The Daily Dose: Untitled (How Does It Feel)
It’s been the Year of the Rookie this season. OK, it’s also the Year of Curry, but the amount of rookies having huge seasons is like nothing we’ve seen in a long, long time. Up until recently, it looked like D’Angelo Russell was being left in the dust, but he finally busted loose.
Russell scored a career-high 39 points against the Nets during a 107-101 win on Tuesday, adding six rebounds, three assists, one steal and eight 3-pointers. He made 14-of-21 from the field and was clutch down the stretch. He will even tell you he had “ICE IN MY VEINS!”
It’s the most points scored by a rookie all season. When Russell was drafted, he was expected to be a score-first point guard. He has seen his attempts from deep go up and he’s making them, too. Here’s what his shot chart looks like in the six games since the break:
That’s some pretty nice distribution and he’s really grown as a shooter. When he was open for his shots in February, Russell put up a very tidy 66.7 effective field goal percentage. He still does have a few too many contested shots per game coming into last night, but it’s trending in the right direction. Russell had a couple really nice moves to get free both with and without the ball, so that’s a good sign for a 20-year-old guard.
Coach Byron Scott finally gave in and said he will play him at least 30 minutes, so he’s trending up in a big way. In his last six, he averaged 19.2 points, 3.5 boards, 4.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.8 turnovers and 3.0 treys. His Dynasty value looks a lot better and he should have some value the rest of the way this season.
Besides D-Loading going off, the other big news is Lou Williams suffered a moderate hamstring strain. He is not going to play today against the Nuggets. That’s going to put Marcelo Huertas in the rotation and he put up two points with five dimes. He’s not a big factor, but there will also be more minutes for Jordan Clarkson and Russell. Clarkson was OK with 16 points, seven boards and seven assists in 34 minutes.
Julius Randle tweaked his ankle, but he played through it and put up 14 points, 13 rebounds, one assist and one steal. He should be all good for Wednesday, but check back for an update. Roy Hibbert sighting? He scored 14 points with five boards, two assists and one steal. No thanks.
Kobe Bryant did not play on Tuesday, but he should be ready for Wednesday against the Nuggets. Larry Nance will also sit on Wednesday as the team manages his minutes.
Not much going on with the Nets. Thaddeus Young (19 points, 15 boards, two assists and one steal in 34 minutes) and Brook Lopez (23 points, seven boards, four assists and one block) are going to post monster stats going forward.
Bojan Bogdanovic seems to be stepping up in the starting lineup with 18 points, seven boards, three assists and one 3-pointer. If you want to see if he can stay hot with points and treys as a low-upside guy, give him a look. I’m not eager to add. Sean Kilpatrick played 21 minutes in his debut with eight points, one rebound, one assist and two 3-pointers. Keep an eye on him in deep leagues. Markel Brown played 13 minutes and lost out to Kilpatrick. Wayne Ellington also returned with 10 points.
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Steph Up to Keep Your Rep Up (Hawks 105 at Warriors 109)
The Warriors gained a little bit of rep with Stephen Curry (ankle) and Andre Iguodala (hamstring) not playing. The starters were all fantastic and all picked up the void left by Curry’s 32.0 usage rate. Klay Thompson scored 26 points with six rebounds, five assists, one steal and six 3-pointers. He’s been awesome since his rough November.
Draymond Green was up to his stat-stuffing ways with 15 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, four steals, one block and two 3-pointers in 42 minutes. He was able to get some terrific steals and just continues to flirt with triple-doubles. He also channeled his inner Steph with this clutch trey in OT:
Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 19 points with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 31 minutes. Expect his minutes to drop as the Warriors needed more out of his to protect the Oracle. Marreese Speights, the tallest shooting guard in the NBA, scored 10 points with one board, one assist and two treys.
The Hawks almost had it. As you might expect, Paul Millsap filled it up with 19 points, seven boards, four assists, three steals, four blocks and one 3-pointer. Al Horford was also solid with 17 points, nine boards, three assists, one steal and one 3-pointer. These two are the best PF/C tandem in fantasy. Kent Bazemore has also snapped out of it with 15 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer. If for some reason someone dropped him, add him right now.
We had a Dennis Schroder sighting again. Jeff Teague came out flat, finishing with seven points, one rebound, six assists and one 3-pointer. Dennis the Menace was on the court as the Hawks made a charge in the fourth, so coach Mike Budenholzer stuck with him. Schroder finished with 17 points, three rebounds, nine assists and one 3-pointer. He did miss some clutch free throws, though.
Schroder actually had success against the Warriors on Feb. 22, so that was probably a factor, too. He’s probably worth owning, but obviously I’d prefer Teague and still think the former All-Star has a nice finish.
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