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Antonio Losada looks back at the slate of games from January 7 of the 2020-2021 NBA season, and comments on fantasy basketball risers, fallers and takeaways from the games played then and there.
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 last 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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LeBron opens the week with an OT-triple-double, LaMelo and Charlotte destroy Houston
Even at 36 years of age, LeBron is arguably the best player in the NBA these days. You read that right, and it's not crazy to think so. James is battling for this season's MVP award and at this point, with almost 40% of the season in the books, he is very well leading the race above the likes of Giannis, Embiid, Jokic, etc. Just to prove his talent once more, he put up a 28-14-12 line against OKC last Monday to which he was also able to add two steals and two blocks.
On the complete opposite side of the age spectrum, you'll find rookie LaMelo Ball, who is the clear-cut candidate to snatch the ROY award at the end of the year. It'd take a season-ending injury or a miracle from someone like Haliburton to end getting the accolade given how Ball is playing. In his fifth-consecutive start for Charlotte, LaMelo completed a 24-7-10 game, and although he only shot 38.9 percent from the field he still hit a career-high 7 treys to defeat the Rockets.
- Monday's slate was a really weird one in terms of single statistical feats. Dejounte Murray stole 8 possessions, which marked a season-high for him and league-wide so far through that date. It is the first time a player steals 8+ balls since Kyrie did so back in 2019.
- Porzingis blocked 6 shots, which is not the highest number this season (10 by Clint Capela) nor anything new (it's happened 15 other times already), but it was just one block short of his career-high (he did it on both his rookie and sophomore seasons for the Knicks).
- Draymond Green, showcasing his do-it-all capabilities once more, put up a fun 7-10-10-1-2 line against San Antonio. This is not the first time he has reached that stuffed line. In fact, Green (13) is tied for second (Larry Bird) in the number of times he's done so, only behind LeBron's 16 such games.
- Jaylen Nowell has been playing more lately for the Wolves, and he was the best bench player of Monday's thanks to his 1.42 FP/min in 20 minutes of run. He finished with a packed 18-5-1-1-1 line and shot 66.7% from the floor on 9 FGA.
- As is often the case, P.J. Tucker played well for the Rockets but his impact was more notable on the court than the sheet. Putrid fantasy performance with a stupid no-points, no-boards, two-steals, one-block game in all of 24 minutes.
- Lu Dort was more worrying, though, as even while logging a monster 38 minutes starting for OKC he could only finish 7-3 with a steal, shot a scary 27.3% from the floor, and committed 4 PF.
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