Jimmy Butler made his first four shots in his debut with the Miami Heat on Tuesday evening in a wire-to-wire victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Smooth shooting rookie Tyler Herro was the scoring hero for the Heat, as his 29 points off the pine marked the most by a Miami rookie since Dwyane Wade back in February of 2004.
While Herro is surely a rising fantasy option, we also must discuss the unfortunate ankle injury suffered by Trae Young of the Hawks. The dynamic second-year guard was second in the NBA in scoring entering Tuesday, but a significant rolling of his ankle saw him leave the game early in the second quarter, with X-rays coming back negative, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
A league source told ESPN's Wojnarowski that Atlanta's medical staff will wait until Wednesday to determine whether an MRI will even be necessary. For now, the belief is that the injury is just a sprain with the hope that Young can return within a few weeks.
For Young's fantasy managers, shares of Herro, who is available in free agency in roughly 60% of ESPN leagues as of Wednesday morning, could help buffer some of the shooting and scoring production lost during Young's absence. In order to make up the glaring loss of passing production, we find the Hornets' Devonte' Graham just behind Young's 7.5 APG at 7.3 APG, albeit during a small sample of production.
Monday recap
Highlights
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers: 40 points (7-17 FG), 26-27 FT), 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat: 29 points (7-9 FG), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TO
John Collins, Atlanta Hawks: 30 points (10-17 FG), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
Lowlights
Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks: 12 points (3-12 FG), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 TO
Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies: 7 points (2-10 FG), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO
Justise Winslow, Miami Heat: 2 points (1-7 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Tuesday takeaways
Davis had 40 points and 20 rebounds Tuesday in the Lakers' win over the Grizzlies, becoming the sixth player in Lakers history with a 40-20 game and the first since Shaquille O'Neal on March 21, 2003 against the Celtics, per Elias. Davis is just the second player in NBA history to make 25 free throws and grab 20 rebounds in a game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, who did so in his 100-point game on March 2, 1962. Davis' 26 free throws made are the most in a game in Lakers history and the most in a game since Michael Jordan on Feb. 26, 1987. Davis played 31 minutes, the fewest played in a 40-20 game since minutes were first tracked in 1951-52, sitting the entire fourth quarter to become the only player in the last 20 seasons with 40 points and 20 rebounds through three quarters. This guy might be good.
Doncic hit a game-winning shot against the Nuggets last night and yet made the lowlights section, given such a quiet scoring performance. You see, it's fairly unique how Dallas defeated Denver last night; nine players for the Mavericks scored at least 10 points, tied for the most in franchise history, with the last time coming in November of 1986. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber each had 14 points to tie for the team lead. THJ could eventually emerge as a helpful scoring microwave for fantasy purposes, but it's Kleber and his unique blend of 3-point acumen and rim protection (finished top-30 it total blocks last season) that could help fantasy rosters in the weeks ahead.
Nikola Jokic somewhat quietly amassed another triple double with 10 points, dimes, and rebounds last night, marking the 30th triple-double of his career, moving him past Grant Hill for third-most in a player's first five NBA seasons -- only Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson have more.
On Denver's roster we find Will Barton potentially undervalued; his scoring pattern looks healthy again after an ineffective and injury-riddled 2018-19. Barton is getting to the stripe at a career clip while also enjoying a career high in steals per game, signaling he should be rostered in more than 44.5% of leagues, as is the case at the moment.
Injuries of note
Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters on Tuesday that center Enes Kanter won't play against the Bucks on Wednesday evening with a left knee contusion. Daniel Theis is questionable with an ankle ailment, which means the "Time Lord" Robert Williams III could get extended run tonight.
Analytics advantage for Wednesday
The Bucks visit Boston tonight in a contest airing on ESPN. This rivalry features its first meeting of the season in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference semifinals (Bucks won in five) and the 2017 Eastern Conference first round (Celtics won in seven).
Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged at least 30 PPG and 10 RPG in each of his past two seasons against the Celtics. Antetokounmpo has scored more than 25 points in each of his past seven games against the Celtics, one shy of tying Michael Jordan for the third-longest streak in the past 30 years. Giannis has scored at least 30 points in each of the past three meetings.
Countering Antetokounmpo for Boston will be Jayson Tatum, who is averaging 20 PPG for the first time in his career. However, Tatum is shooting a career-low 34% from the field, the third-worst shooting percentage among 38 players with 20 PPG this season. This contest hosts a healthy total from Vegas; the game opened at 222 points and has since shifted to 223, suggesting there could be some quality offensive performances in this one. If Kanter and Theis can't go tonight, loading up on shares of Brook Lopez could prove rewarding in DFS play.
Top players to watch tonight
Kawhi Leonard becoming John Stockton is an interesting twist I wasn't expecting this season; but really, the Clippers' superstar wing has 30 assists already on the season, by far the most he's ever compiled in a four-game stretch (his previous high was 20 dimes across four games in 2016-17). The Clippers are shooting 59 percent off Leonard's passes this season, best in the league among the 33 players with at least 50 shots attempted off their passes, according to Second Spectrum, and eighth-best among the 184 players with at least 20 shots off their passes.
Coming full circle with the Stockton quip, Leonard and the Clips are in Salt Lake tonight to face the Jazz, one of the better defensive teams of the past several seasons. Maybe Leonard can augment the direction this matchup has gone recently, as the Clippers have lost four straight games at the Jazz, their longest road losing streak in this series since dropping 16 straight between March 2003 and Jan. 2012. Los Angeles has lost five of six overall against the Jazz (won last), giving up 124.2 PPG during that stretch.
Through four games, the Jazz lead the league in defensive efficiency by allowing 92.0 points per 100 possessions. That's after Utah ranked in the top three in defensive efficiency in each of the three previous seasons. Now they face their toughest defensive test of the early season against the NBA leaders in offensive efficiency, the Clippers.
Tonight's matchup should prove riveting for both real and fantasy purposes, while I'll be watching Leonard's passing production to gauge just how real this immense surge in assist production proves.
