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Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we will highlight a few key fantasy basketball takeaways from the games played during last night's slate. These viewpoints can be both positive and negative and will hopefully help to provide insight into different roster moves you should consider making based on trends and statistical nuggets from around the Association.
Fantasy basketball has a lot of moving pieces with all the different scoring settings that are possible to play under, so I will always do my best to spotlight where players gain or lose value in certain game types. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, every time I mention Fantasy Points in these articles I will be using DraftKings' scoring system, which goes as follows: 1*PTS, 0.5*3PM, 1.25*RBD, 1.5*AST, 2*STL, 2*BLK, -0.5*TO. On top of that, bonus points are awarded for Double-Doubles (+1.5) and Triple-Doubles (+3), only one per player at a time.
Without further ado, let's get right into the latest slate of games from the 2021 season and try to figure out how to take advantage of what we saw transpire.
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Saturday, October 23
The Los Angeles Clippers have a glimmer of hope in a fantastic Paul George but could be in for a long season without Kawhi after dropping back-to-back games to Memphis and Golden State
You can't ask PG13 for much more. The Clippers opened their season last Thursday and they fell to the Warriors by just two points. George completed a 29-11-6 performance back then, and exited yesterday's game against Memphis (another close, six-point loss) with a magnificent 41-10-4-2 performance shooting 60% from the floor on 25 shot attempts from the floor including 5 made threes.
With Kawhi out for the regular season at the very least and a chance at missing the postseason too, the Clippers might find themselves going through a tough year led by Paul George... and not much more. Given the Lakers' struggles during the pre- and baby-season stages, though, who in Hollywood will rank further down the standings is still a tossup.
- No 37th career triple-double for Luka Doncic, who fell short of the feat by just one board. Luka put up a resounding 27-9-12 line with a block, and only the 5 turnovers and low three-point scoring (2 treys on the night) limited his fantasy points from reaching uncharted territory.
- You might think PG13's 25 FGA yesterday led the slate. Well, think twice. It was Tyler Herro (!!!) with 28 freaking shots who shot the rock the most coming off the pain for the Heat against Indiana. Herro, somehow, still shot a great 42.9% from the floor even on that ridiculous volume, hit 3 triples, and finished with a rounded 30-10 dub-dub and no contribs in any other category. This Herro is surely my hero.
- Quite a night for low-key players around the Association: Desmond Bane (19-6-2 with a block) had the highest ROI in DK contests, Elfrid Payton came off the pine and dropped a 19-4--6-1 line (54.5 FG% on 11 FGA) in just 25 minutes, Alex Caruso played 27 minutes and put up a 12-0-4-5-1 (yes, leading the slate in thefts), and Precious Achiuwa logged his second dub-dub in a row in back-to-back games (10-12-3) for the Raps.
- I highlighted Jarred Vanderbilt in one of my preseason previews for those in dynasty leagues as a surefire target to roster. He only played 13 minutes yesterday, but he logged a ridiculous 1.62 FP/min thanks to a 4-8-1-3 line. Keep an eye on JV and potential trades down the road. He could be a steal.
- Vanderbilt's teammate Naz Reid was also super efficient with a 12-3-0-3-1 line in just 20 minutes to go with a couple of three-pointers. The shooting was horrid at 33.3% on 12 FGA and he committed 5 fouls, but imagine what he could have done had those blips not popped in his line.
- Horrific game by D'Angelo Russell, who could only put up a 12-3-1 line in 29 minutes of playing time. He joined Deandre Ayton (8-3-1-0-1 in 26 min.) in the high-salaried, bad-performing group of players active yesterday. Also featuring: Chris Boucher, Khem Birch, Myles Turner, and Jae Crowder.
- We had a little update on Pascal Siakam yesterday saying he is aiming for a mid-November return from injury. We'll see. Meanwhile, Norman Powell seems to have dodged a bullet after injuring his left knee yesterday and getting some positive early explorations. Keep an eye on this just in case Powell is forced to miss time.
- No more scares yesterday, with Brook Lopez expected to miss Monday's game against Indiana and rookie Cade Cunningham out for the next three games (and maybe more).
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