Kristaps Porzingis hit 10-of-19 shots, four 3-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws for 27 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and a season-high six blocks in Monday's 127-122 win over the Wolves.
The points and boards both tied his season highs and the blocks make this his best game of the season in our eyes. The Mavs were up by 20 at halftime, thanks to KP, but let the Wolves back into the game. Dallas was able to hang on for the win and their use of some new rotation tweaks tonight appeared to pay off. Dallas has now won three of their last four games and will look to keep it going on Wednesday against the Hawks.
Josh Richardson hit 6-of-10 shots, a 3-pointer and 5-of-5 free throws for 18 points, five rebounds and a season-high eight assists in Monday's win over the Wolves.
Richardson is having a really nice February, averaging 15.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.0 3-pointers in his five games. It seems that he should be rostered in more than 51 percent of Yahoo! leagues, which is where he currently sits.
Thaddeus Young played 28 off the Bulls bench on Monday, posting 14 points, five rebounds, six assists, one steal and two blocks.
He made 7-of-11 shots vs. the Wizards and though he hasn't made and 3-pointer in his last four games, he's still been pretty damn good since Jan. 25. And now that Lauri Markkanen (shoulder) is going to be out for 2-4 weeks, Young will have more chances to continue his impressive play. He's a must-have player in all leagues.
Davis Bertans got the start on Monday vs. the Bulls, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Scott Brooks swapped Bertans into the starting lineup for rookie Deni Avdija with hopes of instilling some confidence in his $80 million shooter, and it sort of worked. Bertans shot of 4-of-11 in the game with all his attempts coming from beyond the arc. As a matter of fact, all 13 of his made field goals in February have been 3-pointers and he's currently connecting on 33% of his looks. He'll look to increase his efficiency on Wednesday vs the Raptors.
Desmond Bane made his first NBA start on Monday and hit 5-of-11 shots and three 3-pointers for 13 points, three rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes of a loss to the Raptors.
Not a head-turning performance, but a solid outing for the rookie. He got the start over Xavier Tillman tonight as the Grizzlies went small against the Raptors but we'll have to see if he sticks. Brandon Clarke was out and we still haven't seen Jaren Jackson Jr. this season, so Bane's starting role might end as quickly as it started. But if it does stick, he'll be worth a look in many fantasy leagues. But then again, he already was when he was coming off the bench.
Deni Avdija came off the bench on Monday vs the Bulls, scoring four points with 10 rebounds, one assist and three swipes.
Davis Bertans got the start over Avdija tonight but it wasn't because the rookie has been playing badly, but more so because Bertans has and Scott Brooks wants to help get him going. Before the game, Brooks said he told Avdija he will "be a starter in this league for a long time, you just aren't starting tonight." The good news in this is that we know Avdija is talented enough to be starting every night. But the bad news is this doesn't help his case for being a reliable fantasy player.
Alex Len scored 13 points with seven rebounds, one assist and two blocks on Monday night in the Wizards 105-101 victory over the Buls.
Len got another start and looked pretty decent, making all five of his field goals and 3-of-6 free throws in 21 minutes. In doing so, he also notched his third game with at least 10 points in four tries and has eight blocks in that period as well. He might worth a look in deep leagues if you're in need of high field goal percentage and swats.
Raul Neto started on Monday but had a quiet night, managing to score just six points with four assists and a rebound.
Neto got the spot-start with Russell Westbrook resting but he was on a minutes restriction and was thus limited. He made 3-of-6 shots in 17 minutes but the Wizards still got the win thanks to Bradley Beal's 35 points.
Jaylen Nowell scored a career-high 18 points with five rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer in Monday's loss to the Mavericks.
Who? Shockingly, Nowell is on fire, scoring in double figures in eight straight games from deep off the Wolves bench. He came into this one averaging 12.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 3-pointers in his four February games and all of those numbers are going up after this performance. He's only someone to think about in deeper leagues and his run could and at any time, but what he's done this month has been quite impressive. He was the 43rd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Rui Hachimura had one of his best games of the season on Monday, posting 19 points and 10 rebounds in the Wizards' 105-101 win over the Bulls.
Rui made 7-of-13 from the floor, 4-of-5 at the line with one 3-pointer in 36 minutes of action. His 10 rebounds were a season-high and he secured his first double-double of the year in a winning effort. Rui has scored in double figures in four of his last five but only has two steals and a block in that stretch. But for those who thought about dropping the second-year forward, hang on because he will get it going.
Fred VanVleet hit 8-of-14 shots, four 3-pointers and 12-of-12 free throws for 32 points, three rebounds, nine assists and three steals in Monday's win over the Grizzlies.
Kyle Lowry left early with back spasms tonight and FVV did what he's been doing a lot lately. He's been a fantasy monster and it's scary to think what he could do if he was ever given a starting point guard job of his own. If Lowry is going to miss time with his back issue, VanVleet would be even more of a must-start than he already is, if that's even possible. He's now averaging 30.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.3 blocks and 4.8 3-pointers in his four February games.
Chris Boucher hit 4-of-11 shots, two 3-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws for 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 29 minutes off the bench on Monday.
Not an incredible outing for Boucher but he's now posted three solid lines in a row after getting some weird (low) minutes at the end of January. Nick Nurse said prior to the game that Boucher might crack the starting lineup at some point in the near future, but for now, he likes the energy Boucher brings off the bench. Hopefully you didn't drop him when he was getting 14 minutes a night a couple weeks ago.
Jonas Valanciunas got some revenge on his former team when he lit the Raptors up for season highs of 27 points and 20 rebounds in Monday's 128-113 loss.
JV hit 8-of-12 shots and 11-of-12 free throws and added three assists, a steal and a block in the loss. He's quietly double-doubled in all but four games this season and as evidenced tonight, might just be getting ready to heat up.
Dillon Brooks hit 8-of-20 shots, four 3-pointers and 2-of-4 free throws for 22 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks in 37 minutes of Monday's loss to the Raptors.
Brooks' middle name might be 'missed shots,' as that's what he seems to excel at, hitting just 37.5 percent of them on the season. But he also comes through with some nice, all-around games quite often and tonight's line was one of his better ones of the season. He'll look to keep it going against the Hornets on Wednesday and the only thing that's keeping him on waiver wires in some leagues is the poor shooting.
Victor Oladipo bounced back from his last outing, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a steal on Monday night.
He scored just nine points on Saturday and seeing him eclipse 20 tonight was a relief, but he shot just 7-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-10 from deep. Dipo could've easily dropped 30 tonight with John Wall and Eric Gordon resting but his shot just wasn't there, and now he'll be sitting tomorrow night vs the Pelicans as the other two Rockets guards return to the lineup. Pick up Gordon as a streamer for Oladipo.
Jae'Sean Tate logged 29 minutes against Charlotte on Monday, scoring 13 points with four boards, an assist, a steal and a block.
Tate hit 5-of-7 shots and 3-of-4 free throws, recording his fourth double-digit scoring mark in six games. It was a nice showing after he managed just four points on Saturday. But he's still too inconsistent to roster even in deep leagues.
Pascal Siakam hit 11-of-18 shots and five 3-pointers for 32 points, five rebounds, six assists, a steal, a block and just one turnover in Monday's win over the Grizzlies.
Kyle Lowry left the game early with back spasms and didn't return, so Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell took over on offense. This was his third 32-point game of the season and his season-high is 33 points. Siakam is a beast and will likely keep it going, with or without Lowry on Wednesday against the Wizards.
Norman Powell connected on 10-of-17 shots, 6-of-9 3-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws on his way to a season-high 29 points in Monday's 128-113 win over Memphis.
Unfortunately, he added just one rebound, one assist and one steal in his 37 minutes tonight. Powell has quietly scored at least 18 points in eight straight games and likely got some extra opportunities tonight with Kyle Lowry leaving early with back spasms. He's really nice in the 3-pointers, steals and scoring categories, although he didn't do much besides shoot it lights out tonight.
David Nwaba struggled on Monday night vs the Hornets, finishing with just nine points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Nwaba got some extra playing time with Eric Gordon (rest) out but he couldn't get it going on offense, missing 10 of his 14 field goals with no threes, two turnovers and three fouls. It was his worst shooting performance of the year and one that he'll look to put behind him tomorrow night vs the Pelicans. Though he might not play as much as he did tonight.
Jrue Holiday has been ruled out for Monday night's contest vs the Nuggets.
There's no indication yet on why Holiday is sitting out of tonight's game. We're assuming it to rest but we'll have more as details unfold. For now, Bryn Forbes will get the start and provides some streaming appeal in deep leagues.