RADIO
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 some exciting tv for NBA fans across the globe.
- The Knicks and Wizards played an unforeseen thriller in London which came down to a walk-off goaltended shot by Thomas Bryant.
- The Suns kept a close game against the Kawhi-and-Lowry-less Raptors but unfortunately were sent home via a last-second Pascal Siakam lay up.
- Oklahoma City was left stunned in their home court at the hands of Ivica Zubac and his Los Angeles Lakers and now face a rough five-game stretch coming up.
Aside from these, there were a few blowouts that aren't notable, so let's take it away with the Thursday, January 17th recap with some fantasy highlights!
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Kyle Kuzma: Kuzmania Hits OKC
What a night for not only Kyle Kuzma, but the entire young Lakers' core. They came into Thursday night's road game in OKC as 10-point underdogs yet came out victorious. Contributions were made by all of the young guns in LA to some extent, but the most notable was Kyle Kuzma who drained seven threes and hit some very important shots down the stretch to keep the game in Los Angeles's favor.
Kuzma finished the night with 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and as mentioned seven threes. Despite the recent shooting woes, he made 11-for-20 from the field and knocked down all three of his free throws. Kuzma can be frustrating to own at times due to his streaky shooting and occasional chucking, but nights like Thursday remind owners why he's worth keeping around. He should continue to receive his fair share of usage these next few games without LeBron, but once he returns, expect numbers similar to the first few months of the year.
Luke Kornet: Who??
16 points, three rebounds, two assists, five steals, one block, and four threes. Numbers like those are drafted top-50 at the start of the year. Luke Kornet is a stat-stuffer when he gets ample playing time. With Enes Kanter out of the lineup, he has seen his play time jump. While he may not be the most physically gifted athlete in the league, Kornet can shoot and provide some elements of an all-around game to his team.
He is not worth owning while the Knicks continue to employ Kanter, but if a trade or buy out were to occur, Kornet would be in a prime position to take over his minutes. What he does with them will depend on how ready he is to play and perform consistently but even then that potential is worth grabbing. Kornet isn't a great rebounder nor the most helpful for field goal percentages, however, if he can hedge those with threes and stocks, you will be golden.
Russell Westbrook: Brickhouse
Oh boy. This low-light is a tricky one. While Russell Westbrook provided 26 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds, five threes and one of each stock, he still had to be frustrating to any owners who aren't punting field goal percentage. The superstar point guard had his most abysmal shooting night since the last time he faced the Lakers. Westbrook shot a disgusting 7-for-30 from the field but fortunately saved face by going 5-for-12 from three and only turning the ball over three times.
For the past few weeks, Westbrook had been putting up respectable lines from the field, making Thursday night a bit more stomach-able for owners. Nevertheless, it is never easy to see your guy 2-for-18 from two-point range...Live by the Westbrook, die by the Westbrook. Hopefully, he will get all of these poor shooting nights out of his system by fantasy playoff time.
