Dennis Schroder hit 7-of-9 shots, 2-of-2 3-pointers and 5-of-5 free throws for 21 points, two rebounds and four assists in Thursday's win.
He said he wanted to start at point guard for the Lakers and he's doing just that. His hustle has been inspiring to watch and he's endearing himself to his teammates in hopes of a championship run. Schroder has now rattled off six straight games in double-digit scoring and has been shooting the ball extremely well over that stretch. He won't hurt you anywhere and while he won't get you a lot of peripheral stats, he is good for some decent assist and 3-pointer numbers. He's worth a waiver-wire look if he's sitting out there in your league.
John Wall returned to action after a rest day on Thursday and hit 6-of-17 shots, four 3-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws on his way to 22 points, one rebound, eight assists and seven turnovers in 28 minutes of a 115-103 win over the Grizzlies.
Wall wasn't efficient and didn't take care of the ball, but also came through with a decent stat line. He had his back wrapped up when he was on the sidelines but was able to play through it. The seven turnovers were easily a season high but he's helped the Rockets to wins in the last six games in which Wall has played. As long as he's starting for the Rockets he should be in your fantasy lineup.
Eric Gordon started with Victor Oladipo resting on Thursday and hit 7-of-18 shots and two 3-pointers for 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in a 115-103 win over the Grizzlies.
Gordon has now scored at least 20 points in all three of his February games and has hit 10 3-pointers in them. He's been helped by missed games from Oladipo and John Wall recently, but he's going to be instant offense off the Rockets bench until further notice. His usage rate should get a boost with Christian Wood likely to miss significant time with a sprained right ankle suffered on Thursday, so make sure Gordon's not floating on your league's waiver wire right now.
DeMarcus Cousins played 16 minutes and hit 2-of-5 shots and a 3-pointer for five points, six rebounds and three assists in Thursday's win over the Grizzlies.
Christian Wood went down with an ugly right ankle sprain and is going to miss time, meaning Cousins should be rostered in all formats. We're not sure how many minutes Cousins is going to be able to handle or whether he'll play in back-to-backs, but we're about to find out.
Danuel House played 32 minutes off the bench and hit 5-of-9 shots and three 3-pointers for 13 points, two rebounds, five assists and three steals in Thursday's win over the Grizzlies.
House had just two points in his previous game and isn't a must-have player, but with Christian Wood going down tonight with a badly sprained ankle, and John Wall and Victor Oladipo both getting some rest lately, House could be in line for more games like this going forward. Just keep a close eye on him.
Xavier TIllman started for the Grizzlies again and had nine points, 10 rebounds, a steal and a 3-pointer in 23 minutes of Thursday's 115-103 loss to the Rockets.
It's anyone's guess as to when we might see Jaren Jackson Jr. this season and both Tillman and Brandon Clarke have been filling in nicely. Jonas Valanciunas missed another game for health and safety protocols tonight, but even when he's healthy, guys like Clarke, Tillman and Gorgui Dieng are all going to get meaningful minutes. Tillman's a nice player to use as long as Valanciunas is out, and maybe beyond. Clarke added 13 points, five boards, three steals and a block in a starting role tonight.
Kyle Anderson missed all seven of his shots and hit three free throws for three points, five rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes of Thursday's 115-103 loss to the Rockets.
SloMo was in super slow-mo mode tonight and couldn't get anything going. It was his worst game of the season and after scoring in double figures in four straight games, he's scored just six and three points in his last two on 2-of-14 shooting. He's in a slump, but will look to break out of it on Saturday against the Pelicans. Hang in there with him if you can.
Damion Lee had 17 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and four triples in 25 minutes vs. the Mavericks on Thursday.
The Warriors scored a season-high 147 points and Lee feasted in garbage time as a result with nine of his 17 points in the fourth. There were some calls for Lee to enter the starting lineup earlier this season in place of Kelly Oubre but that's obviously out of the question now with Oubre going bonkers for 40 points. Lee is a deep-league asset until further notice.
Ja Morant hit 6-of-15 shots, a 3-pointer and 2-of-5 free throws for 15 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes of Thursday's loss to the Rockets.
Morant had been shooting the ball very well but is in a mini-slump, hitting just 8-of-25 shots over his last two games. He looks healthy and should be getting ready to take off after an extended absence due to an ankle injury. Look for his shot to get back on track against the Pelicans on Saturday.
Kristaps Porzingis played 25 minutes vs. the Warriors on Thursday, hitting 9-of-16 shots for 25 points with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and five triples.
The fantasy line was great, but the eye test, not so much. The Warriors dropped a season-high 147 points vs. Dallas' hopeless defense as they fell to 9-14 on the season. The Mavs were outscored 36-20 in the third quarter, and after the game the Mavs immediately watched the replay. “We want to be better than this, and we will be better than this. Looking forward to Saturday.” Let's see how Porzingis and the Mavs respond in Saturday's rematch vs. the Warriors, and despite the awful showing from his team, Porzingis' fantasy managers should be thrilled that he played both games of this back-to-back.
Gorgui Dieng came off the bench to hit 2-of-5 shots (both makes were 3-pointers) and 2-of-2 free throws for eight points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and three blocks in 23 minutes off the bench on Thursday.
Dieng was hot for a couple games but has cooled off, scoring just five and eight points in his last two games. But he filled the stat sheet tonight, has at least one block in five straight games and has a steal in seven of his last eight games. He's also hit a 3-pointer in all but two games this season and with Jaren Jackson Jr. nowhere to be found and Jonas Valanciunas in the COVID protocol, Dieng is still worth holding. However, if you can drop him to pick up DeMarcus Cousins, we'd probably go that route right now.
Tyus Jones played just 19 minutes off the bench but still came through with 13 points, two rebounds, eight assists, a steal and three 3-pointers on 5-of-8 shooting in Thursday's loss.
Jones has been putting up solid numbers, even with the return of a healthy Ja Morant, but he generally gets around 20 minutes a night. He's worth a deep-league look, but is only truly worth rostering in all formats when Morant is hurting. He should be on your radar in case he keeps his hot February going.
Luka Doncic's 27 points weren't enough vs. the Warriors on Thursday, as the Mavs were run out of the building in a 147-116 defeat.
Luka went 8-of-20 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line, adding six rebounds, six assists, one steal and three triples. There's not much to take away from this absolute blowout but it's just great to see Luka having so much success at the line, as that was the biggest question mark coming into the season -- he's now sitting at 79% on the season, 4% higher than last season.
Furkan Korkmaz made a spot-start vs. the Blazers on Thursday for Ben Simmons (calf), scoring 13 points with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one triple in 38 minutes.
Simmons was a late scratch and coach Doc Rivers seemed to indicate that he was simply rested for the second game of this back-to-back. Korkmaz doesn't see enough minutes or shots to sustain value when the 76ers are healthy so he's only a streamer when the 76ers rest their studs. Philly has been linked to J.J. Redick, so that's something to keep in mind if you have Korkmaz in a very deep league.
Shake Milton (right knee) was able to play on Thursday vs. the Blazers and scored 12 points with four dimes and one rebound in 24 minutes.
Mitlon hyperextended his knee on Wednesday and Doc Rivers admitted that the 76ers were very concerned at first, but playing on the second night of a back-to-back is an encouraging sign. We were hoping to see Milton get himself going tonight with no Ben Simmons (calf), but instead it was Tyrese Maxey and Furkan Korkmaz who stepped up the most. He's losing steam and is in drop territory in standard leagues, but holding until we get some news on Simmons makes sense even though he's believed to be day-to-day.
Tyrese Maxey resurfaced on Thursday vs. the Blazers with 15 points, four dimes, two rebounds, one steal and two triples in 21 minutes.
Ben Simmons (calf) was a late scratch and is believed to be day-to-day, but the 76ers will be happy that their prized rookie got some much needed run after playing 10 or fewer minutes in three of his previous four games. Maxey is not an add but keep him on your radar as we wait for more details on Simmons and now Joel Embiid who tweaked his knee in this game.
In his first extended look of the season, CJ Elleby had multiple career-highs on Thursday vs. the 76ers with 15 points (5-of-9 FGs, 4-of-6 FTs), seven rebounds, one dime, one steal, two blocks and one triple in 31 minutes.
The 2020 second-round pick was a stat stuffer at Washington State with 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.8 blocks and 2.3 3-pointers per game and was all over the place tonight for Portland. While this line is going to give coach Terry Stotts something to think about going forward, keep in mind that the Blazers are pretty much missing half their team right now so we can't read too much into it. If Damian Lillard (abdomen) returns this weekend and Elleby remains in the rotation, that should get your attention in deeper formats.
Anfernee Simons was productive in 19 minutes vs. the 76ers on Thursday with 14 points (4-of-9 FGs, 4-of-5 FTs), two assists, one rebound, one steal and two triples.
He aggravated his hamstring on Tuesday and had a 20-minute limit tonight as a precaution. Simons has really impressed over the last two weeks and has earned the trust of head coach Terry Stotts -- we even saw Stotts drawing up shots in the clutch for him last week. With Damian Lillard (abdomen) out tonight and the Blazers so shorthanded, Simons is on the streaming radar with 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 dimes and 3.1 triples over the last two weeks.
Rodney Hood made another start on Thursday vs. the 76ers and was solid with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and two triples in 34 minutes.
When you take Jusuf Nurkic, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum out of the mix, there's suddenly a ton of usage up for grabs and Hood was a number of Blazers who took advantage tonight. It sounds like Lillard could be back this weekend, and while Hood has been productive in two straight, we're not adding unless Dame sits because Gary Trent Jr. is the wing to roster in Portland right now with early-round numbers over the last couple weeks.
John Collins scored 17 points vs. the Jazz on Thursday, going 6-of-16 from the field with seven rebounds, one assist, two steals and one triple in 32 minutes.
Collins did have an awkward landing early in the fourth quarter so we'll keep an eye out for an update on that front. Trae Young (calf) was out tonight and if you remember last season, Trae's absence never helped Collins because the offense is a total mess without him -- the Hawks have a +6.4 net rating with Trae on the court and a -10.4 net rating with him off. Hopefully Trae is back this weekend because his return will benefit Collins along with several others.