Facundo Campazzo picked up a DNP-CD in Thursday's loss to the Mavericks.
The Mavericks were throwing out a lot of big lineups tonight, so Mike Malone countered with big lineups of his own, which found Campazzo as the odd man out of the rotation. He was coming off two solid games, so if you grabbed him in a deep league, we'd give him one more chance before sending him back to the waiver wire.
Jamal Murray scored 21 points on 8-of-19 shooting Thursday, to go with three triples, four rebounds, nine dimes, one steal and three turnovers through 46 minutes of action in an overtime loss to the Mavericks.
Murray had just 13 points and a triple in Tuesday’s win, but he surpassed that scoring total within the first 13 minutes of today’s game, and he had an impressive buzzer-beater from the logo to close out the first quarter of action. Aside from the nine-point, 1-of-9 dud in the opener, Murray has gotten off to an uber-efficient start this season, connecting on a career-high 47.7% of his shots attempts to go with 22.0 points (career-high), 2.7 triples (career-high), 4.0 boards, 3.9 dimes, 1.0 steal and just 2.1 turnovers per contest, and he could realistically get even better as the season goes on.
Dorian Finney-Smith was a pest on defense in Thursday's overtime win vs. Denver, ripping away three steals and swatting two shots through 36 minutes of floor time.
DFS added 14 points, eight rebounds, four triples, two assists and zero turnovers while he was out there, and the triples and swats accounted for season-highs. Because Finney-Smith almost never turns over the rock (0.5) he has some low-end appeal in 9-cat leagues with averages of 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.8 triples and 1.4 steals per game on 41.5% shooting. He’s not an exciting guy to roster, but he is deserving of a roster spot; particularly in roto leagues.
Willie Cauley-Stein accounted for five points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block through 26 minutes as a starter on Thursday.
This was WCS's second straight start, and while he left something to be desired in the scoring department, overall it was a fairly solid stat line due to the boards and defensive stats. Through two games as a starter, Trill has put in averages of 10.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per contest on 75% shooting, and it appears he could be the starting center moving forward with how much Dwight Powell has been struggling. He's worth a look in deep leagues.
Maxi Kleber hit some big shots in Thursday's OT win over Denver, scoring nine points on 3-of-7 shooting to go with eight rebounds, three triples, three assists, two blocks and one turnover in 36 minutes.
Kleber was scoreless through the first half of action with just one FGA, and while he didn't aggressively seek out his shot, the ones he did connect on were big ones. “He had a big rebound down the stretch [along with those 3 3-pointers] and he’s really one of the best defensively in the league," Carlisle said of Kleber after the game. This was his second straight start, and if that trend continues he could have some low-end value in deep leagues as a shot blocking specialist. Keep your eye on him.
Montrezl Harrell again failed to block a single shot in Thursday's loss to the Spurs, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and nothing else in 18 minutes off the bench.
Last year's Sixth Man of the Year has been woefully inconsistent this season, as he's regularly followed up okay stat lines with single-digit stinkers. This was also his sixth consecutive game without a single block, and he's only recorded a total of two swats on the season; the last one coming on Dec. 27. The 18 minutes tonight marked a season-low, and he hasn't cracked the 20-minute mark since the calendar switched to 2021. It's tough to find anything positive to spin with Trez at the moment.
Josh Richardson hit some clutch shots in overtime to give the Mavs a 124-117 win over the Nuggets on Thursday, registering 14 points, two triples, one rebound, one assist, two steals and one turnover across 41 minutes.
Richardson couldn’t get anything to go through the first half of action, missing all seven of his FGA with his only two halftime points coming at the charity stripe, but he came through for Dallas when it mattered most, scoring five straight points in OT to give the Mavs a five-point edge, which they never relinquished. It wasn't a pretty shooting night, as he finished just 5-of-15 from the field, but at least he came away with multiple steals for the first time since Christmas.
LeBron James (ankle) posted a 27-point, 12-assist double-double in Thursday's 118-109 loss to the Spurs.
LBJ added four triples and six boards while he was out there, but he failed to contribute any defensive stats to the box score and also committed four turnovers. The ankle looked completely fine, but he'll assuredly pop up on the injury report as "questionable" for Friday's game vs. the Bulls. It's possible he could skip that one, but he did play in a back-to-back earlier this year, so fantasy managers will need to check back closer to tomorrow's tip for official word on his status.
Dennis Schroder went just 3-of-11 from the field in Thursday's loss to the Spurs, contributing six points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and two turnovers in 27 minutes.
Schroder got the Dejounte Murray treatment tonight, and he now finds himself in a three-game shooting slump, in which he's connected on just 30.8% of his FGA. That said, he'll have an excellent opportunity to snap out of his shooting funk with a matchup against Coby White of the Bulls on Friday, as the Bulls rank in the bottom-3 in terms of defensive efficiency against the PG position.
Alex Caruso (COVID-protocol) saw 20 minutes off the bench in his return to action on Thursday, and he hit all three of his shots for eight points, two triples, three rebounds and one assist in a loss to the Spurs.
Caruso was back in action following a five-game absence due to the COVID-protocols, but he made clear after the game that he himself never tested positive for COVID-19. He did, however, come into contact with someone who had tested positive at Christmas, and that's why he needed to self-isolate for 10 days. He has no fantasy value.
Dejounte Murray scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting Thursday, to go with eight boards, two treys and two assists over 31 minutes.
Murray is hitting career-highs across the board in his age-24 season, but perhaps the most notable is his usage rate, which has spiked to 24.1 this season — up from 20.7 last year. He’s also attempting a career-high 3.3 triples per game, and while he’s only hit a subpar 26.1% of those attempts through the first eight games of the year, we’d expect that number to climb up considering he shot 36.9% from distance last season. He’s off to a hot start and we think he’ll only get better as the year goes on.
Lonnie Walker snapped out of his shooting funk in Thursday's win over the Lakers, tallying 14 points, two triples, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one turnover in 27 minutes.
In Walker’s previous four games, he had been connecting on a measly 36.6% of his shot attempts, but he got things back on track tonight finishing 6-of-11 from the field. Derrick White is out indefinitely with a broken toe, so Walker will be the Spurs starting two-guard for the foreseeable future. He's not the most consistent guy, but he's worth a look in deep leagues if you need some points and triples.
Keldon Johnson went 2-of-10 from the field for five points in Wednesday's win over the Lakers.
He added one 3-pointer, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one turnover in his 31 minutes of floor time, but this was his second underwhelming game in a row. He's had tough matchups over the past two games against the Los Angeles teams, but we're confident he'll be able to bounce-back this weekend with back-to-back games against the Timberwolves.
Rudy Gay kept his hot streak going on Thursday, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds and three triples over 24 minutes.
Gay has been in a nice groove over the past four games, compiling averages of 14.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 treys, 1.3 assists and just 0.8 turnovers per game on 46.8% shooting, so give him a look if those numbers are appealing. He did get his eyes racked by Jakob Poeltl, which required a quick trip to the locker room, but he played through it so he should be fine for Saturday's game vs. Minnesota.
Ricky Rubio dished out a season-high 10 assists with two points, five rebounds and five steals in a blowout loss to Portland on Thursday.
He was 0-of-4 from the field and yes he padded his stats in garbage time, but his fantasy managers will take this line every day of the week, especially after his slow start. Rubio has only been a 13th-round value in 9-cat so far but his two best categories of steals and dimes are not easy to replace on the wire. It makes sense to hold onto Rubio in the hope that the eventual return of Karl-Anthony Towns will stabilize things.
DeMar DeRozan put up 19 points, four rebounds, eight assists, two triples, two steals, one block and zero turnovers across 36 minutes in Thursday's win over the Lakers.
DeRozan was held to just six points on 3-of-9 shooting his last time out, but he got things back on track tonight, going 5-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the stripe. His scoring has dipped a bit this season with Dejounte Murray taking a more proactive role in the offense, but that’s also translated to him handing out a career-high 7.1 dimes a night. As long as he’s healthy and in San Antonio, he shouldn’t have much trouble putting together another top-40 campaign.
Rodney Hood (left quad strain) returned to action on Thursday vs. the Blazers, playing 16 minutes with two points, two assists, one rebound and one block.
He reprised the same role he had before picking up the injury on Jan. 1. There's very little fantasy appeal here with Gary Trent Jr. being the primary shooter off the bench.
Tyrese Maxey had multiple career-highs vs. the Nets on Thursday, scoring 16 points (7-of-12 FGs) with three rebounds, two assists, two triples, one steal and one block in 21 minutes.
Shake Milton replaced the injured Seth Curry (sore ankle) in the starting lineup, so Maxey took over as the sixth man and made a strong impression -- coach Doc Rivers said Maxey was “the one guy who came in the game with great energy.” This strong game from the rookie may not mean much in the short term with Curry only day-to-day, but we love his dynasty outlook and he appears to be a steal at pick No. 21.
Kyle Anderson had a tough time getting his shot to drop on Thursday, going 4-of-12 from the field for 10 points in a loss to the Cavs.
It wasn't all bad, as Anderson was able to add two triples, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and two turnovers while he was out there, but he's been struggling to find his rhythm on offense over the past three games, converting on just 36.6% of his shot attempts. He tends to be a pretty efficient player, but he's receiving a lot of attention with Ja Morant (ankle) on the sidelines and Memphis not having many guys around him to spread the floor. Maybe getting Desmond Bane into the first unit would help, as he's been connecting on 46.9% of his 3-point attempts so far this season.
Joel Embiid notched 20 points (7-of-14 FGs, 4-of-5 FTs) with 12 rebounds, three assists, one block and two triples, but the 76ers fell to the Nets on Thursday in a 122-109 defeat.
Embiid has a strong track record of dominating the Nets, averaging 28.6 points and 12.9 rebounds in 10 regular-season games against them. He has also bullied Jarrett Allen in the past, but that wasn’t the case tonight. Fatigue may have played a role with Embiid playing 37 minutes the night before, but his fantasy managers should just be content that he played both games of the back-to-back. Philly does play five games next week and that includes two back-to-backs, so we would expect at least one DNP out of those five with Philly’s top priority being getting a healthy Embiid to the playoffs.