The NBA celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in style yesterday with a grand total of 10 games running throughout the day with straight hoops from just after noon through well past midnight on the East Coast. With so many games there was plenty of fantasy basketball goodness to go around. Here are the top performers from the full Monday of action:
Aldridge and the Blazers couldn’t get out of Houston with a win, but the former Texas star turned in a great stat line finishing with 20 rebounds and 27 points as well as three assists, two steals, and a block. It wasn’t a great shooting night for Aldridge, but his totals make him our top performer of the day.
Randolph had a 20-20 game as well finishing with 20 rebounds and 23 points in the Grizz loss to New Orleans. Z-Bo also added three assists as he broke out of a mini-slump which saw him total just 13 boards and 18 points in his two previous tames.
While he didn’t go for 20 and 20, Parsons had a very balanced night of production leading the Rockets to a big home win over Portland. He finished with 31 points tying him for the league-high with Michael Carter-Wiliams and Nick Young. He ranks higher than those two on this list, though, because he added ten rebounds, seven assists, a pair of blocks, and three three-pointers. He was also extremely efficient hitting 12 of his 19 field goal attempts.
Jefferson has been a regular on this list lately. In his last three games he has 16, 14, and 19 rebounds to go with 30, 22, and 22 points. Last night he beat up the Raptors finishing with seven assists to go with his 19 boards and 22 points while blocking two shots and hitting exactly half his 18 shots from the field. Big Al is averaging 21.3 points and 10.7 boards in his last ten games and is a nightly threat for a big double-double.
MCW dropped 31 in Washington, but his Sixers still fell to John Wall and the Wizards 107-99. Carter-Williams added six rebounda, five assists, and three steals to his stat line continuing a strong campaign for Rookie of the Year.
Another big man with be rebounding totals, Gasol pulled in 19 boards against the Bulls while scoring 20 points. He added five blocks, three steals, and an assists in the Lakers 102-100 loss on the road.
Varejao also had a huge game on the boards collecting 21 rebounds to go with his 18 points against the Mavericks. Along with his big-time double-double, he brought four assists and a pair of steals for his fantasy owners on MLK day.
Beal turned in a nice, balanced line for the Wiz in their win over Philadelphia. He finished with nine rebounds, eight assists, three three-pointers, and 22 points contributing across the board to a good start to your fantasy week.
LeBron and the Heat fell in Atlanta, but the King turned in a solid stat night as usual. He finished with 30 points and six assists while adding four rebounds and three triples. It was a pretty pedestrian night for James, but still one of the best overall lines of the night.
Davis powered the Pelicans past the Grizz with 27 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, four steals, and a pair of assists. He continues to be a constant contributor in defensive categories while his scoring is up as well.
Our sleeper of the day for the second time in a week is Augustin who is still available in over 55% of ESPN standard leagues. Yesterday, Augustin scored 27 points including hitting five three-pointers while dishing out four assists to go with four rebounds and a steal. Normally, his scoring output isn’t quite that high and his assists are a little higher, but he’s definitely becoming very fantasy relevant as he continues to help fill in the point guard spot for the Bulls.
Another sleeper worth noticing is Stuckey who is virtually unowned after batting injuries throughout the early going this season. He’s turned it on lately, though, scoring 20 points or more in his last three games. Last night, he dropped 29 on the Clippers and added four boards and four assists along with a blocked shot. If he can move past his injury trouble and gets playing time, he can produce points in bunches and be a fantasy commodity that can boost your backcourt.
