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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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Monday, November 8
Steph Curry cooks the first 50-burger of the season as the Warriors get a fifth win in a row; Charlotte drops fifth consecutive game after getting edged by a LeBron-less Lakers led by Russ and AD
If you have anything about the Warriors leading up to the 2022 NBA season, that's how absolutely devastating Golden State will be once Klay Thompson returns from his injuries recovery. That's probable, yes, but Steph Curry is doing his part to remind folks that he's a monster ball player and that the Warriors are already a menace as long as he is available: 50 points night for Curry (including 9 triples) on Monday night on a game that also saw the Chef cook Atlanta to the tune of 7 boards, 10 dimes, 3 steals, and even one block. Not a single negative in Curry's performance as he only turned the ball over twice on a silly 42.3% usage rate, shot 50% from the floor (28 FGA) and went a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe. Jesus.
Out East, the Hornets kept their fall from stopping and dropped their fifth consecutive game in a row, now sitting at the ninth seed and leading the way among teams with below-.500 records at this point just above the Bucks. LaMelo was absolutely incredible and put up a stuffed 25-15-11-1-1 trip-dub contributing in all cats, but that was it for Charlotte. The Laker had AD and Russ available, and both combined for a 49-24-18-6-5 line that was too much for the Hornets to overcome. Dub-dub for Davis, trip-dub for Russ (still shooting a horribly 33.3% with 7 TOs, though), and sixth one of the year for an L.A. squad that is now on the positive side of .500 with a 6-5 record.
- Curry obviously led the slate, and he did so with a ridiculous 86.8 DKFP. That's unheard of, folks. The prior-highest mark was Giannis' 78.5 back on Oct. 27, which is almost 10 FP below Curry's. There is just not a higher ceiling in the NBA than that of Steph, as simple as that.
- Other than LaMelo, AD, and Russ, it was Nikola Jokic who put up a top-5 fantasy performance against Miami in the Nugs win over the Heat. The line closed at 25-15-10-2-2 with the Joker putting on a shooting showcase (71.4% on 14 FGA) though he could hit a triple in the 34 minutes he logged. Low usage for what we're accustomed to at just 25.3%, even more noticeable with Michael Porter Jr. out of yesterday's game and without a timetable going forward (back).
- Kevin Durant is just ridiculous. 38-10 dub-dub for KD, who has yet to finish a game this season with fewer than 22 points. Only once has Durant dropped below the 41 DKFP mark, and when he did he played only 28 minutes so it was understandable (the average FP/min was 1.17 in that Pistons game). Three matches in a row with usage rates above 34% for Durant, who is just eating all he can handle these days.
- Shout out Andre Drummond for his 14-25 (!!!!) with a dime and a couple of blocks to spare. Dru played 39 minutes with Joel Embiid out (health and safety protocols) and he did what we know he can do if given the proper run. A must-have player in slightly deep (12/14+ Team Leagues) leagues out there with great upside as the next-man-up in Philly in case Joel gets injured through the season (you know it'll happen at some point).
- Cam Payne was excellent or even more than that for the Suns coming off the Phoenix pine. In just 22 minutes, Cam put up 24 pops to go with 4 boards, 3 dimes, and one steal in a 64.3% scorching hot shooting outing. The turnovers were high at 4, sure, but even then this man finished with an average of 1.61 FP/min against Sacto. Insane.
- Brandon Clarke put on a similar performance to Cam in terms of low-minutes/high-production outcomes (20-9 with a block in 24 minutes). Javonte Green came out of left field for the Bulls, started yesterday's game against BKN, and put up a sound 11-7-2-3 line on low usage (17.2%) truly seizing his chance.
- James Harden could have done a little bit more (14-8-5-1-1, only 11 FGA and 3 FTA) to help Brooklyn and KD in trying to defeat the Bulls (they failed), while the biggest stinker probably came from Kyle Lowry: 38 minutes of playing time for a zero-point outcome in which Lowry could only finish with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and one steal and block each (also: 0-for-8, 3 TOs, 4 PFs...).
- Not quite the night for big men Richaun Holmes (7-8-1-0-1 in 25 minutes) nor Clint Capela (2-6-2-0-1 in 24). Thank God we know Captain Cap was eased into the season (only one pre-season game played) and the minutes are going up by the day with sound results more often than not (10-11 on the year); otherwise, this could be a very worrying development in the ATL.
- As mentioned above, MPJ doesn't have a set return date to Denver's rotation from his back issues... Jaylen Brown was mentioned in a potential trade for Ben Simmons, only to get canned from the next couple of weeks with a hamstring issue... PJ Washington will be out for a week with an elbow hyperextension... Steph and Adebayo both had to leave their games for a while but both returned and, well, cooked (one more than the other, though).
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