Russell Westbrook produced 20 points, 20 rebounds and dished 21 dimes in a win over the Lakers on Tuesday night. This marked just the second double-triple-double in league history, joining Wilt Chamberlain's epic line from Feb. 2, 1968.
The performance marked Westbrook's 31st triple-double this season, fittingly tying Chamberlain's 1967-68 campaign for third most in a season in NBA history. The UCLA product notched his 135th career triple-double and now sits just four shy of passing Magic Johnson for second most in NBA history behind only Oscar Robertson. Last night marked Westbrook's third career 20-assist triple-double, tied for third most in league history, with only Johnson and Rajon Rondo claiming more with four such career outings each.
After last night's prolific passing performance, Westbrook now needs just three assists to average a triple-double for a third straight season, assuming he plays every game the rest of the way. There has been only one such other season in league history, accomplished by Robertson, when a player averaged a triple-double for a full season.
With an eye on important fantasy performances and significant statistical trends, let's delve into the night that was in the NBA.
Tuesday recap
Highlights
DeMarcus Cousins, Golden State Warriors: 28 points (12-17 FG), 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 5 TO
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 36 points (12-19 FG), 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 TO
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: 20 points (8-23 FG), 20 rebounds, 21 assists, 3 steals, 2 TO
Lowlights
Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings: 2 points (1-7 FG), 5 rebounds
Gary Harris, Denver Nuggets: 6 point (1-9 FG), 3 rebounds
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 10 points (4-10 FG), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 6 TO
Tuesday takeaways
The Lakers' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the fifth-highest fantasy scorer among shooting guards on DraftKings last night, thanks to yet another impressive scoring performance that included a team-high 16 shots, including 10 from 3-point range. With LeBron James sidelined the rest of the way, it appears KCP is going to enjoy unfettered freedom to create offense. Those in truly deep leagues can look at backup guard Alex Caruso, who has proved relatively high-usage as a playmaker for an offense lacking distribution past Rondo. One fun note for Rondo is that with nine assists last night he surpassed Bob Cousy for 18th all-time on the career assists leaderboard.
John Collins looks like he'll be active tonight for Atlanta after resting last night, so I'm not as enthused about shares of Alex Len in that case. One Hawks player to target is Kent Bazemore, as he posted the third-highest fantasy score among wings last night and can tally a rewarding blend of defensive rates and useful offensive metrics.
The Warriors have won eight of their past nine home games against the Nuggets, including a wire-to-wire rout on Tuesday. Golden State outscored Denver by 60 points this season, their best differential against any Western Conference team. Stephen Curry posted a relatively quiet 17 points, other than passing Chris Mullin for fourth on Warriors all-time scoring list. Looking back at Mullins' illustrious career in the Bay, it's impressive to note from 1988-89 through 1992-93 he averaged 25.8 points on 52 percent from the floor and twice led the league in minutes per game.
Harden delivered his 17th game this season with at least 30 points and 10 dimes last night and now has 10 more such performances than anyone else in the NBA this season. Chris Paul passed Alvin Robertson for ninth on the NBA all-time steals list in the win over the Kings. This Rockets team is coming together at the right time of year.
Injuries of note
The 76ers' Jimmy Butler is considered questionable for tonight's meeting with the Hawks in Atlanta after sustaining a back injury against the Timberwolves this past weekend. Joel Embiid is out tonight due to rest, again setting up Jonah Bolden with a more significant workload.
Luka Doncic has missed the past two games for Dallas with a thigh contusion and is questionable to suit up against Minnesota tonight. Jalen Brunson remains a savvy late-season addition to target.
Mike Conley is listed as doubtful ahead of Memphis' visit to Portland tonight. Conley's likely absence is discussed in detail below.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
With Conley unlikely to suit up tonight in Portland, we turn to valuable shares of Delon Wright as both an elite streaming asset in redraft leagues and also an essential DFS investment. Wright has been a top source for steals this past week and could again prove larcenous with extended exposure tonight. Per the analytics angle, Wright sees his usage rate leap by 2.7 percent sans Conley from the floor, the second-highest bump on Memphis behind only Avery Bradley's 3.5 percent boost.
Top players to watch tonight
Scoop up Pelicans forward Christian Wood ahead of tonight's meeting with the Hornets. Wood has averaged 20 PPG and 10 RPG with three combined blocks and steals this past week and should see around 28 minutes of action for New Orleans. One more widely available name to consider ahead of Wednesday's slate is Luke Kornet of the Knicks. New York is leaning heavily on their young bigs to finish the season, which could mean Kornet tops 30 minutes and 10 shots in Orlando tonight.
