While this weekend featured a frenzied final push to clarify the NBA playoff picture, the Lakers' Alex Caruso cemented his status as one the most interesting players in fantasy hoops. On a two-way contract this season with Los Angeles, having spent most of the season with the South Bay Lakers of the G-League, Caruso averaged 25 points and 13 combined dimes and rebounds across two victories over the weekend. The dude even tried to dunk on Rudy Gobert on Sunday. It was a good weekend for the Caruso brand.
These wonky final days of the season will see relative unknowns like Caruso emerge to claim meaningful roles as rosters and rotations around the league are thinned by injuries and rest. Stars on good teams get shut down for rest. Stars on bad teams get shut down for rest. The result is guys like Caruso and teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope becoming statistical stars, even if only for a handful of games.
With a focus on unearthing some of these influential and underrated additions for the final days of the season, let's delve into the weekend that was in the NBA.
Saturday and Sunday recap
Highlights
Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee Bucks: 33 points (12-17 FG), 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: 27 points (10-15 FG), 10 rebounds, 15 assists, 4 TO
Delon Wright, Memphis Grizzlies: 20 points (8-17 FG), 13 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 TO
Lowlights
Nicolas Batum, Charlotte Hornets: 0 points (0-2 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 TO
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: 6 points (2-5 FG), 4 rebounds, 3 blocks
Weekend takeaways
• The Rockets dismantled the Suns on Sunday in making an NBA-record 27 3-pointers. It's the third time in NBA history a team has made more than 25 in a game. It just so happens the Rockets claim all three occurrences and all three have come this season, including twice in the past week. The Rockets shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range, the highest percentage in NBA history in which a team attempted at least 50 threes. It was the 64th instance of a team attempting at least 50 threes in a game, with Houston accounting for 44 of them.
• I've been hyping Memphis' Wright for a few weeks now and he's become an absolute force from a fantasy perspective in Mike Conley's place. With Conley regularly resting down the stretch, Wright delivered consecutive triple-doubles over the weekend and has slashed for 19.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG and 9.0 APG during the past four outings, all starts. Justin Holiday found his stroke on Sunday, while Bruno Caboclo's ascent as a worthy stretch forward continues to amaze. Memphis could be a fun fantasy team next season if it sticks to a youth movement around Jaren Jackson Jr.
• Ian Clark and Jahlil Okafor of the Pelicans each produced more than 50 fantasy points on DraftKings, leading a skeleton crew for New Orleans on Sunday. Elfrid Payton led the way with a big line on Sunday, while Clark, Okafor and Christian Wood should all finish the season with sizable workloads.
• The Hawks will rightfully earn praise for their deft handling of a young roster full of lottery picks. Lost in the hype might be the emergence of Alex Len as a worthy stretch big capable of helping on the glass and in spacing the floor. Len flamed out as a top prospect in Phoenix but is flashing as a scoring force with 19.4 PPG on 3.4 3PG in 25.1 MPG during the past five games.
• Miami's James Johnson has quietly been stellar of late with 33 points and 10 dimes in the past two outings. It's been a largely forgettable season for Johnson, but he's worth streaming for the team's back-to-back this Tuesday and Wednesday given an expectation for around 30 minutes of action per night.
Injuries of note
• The Celtics lost Marcus Smart midway through a loss to Orlando on Sunday to an oblique injury that could be of concern for Boston's final game on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum reinjured his sore shin and is also questionable for the season finale.
• The Trail Blazers' CJ McCollum returned to action on Sunday after missing a few weeks with a knee injury. McCollum made just three of 13 shots from the floor and is potentially going to rest or play sparingly against the Lakers on Tuesday.
Analytics advantage for Tuesday
With no NBA games for Monday, our attention turns to Tuesday's 11-game slate. Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson are both earning additional opportunities with both Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker sidelined for the Suns. Bridges could become a 3-and-D star in real and fantasy regards in the mold of Robert Covington as early as next season, while Jackson is putting together yet another strong finish to an otherwise disappointing campaign. From an analytics perspective, it's worth noting that with Booker and Ayton off the floor, Jackson enjoys a sizable 3.8 percent leap in usage rate, while Bridges sees an upward tick in 3-point volume in such scenarios.
Top players to watch on Tuesday
Building around Kemba Walker in DFS lineups on Tuesday against Cleveland's historically porous defense is a move I'm already telegraphing. Walker will consume Westbrookian usage in keeping the Hornets' dim playoff hopes alive, while affordable shares of the likes of Cedi Osman and Larry Nance Jr. from the Cavaliers can help offset the lofty price for the Hornets' All-Star.
