Joel Embiid dominated the Nets on Saturday night, finishing with 33 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals in a 124-108 victory.
The Nets had no answer for The Process tonight, as he made 10-of-21 field goals and 12-of-14 free throws en route to his fourth consecutive game with at least 33 points. Embiid did struggle from deep, hitting just 1-of-7 attempts, but the three swipes tied his second-highest mark of the season and the Sixers handled a short-handed Brooklyn squad that was without two of its three superstars.
Landry Shamet had his best game of the season on Saturday, dropping 22 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Shamet made the most of his extra playing time on Saturday, hitting 7-of-17 shots with a season-best five triples in 33 minutes. He's now made nine 3-pointers in his last two games which has to be a relief for him and the Nets as he's shooting just 31% from distance this year. But he only got extra burn tonight because Kevin Durant (quarantine) and Kyrie Irving (finger) were out, so leave him on the shelf until he shows us more consistency.
Collin Sexton accounted for 17 points (6-of-18 FGs, 3-of-6 FTs), three rebounds, three assists, one steal and two 3-pointers in 34 minutes Saturday vs. Milwaukee.
Sexton will likely be happy that he won’t have to see Milwaukee again for a bit, as he shot a combined 13-of-35 from the field in Cleveland’s two losses this weekend. But after ranking outside of the top-100 in each of his first two seasons, the third-year guard is safely within that threshold in both 8- and 9-cat formats. Sexton should remain a top-100 player, so long as he continues to produce in an efficient manner.
Clint Capela went off for 23 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks and one turnovers across 29 minutes in Saturday's win over the Raptors.
Capela was held to just six points on 3-of-14 shooting his last time out, but he surpassed that mark just six minutes into today’s game, as he got lots of easy buckets by constantly outrunning the Toronto bigs in the break. He was the first Atlanta player to reach double figures in the scoring department tonight and finished 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from the stripe.
Darius Garland finished Saturday’s loss to the Bucks with 17 points (7-of-12 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), one rebound, nine assists, one steal and one 3-pointer in 34 minutes.
Garland fell one helper shy of what would have been his third double-digit assist game of the season, but Cleveland (and fantasy managers) needs a little more consistency from him in that area. The second-year point guard had a total of six assists in the two games prior, and he’s had four or fewer in three of Cleveland’s last five. Garland is still a top-100 player in 8-cat formats, but he sits well outside of that threshold in 9-cat.
Larry Nance Jr. accounted for four points (2-of-3 FGs), five rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes Saturday vs. Milwaukee.
Nance was appearing in a game for the first time in a week, so the Cavaliers took a conservative approach to his playing time. He’s still a top-50 player in 9-cat formats, so fantasy managers would be wise to hang onto one of the biggest surprises in fantasy basketball. But given the nature of the injury, as it was Nance’s shooting wrist, the scoring numbers could be down even with the coming minutes increase.
Danilo Gallinari came off the bench for 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, three 3-pointers and two turnovers across 25 minutes.
Gallinari was extremely passive to start this game, attempting just one shot (which he missed) through the first half of action, but he was much more aggressive after halftime and finished the game on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the stripe. He had been in a brutal shooting funk over the past three, connecting on just 25.9% of his shot attempts, so it was nice to see him get things back on track with an efficient effort tonight. Look for him to keep it going on Wednesday vs. Dallas.
Kevin Huerter (left ankle) scored 19 points in a win over the Raptors on Saturday, adding five triples, four assists, three rebounds and two turnovers across 37 minutes.
Huerter was locked in from the jump, only missing once through the first half of action, and he finished 6-of-9 from the floor (5-of-8 from distance) and 2-of-2 from the line. His fifth three was a dagger to the Raptors, as he put the Hawks up by 10 with less than a minute left, and Toronto wasn’t able to mount a comeback. This was Atlanta’s first win over Toronto since March 10 of 2017.
Kyle Lowry hit 4-of-16 shots for nine points, three rebounds, five assists, one 3-pointer and one turnover across 37 minutes in Saturday's loss to the Hawks.
Lowry couldn’t get anything going in this one, bricking his first six 3-point attempts, and he didn’t get his first triple to drop until late in the fourth quarter. Fred VanVleet also struggled with his shot, going 6-of-18 from the floor, but he was also 10-of-11 at the line to give him 25 points, six rebounds, 10 assists, three triples, two steals and two turnovers across 39 minutes.
Jeff Green started on Saturday night vs the Sixers, scoring 10 points with two rebounds, a steal and two 3-pointers.
Green was back in the starting lineup with Kevin Durant (quarantine) out but couldn't do much, hitting just 3-of-9 field goals and 2-of-6 triples in 29 minutes. He did, however, notch his 12th double-digit scoring mark in 13 games, and with KD out for at least a week, he should have few more opportunities to add to that.
Wayne Ellington (right calf strain) is a late scratch for Saturday's game vs. the Lakers.
Ellington was considered to be a game-time decision, but he will not play Saturday night. Saddiq Bey made the start in his place Saturday night.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot played 33 minutes on Saturday vs Philly, netting 13 points, two boards, one assist and two steals in the loss.
TLC got the spot start for Kyrie Irving (finger) and made 5-of-12 field goals with two 3-pointers. It was his first time scoring at least 10 points in over a week so unless Kyrie misses another game, it's safe to leave him on waivers.
James Harden had another solid game on Saturday, recording 26 points, eight boards and 10 assists in the Nets 124-108 loss to the Sixers.
Brooklyn was shorthanded tonight and Kevin Durant (quarantine) and Kyrie Irving (finger) were sidelined, leaving Harden to carry the load. And he did, making 10-of-20 field goals and three 3-pointers in 29 minutes. But he was also defended well by Ben Simmons and the Sixers proved to be too much with their full squad. At least Harden still put up some decent numbers for fantasy managers.
Jrue Holiday accounted for 20 points (8-of-14 FGs, 2-of-4 FTs), three rebounds, eight assists, two steals, one block and two 3-pointers in 25 minutes Saturday vs. Cleveland.
The eight assists are a season-high for Holiday, who also matched his season-low in minutes played. That was due to a combination of the game getting out of hand, and Bryn Forbes getting hot from deep. Holiday currently ranks just outside of the top-20 in 9-cat formats, and he should remain on that level all season long given his ability to post full stat lines.
Khris Middleton shot 8-of-13 from the field in Saturday’s win over the Cavaliers, tallying 20 points, one rebound, four assists, one steal and four 3-pointers in 29 minutes.
Prior to Saturday, Middleton had gone five games since he last scored at least 20 points in a game. He got back on track in that regard, shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while also dishing out for assists. After averaging 15.2 field goal attempts per game in January, Middleton’s averaging just under ten per in February (four games). He’s still providing third-round value in both 8- and 9-cat formats, so it isn’t as if Middleton is in the midst of a major slump. Fantasy managers shouldn't be concerned at all.
Bryn Forbes shot 6-of-6 from three in Saturday’s win over Cleveland, finishing with 18 points, one assist and one steal in 18 minutes.
Forbes missed his lone 2-point field goal attempt, and that didn’t matter given how well he shot it from deep. He has now made two 3-pointers or more in six of Milwaukee’s last seven games, with the lone exception being Friday’s win over the Cavs (1-of-4). Forbes doesn’t offer much else when it comes to fantasy value, so unless there’s a dire need for 3-pointers, fantasy managers can level him on the waiver wire.
Mo Bamba posted a line of 14 points (7-of-8 FGs), seven rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots in 12 minutes Saturday vs. Chicago.
“Garbage time” is anything but that for players hoping to catch the eye of the coaching staff, so give Bamba credit for making the most of his time Saturday night. But don’t expect him to turn into a viable fantasy option anytime soon, as he’s still behind Nikola Vucevic and Khem Birch on the depth chart.
Dwayne Bacon played 31 minutes in Saturday’s loss to the Bulls, finishing with 16 points (6-of-14 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), three rebounds, one steal and two 3-pointers.
Bacon was a late entry into the starting lineup, as Evan Fournier was ultimately ruled out due to back spasms. How severe Fournier’s injury is remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that he missed nine games earlier this season for the same reason. With Aaron Gordon (ankle) out for an extended period of time, Bacon could be in line for even more rotation minutes for the shorthanded Magic. Unfortunately he’s a tough sell in most fantasy formats, as Bacon doesn’t provide a great deal outside of points.
Frank Mason played 26 minutes in Saturday's loss to the Bulls, tallying 10 points (4-of-10 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs), four rebounds and four assists.
Mason was signed to a two-way deal on February 2, as the Magic were in need of another point guard. Given the timeline he played quite well, as in addition to the 10/4/4 line he did not commit a turnover. There were short stints in which Mason shared the court with starting point guard Cole Anthony, but fantasy managers shouldn’t expect to see that happen often due to the issues that this caused defensively. Mason isn’t worth rostering, but given Orlando's bad luck with injuries, it wouldn’t hurt to keep him on your radar.
Starting for the injured Lauri Markkanen, Denzel Valentine played 37 minutes in Saturday’s win over the Magic and tallied 20 points (8-of-17 FGs), three rebounds, four assists, one steal and four 3-pointers.
Valentine made his first start of the season Saturday night, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. The 20 points are the most that he’s scored in a game since March 23, 2018, when he scored 20 in a loss to the Bucks. Over the last week, Valentine ranks just outside of the top-100 in 9-cat formats, and a lot of that work was done while coming off the bench. He offers some deep-league value right now, especially with Otto Porter (back) still sidelined, but that represents Valentine’s ceiling.