolled his right ankle last night and didn't return to action in the blowout loss. We'll want to monitor Jackson's injury status heading into Friday's matchup with the Lakers.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
Some fun cross-conference matchups define tonight's six-game slate. I'm most intrigued by Thursday's rare meeting between the Kings and Celtics. Stacking this game with the likes of Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and De'Aaron Fox could prove rewarding, given my projections have them all set to produce more than 5.5 points per $1,000 spent on DraftKings tonight; a reliable sign of efficiency and ROI.
With a point total expected to top 230 points and several affordable paths to each roster -- such as affordable shares of Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic -- this is both an exciting real and fantasy matchup to track tonight.
Top players to watch tonight
It's undoubtedly been a frustrating transition to Toronto for Marc Gasol's fantasy investors; the former All-Star center has seen his minutes and opportunity rates dramatically slashed since being dealt to the Raptors at the deadline after enjoying a productive and high-usage role with Memphis.
Eyes will be naturally on Kawhi Leonard facing off with James, but tonight, I'm eyeing Gasol in daily fantasy play and would stream him if dropped in any shallower leagues in this choice matchup against Los Angeles.
The Lakers have allowed the fifth-most points in the paint on the season and the second-most since the break. The Lakers also rank 22nd in defensive rebounding rate during this sample, setting up both Gasol and Pascal Siakam as key players to target at respectively reasonable pricing on DraftKings.
