As an example of how common prolific performances have come in this fun era of offensive growth, Anthony Davis nearly notched a 40-point triple-double on Saturday night and Damian Lillard delivered 40 on Sunday night, and yet they are objectively the fourth- or fifth-most impressive offensive performances of the weekend.
Kyrie Irving dazzled with 43 points on 26 shots to go with 11 dimes and a multitude of broken ankles in leading Boston to a rousing overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. Irving scored (23) or assisted (13) on 36 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Raptors scored 34 points in that span.
It was Irving's first career game with at least 40 points and 10 assists, while the last Boston player to have at least 40 points and 10 dimes in a home game was Larry Bird. In a losing effort, Kawhi Leonard had 31 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for his first career 30-point and 15-rebound game.
LeBron James finished Sunday's win over the Heat with 51 points, breaking a tie with Allen Iverson for the sixth most 50-point games in NBA history. James became the fifth player in NBA history with a 50-point game with three different franchises, while 11 of his 12 career 50-point games have been on the road. The Lakers, meanwhile, are tied for best record in NBA since Nov. 7.
This was all topped by the Hornets' diminutive dynamo Kemba Walker, who tallied a career-high 60 points in a dramatic overtime loss to the 76ers on Saturday night -- outscoring his teammates by one point. Walker became the second player 6-foot-1 or shorter with a 60-point game since Iverson scored 60 against the Magic in 2005, and the first player with 60 points in a home loss since Michael Jordan in January of 1993, also against the Magic.
Given such stellar performances, it's not surprising to see James, Davis, Lillard, Walker, and Irving all found in the top 13 overall in fantasy value per the Player Rater, which is a simple standard deviation model for a given player's contributions in each category in the context of their position.
With these superstars already established as foundational fantasy pieces, it's time to start leveraging the Player Rater in search of strong complementary commodities, such as finding productive and yet widely available players in free agency.
When sifting through the past 15 days of results for guard-eligible players, for instance, we find Atlanta's Kent Bazemore just ahead of the likes of Eric Bledsoe, CJ McCollum and Devin Booker in fantasy value during this sample. As I covered in this week's waiver column, Bazemore and teammate Taurean Prince are being afforded undeniably valuable opportunity rates, despite little appreciation from fantasy managers.
Proving that we can reap real rewards even from the league's worst teams, Bazemore is averaging 14.7 PPG, 1.8 SPG and 1.5 3PG this season, one of just nine NBA players to meet this impressive trio of milestones. Prince, meanwhile, is one of just five players -- joining Irving, Paul George, Khris Middleton, and James Harden -- to average at least 15.8 PPG, 2.5 3PG and 1.2 SPG.
With an eye on meaningful fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's delve into the weekend that was in the NBA.
Saturday and Sunday recap
Highlights
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: 40 points (10-20 FG), 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block
Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder: 32 points (9-22 FG), 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 5 TO
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: 51 points (19-31 FG), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 TO
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers: 40 points (12-29 FG), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 TO
Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets: 60 points (21-34 FG), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 9 TO
Lowlights
Nicolas Batum, Charlotte Hornets: 0 points (0-4 FG), 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 TO
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics: 3 points (1-9 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings: 3 points (1-9 FG), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 TO
Jeff Teague, Minnesota Timberwolves: 2 points (1-9 FG), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 TO
Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat: 6 points (2-9 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 TO
Weekend takeaways
The Warriors have lost three straight games and had one such streak all of last season -- with Stephen Curry missing that streak too. The most meaningful fantasy counsel regarding this team might just be to buy shares of Klay Thompson in trades. Thompson hit just three of his 11 attempts from 3-point range last night in a loss to the Spurs and is now hitting on just 32.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. A career 41.9 percent shooter from beyond at remarkably high volume, the larger sample suggests this is a noisy start to the season for Thompson -- one due for a sizable positive correction.
I couldn't have been more wrong about Orlando's Nikola Vucevic as a fantasy performer entering the season. I mean, at least I didn't trade him for Andrew Bynum like Doug Collins did in a move that sparked The Process. The Magic have scored at least 130 points in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history and have won three straight, thanks in large part to Vucevic's brilliant offensive production; he's produced 94 points and 31 rebounds during this winning streak. For the season, Vucevic is now averaging 20.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.1 BPG on 55.6 percent from the floor and 45.2 percent from 3-point range. For some context, the list of players to average as many points, rebounds, and assists while shooting this well from 3-point range: Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94. Given "The Dream" took just 19 3-pointers that season, it's safe to say Vucevic is brokering new statistical territory.
It's a good time to stock up on "stocks," which is fantasy lingo for steals plus blocks. My three main nominations for defensive mavens in fantasy free agency: the Grizzlies' Jaren Jackson Jr. has averaged a whopping four stocks the past six games, while Mikal Bridges has responded to an uptick in minutes with 3.4 stocks the past three games. Finally, the king of deflections, Robert Covington, has sustained 3.5 stocks between his games for Philly and now the Timberwolves.
As ESPN's Mike Schmitz shared, Luka Doncic has simply been stellar for the Mavs thus far. Clutch playmaking helped Dallas down the Warriors over the weekend, while the numbers below speak for themselves. Congrats, once again, to those who boldly invested in Doncic in the middle rounds this season.
Luka Doncic through his first 15 NBA games: 19.5 PTS, 6.5 REBS and 4.2 AST on 53.1% from 2 and 37.9% from 3. He'll turn 20 at the end of February. https://t.co/RI4QI6fKHT
- Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) November 18, 2018
Injuries of note
The Wizards' Dwight Howard left Sunday's loss to the Blazers at the half with a recurrence of his piriformis injury. Howard should be considered day-to-day going forward.
Atlanta's Prince is listed as doubtful for tonight's matchup with the Clippers due to a sore Achilles that has held him out of the past three contests -- providing even more reason to acquire Bazemore ahead of Monday's contest.
Indiana's All-Star combo guard Victor Oladipo is considered day-to-day after aggravating a right knee ailment on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks. While there's nothing official as of Monday morning, it's looking like Oladipo could be sidelined for tonight's home tilt against the Jazz.
Analytics advantage for Monday
During a busy night, such as Monday's nine-game slate, we'll want to identify the unfriendly and friendly fantasy climates in order to best focus budgetary balance in daily fantasy competition and in seeking out the best games to stream for complementary players. I often lean on Vegas to help simply illuminate this spectrum.
For instance, with several sizable point spreads nearing or topping double-digits tonight -- signaling some potential mismatches or even blowouts -- it could prove wise to stack and stream from this matchup between the Celtics and Hornets set with a healthy projected point total and small two-point spread.
With Kyrie and Kemba providing fireworks worthy of paying up for in DFS, we also find guys like Marcus Morris and Jeremy Lamb affordable in DFS and widely available on waiver wires. Tonight's tilt between the Nuggets and Bucks is another choice example of a fun fantasy climate worth targeting.
Top players to watch tonight
An actual ESPN.com headline from September reads, "Joel Embiid on Deandre Ayton: 'He's about to get his ass kicked'"
Finding the most intriguing matchup for Monday really wasn't so tough, given the premise Embiid established months ago.
"He's going to be good," Embiid told ESPN's Rachel Nichols and Stephen Jackson. "But when you talk about 'He looks like Joel Embiid,' I play on both sides of the court. I think I'm a good offensive player, good defensive player. I do it on both ends of the floor. I watched him play and he's got a lot of work to do. But he's got a lot of potential. He's going to be really good."
Embiid being the gatekeeper for young big men around the league -- he did a similar routing with Mo Bamba -- is just another reason he's a compelling character. With Embiid enjoying an MVP-like start to the season, the rookie will surely have his hands full with the braggadocios big man.