P.J. Washington hit just 3-of-8 shots and a 3-pointer but also finished with nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks in a 102-94 win over the Hawks on Wednesday.
Washington is dealing with a sore thumb and while it might have affected his shot tonight, he had his best fantasy line of the season. He played 38 minutes and is worth rostering in all leagues until further notice. Hopefully the blocks are coming, but it's worth noting that PJW didn't have one in his previous five games.
Elfrid Payton hit 10-of-15 shots for 22 points, two rebounds, eight assists, a steal and just one turnover in Wednesday's impressive win over the Jazz.
Payton ran circles around Mike Conley tonight and has quietly scored in double figures in six straight games after a slow start to the season. Payton hasn't hit a 3-pointer in four straight games and isn't really a steals guy, but he's playing well for Tom Thibodeau and is worth grabbing if you've got someone to cut. He's playing well and has helped the Knicks win three straight games.
RJ Barrett hit just 4-of-14 shots and missed all three of his 3-pointers, but finished Wednesday's win with nine points, five rebounds, one assist, three steals and a block in a 112-100 win over the Jazz.
Believe it or not, this was Barrett's first game of the season in single-digit scoring but the three steals were a season high. He had two steals in his previous game with 11 rebounds and he's finally starting to fill up stat sheets on the nightly. HIs shooting is still suspect at times and the peripheral stats aren't guaranteed, but he's been playing at a high level. If you took a late flier on him on draft night, he's paying nice dividends thus far.
Ben Simmons had a 17-point, 12-assist double-double in Wednesday's win over the Wizards.
Simmons got off to a hot start in this one, not missing a single shot through the first half of action, and he finished 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from the stripe while adding six rebounds, two steals and three turnovers in his 36 minutes of floor time. Tobias Harris also had a solid game with 19 points, seven boards, three assists, three triples and two turnovers in 41 minutes.
Austin Rivers came off the bench to hit 9-of-14 shots and five 3-pointers for a season-high 23 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 32 minutes on Wednesday.
Tom Thibodeau seems to like Rivers and he played great tonight. "He understands what it takes to win," Thibodeau said. "He understands the difference between the first three quarters and the fourth quarter, and the intensity that's involved." Thibs likes Rivers and the Knicks aren't exactly stacked at the guard positions. He's scored 23, 8 and 15 points with 10 3-pointers in his last three games and is worth a look in 12-team leagues if your waiver wire is lean.
Danny Green (finger) hit 5-of-10 shots for 15 points, fivee triples, three boards, five dimes, two steals and one turnover across 30 minutes in Wednesday's win over Washington.
Green tweaked a finger on his right shooting hand on Monday, but you wouldn't know it the way he's been playing. Over the past three games, Green has been on a heater with averages of 13.7 points, 3.7 treys, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steal and just 1.0 turnover per game on 51.9% shooting. Those numbers feel unsustainable, but he's worth a look in deep leagues to see just how long he can keep the hot streak going.
De'Aaron Fox suffered an early hamstring injury on Wednesday and won't return to the game.
He lasted just five minutes and finished with three points before being shut down. We're calling him day-to-day for now and while it's unclear what the Kings will do if Fox is going to miss time, you have to think that Cory Joseph and Tyrese Haliburton will share the point guard minutes. Halliburton is the upside guy, while Joseph is probably the safe play. But neither is a must-have player in fantasy right this minute.
Seth Curry dropped in a season-high 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting Wednesday, to go with six triples, five rebounds, three assists and one turnover in 36 minutes.
Curry only scored 11 points in Monday’s blowout win, but he surpassed that mark by the first quarter of today’s game, dropping in 15 points in his first 10-minute stint with just one missed FGA. He's having himself a career-year as the starting two-guard in Philly, flirting with top-40 value behind averages of 17.0 points, 3.6 assists, 3.1 triples and just 1.5 turnovers per game on 60.3% shooting. He's obviously not going to shoot such a sky-high field goal percentage for the entire season, but he'll be a reliable source of points and triples with a steady stream of dimes.
Shake Milton went 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 at the stripe for 19 points in 20 minutes off the bench on Wednesday.
Milton added one 3-pointer, three assists, one steal and four turnovers while he was out there, and after posting two consecutive single-digit stinkers earlier this season, he's gotten things back on track over the past four games with averages of 15.3 points, 4.0 assists, 1.5 triples, 1.0 steal, 0.5 blocks and just 1.5 turnovers per game on 45.8% shooting, so he's worth a look if you need some cheap guard stats.
Devonte' Graham hit just 2-of-14 shots and two 3-pointers for 11 points, four rebounds, seven assists and a season-high four steals in 39 minutes of Wednesday's win over the Hawks.
The Hornets stopped a three-game losing streak with the win, but Graham's shooting has been a disaster this season. He's hit just 25-of-99 shots on the season and has yet to come close to hitting 50 percent of his shots in any game. The 25 percent shooting is atrocious and you have to think he'll turn it around at some point, but we're eight games in and he's yet to show any signs of turning it around. He's an interesting buy-low option right now.
Dwayne Bacon hit 8-of-14 shots and two 3-pointers for 19 points, two rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes on Wednesday night.
Bacon had scored a total of just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting over his last two games but played better tonight. The rest of his stats weren't there and usually aren't, so he probably belongs on your waiver wire unless he starts knocking down shots more consistently. And even if that happens, he just doesn't do much else besides score some points.
Cedi Osman hit just 1-of-12 shots and was 0-for-7 from downtown for four points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 33 minutes of Wednesday's loss to the Magic.
Dang it. Osman was showing signs of life recently, averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and a steal over his last couple games, hitting 10-of-26 shots with seven 3-pointers. But he fell back to earth in a big way tonight, although the rebounds, assists and steals were there. He has seven dimes in each of his last two games and it's starting to look like he's either going to be hit-or-miss with his shot from night to night. And tonight, it was a big miss. The Cavaliers play four games in each of the next five upcoming weeks, so if you can handle the suspect shooting, Osman's probably worth rostering in most leagues if games played matter to you.
Isaac Okoro returned from a foot injury on Wednesday and hit 4-of-5 shots for 10 points and two assists in a loss to the Magic.
He shot it well but didn't do anything else. Okoro is intriguing with Darius Garland out for the next few games, but Collin Sexton had 21 points and Okoro couldn't really get anything going. He's a marginal player to hold right now, but is an interesting player with the Cavs playing four times in each of the next five weeks.
Damyean Dotson came off the bench for four points and three assists on 2-of-5 shooting in just 16 minutes before leaving with an injury before the game was over.
He came up "gimpy" so we're assuming he tweaked an ankle, but unless he's starting for the Cavaliers, he has no business being on most fantasy rosters.
Doug McDermott tweaked his left ankle after coming down with a rebound and won't return to Wednesday's game.
McDermott was starting to become a hot pickup as the Pacers play five times next week, but this could put a damper on those plans. He finished with six points and two rebounds in 16 minutes and T.J. McConnell replaced him in the lineup. If McBuckets is going to miss time it's possible that McConnell could be worth a deep-league look with five games next week, but we should know more about the injury on Thursday.
Kawhi Leonard is not on the injury report for Wednesday vs. the Warriors.
If this holds, this will be Kawhi's first time playing in both games of a back-to-back since 2017. He's been criticized for the amount of load management he's had over the last few years and has been drafted at a discount in fantasy leagues for a few years because of that. This doesn't mean he won't rest from time to time, but his fantasy managers have to be ecstatic right now.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope won't play on Thursday against the Spurs due to an ankle injury. Alex Caruso is no longer listed on the injury report.
Caldwell-Pope hasn't played since New Year's Day, though he did go through a full practice on Monday, and looks closer to returning. Kyle Kuzma's joined the starting lineup in the interim, though it's unclear if the Lakers will shake things up if KCP can't give it a go, with Alex Caruso set to play his first game since December 27.
Josh Okogie (left hamstring) has been ruled out for Thursday vs. the Blazers.
He was originally hopeful to play in this one so he may be back after the road trip. With no Okogie, look for Jarrett Culver, Juancho Hernangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt to be more involved.
Marcus Morris is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday after being sidelined with a knee injury to start the season.
We still don't have the starting lineup for the Clippers but the fact that Morris, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are all expected to play is worthy of some headlines. We wouldn't mess with Morris tonight in fantasy unless he's the only option available.
Reggie Bullock will play on Wednesday against the Jazz after sitting out with a sore knee.
The Knicks ran with eight players on Monday against the Hawks, and will be without Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, Frank Ntilikina and Nerlens Noel on Wednesday. Bullock, if he's able, should get a ton of minutes and opportunities to score. Dennis Smith Jr. and Omari Spellman are returning on Wednesday, too, but Bullock is the better fantasy option of the night.