Friday night was an action-packed night as usual. Kyle Lowry returned with a strong effort while Victor Oladipo took the Kings to task. Deron Williams put up a dud but Isaiah Thomas got hot late. However, the king of the night was undoubtedly James Harden.

Harden bags a triple-double

James Harden did it all for Houston on Friday, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists. He ended up with a triple-double of 38 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. He shot 16-18 from the free throw line and added two triples, making this an extra special line from a perennial top-5 player. Yes, he had seven turnovers but that’s just something that comes with the territory. Harden will continue to carry teams as the fantasy playoffs roll around.

Editor’s Note: Rotoworld’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $150,000 fantasy basketball league for Saturday’s NBA games. It’s just $2 to join and first place wins $10,000. Starts Saturday at 7:00pm ET. Enter now!

Lowry returns with a bang

Kyle Lowry came back after missing three games and looked fantastic, scoring 25 points with five boards and five assists. The point guard had been in a bit of a funk in February so hopefully March will see him go back to his top-25 ways. Teammate DeMar DeRozan also had a productive outing, shooting a scorching 14-26 from the field on his way to 30 points. DeRozan is off to a hot start this month, averaging 30 points in his first three games during March.

Oladipo lights up Kings

After scoring 38 points on Wednesday, Victor Oladipo backed up that performance with another stellar outing on Friday. The point guard shot 14-24 from the field on his way to 32 points and 10 assists. He added five steals and two triples to round out a tremendous line. On the other side of the court, Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins each turned in some fantasy gems. Gay went for 39 points, just one shy of his season-high, adding eight boards, three steals, and two blocks. Cousins was also impressive with 29 points, 12 boards, and three blocks.

Gortat powers Wizards

Marcin Gortat nabbed his third straight double-double on Friday, going for 14 points and 17 rebounds. The big man’s rebounding numbers have skyrocketed as of late. For the season he’s pulling down fewer than nine per contest but in his last eight games he’s averaging 12 per outing. Teammate John Wall had a weird game. He only took seven shots and finished with just six points but he did add 12 assists, seven boards, three steals, and two blocks.

Whiteside benched

Hassan Whiteside was benched for the final 20 minutes of the Heat / Wizards game, finishing with 10 points and two rebounds. Coach Eric Spoelstra said it was because of fatigue but that’s a long stretch of game time to be considered just fatigue. Marcin Gortat and Nene Hilario were dominating the paint and may have been a contributing factor in Whiteside’s benching. Regardless, Whiteside is in no danger of losing his starting role. He’s coming off three outstanding performances so there’s really not much to worry about.

Hayward fills it up

Gordon Hayward scored 25 points on Friday, his highest point total in nearly one month, as the Jazz bested Philadelphia. The swingman added nine rebounds, four assists, and two triples, looking comfortable carrying the Jazz offense throughout the contest. Teammate Rudy Gobert continued to pound the glass, finishing with 15 rebounds and nine points. The Frenchman has 65 rebounds in his last four games. Yes, he’s really that good.

Williams throws up a big dud

Deron Williams started for the Nets and played 44 minutes on Friday but was pretty awful. He finished 2-16 from the field, ending with nine points, nine assists, and four turnovers. The good news is that Williams had been relatively solid over the previous five games so this looks like a blip on the radar. Unfortunately, this line likely hurt a lot of teams in field goal percentage.

Thomas heats up off the bench

Isaiah Thomas shot 8-13 from the field and nailed four triples on his way to 27 points on Friday. The sixth man scored 14 of his 27 in the fourth quarter as he led the Celtics to the win over the Pelicans. Thomas has been particularly hot as of late, eclipsing the 20 point mark in four of his last five games.

Clarkson shines for Lakers

Jordan Clarkson had himself a night on Friday, going off for a career-high 25 points. He shot a scorching 12-18 from the field, added one triple, four boards, and six assists. The Lakers lost to the Grizzlies thanks to a well-rounded team effort but Clarkson’s performance was encouraging. He’s been playing heavier minutes as of late and has scored in double figures for six straight games. He’s a low end but intriguing option down the stretch.

Kawhi continues hot run

Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points on Friday, his third straight 20 point effort, adding eight boards, four assists, and three blocks. Leonard has been getting a lot more shots and is starting to take a bigger role in the Spurs offense. Teammate Tony Parker was also impressive, finishing with 24 points and seven assists. The shooting from both players is particularly noteworthy. They shot a combined 20-32 from the field which is quite a nice boost for teams in that category.