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Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we highlight three fantasy basketball takeaways from last night's slate of NBA games.
Thursday night featured a typical short slate of NBA games. The most scintillating game turned out to be the most unlikely. The Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics faced off in the game of the night which displayed a 20-point comeback win in overtime with a last-second three to extend the game.
The star of today's piece was the heart of that game, so without further ado, let's take it away in the Thursday, November 8th recap with some fantasy highlights (and one lowlight).
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Kyrie Irving: Comeback Kyrie
39 points, six assists, seven rebounds, six threes, three steals, one block and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line. Excuse me, got a bit winded reading that line. This is exactly the kind of game you hope for out of your second round pick. Irving had been pretty underwhelming to start the season but seems to have found his groove back over the course of Boston's past five games.
It seems that Irving has shaken off the rust since his knee surgery last season and is back in attack mode. Irving deferred a lot in Boston's first few games, trying to get his teammates involved and playing more passive than ever. Fortunately, Coach Stevens figured out that his best offense is a Kyrie freestyle where he allows his most dangerous weapon to operate as he pleases. It was as apparent as ever Thursday night when after being down by 20 at half-time, Irving took over the game and lead Boston to their seventh win of the season.
As long as Irving stays healthy, he will be an effective fantasy provider. The buy-low window is closed and shut. All we can do is enjoy the show.
T.J. Warren: Tony Jr. Found His J
Apparently, T.J. Warren shoots threes now?? Quite the development after consecutive sub-30 percent shooting seasons from behind the arc. Warren has been a weird player since joining the league in 2014. He's been a great slasher and rebounder and has upped his scoring each year up until this season. While the Suns were blatantly tanking, Warren received the ball plenty and had a green light to shoot around the rim and from mid-range. Thursday night, Warren had his best game of the season with 29 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 8-for-8 from the line, three threes, seven rebounds, and one block/steal/assist.
He'd been an underrated fantasy asset the past two seasons but now his play has been all over the place with the additions of Deandre Ayton and Trevor Ariza. Warren has become a lesser option on the court and has found himself on the bench more often than not.
His saving grace this season is his newfound three-point shooting and it seems to be here to stay. Warren likely won't keep up at his 50 percent pace but he should continue to throw a couple up each game and give owners one to two per game. This should make up for the drop in points, rebounds, and steals.
Carmelo Anthony: Mel0-for-Six From Three
Say it with me - Carmelo Anthony is WASHED. This guy...man. Can't say enough about how detrimental he is to a team's success of late. Removing him from the Thunder was addition by subtraction and now the Houston Rockets are suffering under his siege.
According to Justin Phan on Twitter, The Rockets are "15.4 points per possession better with Anthony off the court". Additionally, through 10 games Melo has "More missed shots (72) than field goals made, assists, steals and blocks combined (65)". He's not only hurting his actual team but also your fantasy team. This guy is the worst.
You have every right to drop Anthony and you should be tempted to do so. Holding onto him in leagues with fewer than 12 members may not be wise going forward. He just went 1-for-11 from the field on Thursday and only provided two points, five rebounds, and one turnover. His percentages are mediocre at best, his scoring is sporadic and the only categories he actually provides are threes, rebounds and occasionally, blocks. None of this isn't easily replicable by a more productive player on the wire (league dependent of course).
