With the LeBron-Durant showdown taking center stage last night, the NBA was the focus of the sports world and put on a solid show with 10 games across the country. The night was originally scheduled for 11, but the Hawks and Pistons were forced to postpone their contest due to inclement weather in Atlanta. The games that did happen had some interesting results as well as some fantasy basketball standouts. Here are the top performers from Wednesday night’s action:
Lowry went off against the Magic putting up over 30 points for the second game in a row finishing with 33 while shooting 11-20 from the field in his 37 minutes. His scoring included six three-pointers (giving him 10 total in his last two games), and he also contributed to his owners and the Raptors with 11 assists and seven rebounds. When DeMar DeRozan is out, Lowry picks up the scoring slack, so get him in your daily lineups especially whenever that’s the case.
Dirk led all scorers last night with 38 but the Mavs fell to Houston 117-115. He added 17 boards in his 35 minutes while also dishing out three assists, but he just didn’t get enough help from his supporting cast to keep up with the Rockets.
The biggest game was of last night was definitely KD and the Thunder getting a statement win against LeBron and the Heat in Miami. Durant continued his run of 30+ point games scoring 33 while adding seven rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. He finished an efficient 12-23 from the field in his 40 minutes and knocked down four three-pointers.
Jefferson has been playing as well as any big-man in the league lately and had another big performance last night to get Charlotte a road win in Denver. Big Al finished with 35 points and 11 rebounds to go with two blocks and two assists. In his last five games, Jefferson has averaged 27.6 points and 12.4 rebounds and has a double-double in all of his last seven games except for one game where he fell just one rebound shy.
Leading the Grizz to a win in Sacramento, Conley scored 27 points on a uber-efficient 8-13 from the field and 9-9 from the free throw line. He added 10 assists in his 34 minutes as well as a pair of steals and three rebounds. He’s emerged as a nice PG option who won’t hurt percentages and give you points and assists.
While Eric Bledsoe has been sidelined, Dragic has picked up the scoring slack as he did again last night pouring in 30 against the Bucks. He had six assists, a steal, and four rebounds, and possibly most impressively was able to rack up all those stats in just 24 minutes since the Suns pulled away from Milwaukee early.
Griffin fell a rebound short of a double-double but still finished with 29 points in the Clippers win over Washington. With his nine rebounds he also added a steal, a block, and four assists in his 37 minutes.
Although LeBron and the Heat couldn’t overcome the Durantula, he still had a solid statistical game scoring 34 points on 12-20 shooting while adding three rebounds and three assists. James and all the Heat struggled from deep (James went 1-5), but other than that LeBron’s fantasy owners were pretty happy with last night’s performance.
Love put together another impressive double-double finishing with 30 points and 14 boards in his 43 minutes against the Pelicans. He added five assists while shooting 11-26 from the field in Minnesota’s 88-77 win.
Wall continued to struggle from the field, but he still is a worthwhile fantasy consideration based on his other statistical contributions. Last night, he turned in multiple steals (2) for the fourth time in his last five games and passed out 11 assists giving him double-digit helpers in three of his last five.
Foye is a nice pickup in the over half of ESPN leagues where he’s still available and is our sleeper-of-the-day after last night’s huge performance. He did all he could to keep the injury-depleted Nuggets in the game in his 40 minutes scoring 33 points, dishing out seven assists, adding two steals, and grabbing three rebounds. In the end, Denver couldn’t get past the Bobcats, but Foye had a huge night. Don’t expect gigantic numbers like that on a regular basis since he picked up most of that playing time due to the injury to Ty Lawson, but even at his normal production levels he brings enough scoring, assists, and three-point production to make him worth the pickup if you need backcourt help and he’s on the waiver wire still.
