It took a few weeks, but Jaren Jackson Jr. finally produced a dominant performance for the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. In a victory over the Denver Nuggets, Jackson swatted three shots, tallied 22 points, and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double.
After spending most of last year getting his knee right, there was hope that Jackson could build on a stellar 2019-20 in this, his critical fourth campaign with the Grizzlies. Now up to a career-high 1.8 blocks per game to go along with what is a strong steal rate for a big man, Jackson's fantasy floor is already quite high given such unique defensive contributions.
If Jackson, who is rostered in roughly 82% of ESPN leagues, can build upon Wednesday's strong offensive performance, the beginning of a breakout could be underway.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets: 32 points (12-22 FG), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: (9-14 FG, 7-10 3PG), 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks
Lowlights
Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards: 2 points (1-10 FG), 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic: 10 points (4-14 FG), 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Wednesday takeaways
Bridges produced his fourth 30-point game of the season, tying with Kemba Walker (2018-19) for the most 30-point games within the first 10 games of a season in franchise history. Incredibly, Bridges had only three 30-point games in his career entering this season.
Turner became one of just three players in NBA history with at least 13 rebounds, three blocks, and seven made 3-pointers in Indiana's win over New York. The others are Karl-Anthony Towns and Vince Carter.
Dallas got a big boost from guard Jalen Brunson in a comeback win over the Spurs. The Villanova product notched his third career 30-point game and delivered a clutch 13 points in the final quarter, his most in any quarter this season and tied for the third-most in his career. Recently shifted to the starting lineup, increased empowerment could lead to an uptick in fantasy value for Brunson.
Patrick Beverley had been struggling to get healthy, but started on Wednesday and played a major role for Minnesota in place of an injured D'Angelo Russell. The bulldog defender compiled a full line and finished two assists shy of a triple-double. While not a traditionally valuable fantasy contributor, Beverley could prove helpful as a starter for Minnesota given such a ball-dominant distribution role.
Atlanta's De'Andre Hunter was showing signs of a leap last season as a two-way statistical force, but a significant knee injury got in the way. Last night, Hunter flashed some of the impressive skills that defined last season's best moments, as the Virginia product made a career-best 91% of his shots from the floor (26 points) in a loss to the Nets. As the premier perimeter defender for the Hawks, Hunter should see lots of opportunities to build on last night's efficient outing.
Injuries of note
Utah's Donovan Mitchell is listed as questionable for tonight's marquee matchup against Trae Young and the Hawks due to an ankle injury. Mitchell was able to finish strong on Tuesday, a good sign for his availability.
Deandre Ayton is listed as questionable for the Suns due to a leg contusion. With the Suns positioned as sizable home favorites, it's worth watching to see if the team opts to rest Ayton.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
Only one of tonight's five games has a spread below 6.5 points, with the Hawks positioned as 1-point home favorites over the Jazz on most books. This game also has the highest projected point total for today's slate. With relatively positive indicators suggesting that this could be the most competitive and highest-scoring game of the night, building around these rosters in DFS play and for identifying streaming candidates -- such as Atlanta's Hunter -- is a shrewd angle to consider.
DFS discussion
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Atlanta Hawks: In the rare game with multiple shooters named Bogdanovic, I'm going with Atlanta's version given his reasonable price point and his playmaking upside. With double-digit combined assists and rebounds in two of the last four games, Bogdanovic could be busy tonight as the complementary creator next to Young.
Kelly Olynyk, Detroit Pistons: Just last week, Olynyk posted 30.25 DraftKings points in a loss to the 76ers. Leveraged as a floor-spacer and an all-around bully on screens, Olynyk could again flirt with 30 minutes and 30 fantasy points.
