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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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Saturday, March 13
No Bradley Beal, no problem (almost) for the Wiz: Russell Westbrook puts up a historic triple-double as Washington gets this close to beating Milwaukee
In a day in which the Wizards couldn't count on the abilities of Bradley Beal, it was always going to be Russ the one tasked with put on a fight against the Bucks. And he sure did it. Westbrook went to work, played 40 minutes, and had a masterful 42-10-12-2 night in which he shot 50% from the floor on 32 (!) FGA, hit 5 treys, 5 FTs, and did all of that while logging a ridiculous 43% usage rate.
All of that sounds very Westbrookian, and it does because it actually was. Russ just had the fourth-ever 40-10-10 trip-dub in history that included at least 30 FGA, 5 triples, and all of that while sustaining at least a 50% shooting. Not bad. The other two such performances belong, of course, to Russ (x2) and James Harden, who did it for the Rockets a few years back.
- Speaking of Wizards, what about Rui Hachimura!? Rui was great for the Wiz in yesterday's game with a great 29-11-1-3 night himself. Hachimura is available in only 50 percent of all Yahoo leagues, which doesn't truly align with the season he's having. It's very clear that Rui has established his game in his sophomore season, and although he's nothing otherworldly he surely deserves a higher rostership these days.
- Caris Levert came back to a basketball court after being forced out for more than a few weeks thanks to a health scare after getting traded to Indiana. He wasn't great, but the 13-7-2 line in 27 minutes of playing time wasn't that bad either. LeVert seems to have no minute-restrictions attached to him, so don't hesitate if you can add him for free via WW or trade for him (it's going to be hard, though, as he's available in fewer than 20% of leagues and still coveted by fantasy GMs).
- Although the number of games in yesterday's slate definitely helped, it is not often that there are so many triple-doubles on the same night. There were as many as five, although none of them came from an unexpected player, and Giannis put up the quickest one with a 33-11-11-1-1 line in just 37 minutes of playing time for a production of 1.91 FP/min.
- Devonte' Graham came off the bench for the second time since the break, and is still ramping up his conditioning. Even then, he was great in his 17 minutes on the court, averaging 1.53 FP per minute and reaching a nice 17-2-4 line with 5 treys on top and committing only one TO. Keep an eye on Charlotte's backcourt, as all of LaMelo Ball, Graham, and Terry Rozier will share the rock and could impact (for the bad) each other nightly.
- The Pistons fell to the Nets by five points. Although he wasn't overly impactful in any concrete category, rookie Isaiah Stewart contributed all across the board with a stuffed 9-8-0-2-3 effort, a 57% shooting percentage from the floor, and 20 good minutes off the pine for Detroit. Stewart is still available in most (92%) Yahoo leagues and a good/cheap asset for those managing in deeper leagues.
- Elfrid Payton missed another game, but Immanuel Quickley couldn't find his way to the starting lineup for the first time in his career. It was Frank Ntilikina who did so though he only played 7 minutes on the night and did a bunch of nothing, which sent him to the bench after an awful first quarter. IQ, though, had himself a good one with a complete 21-3-4-2 performance in his 33 ticks for an above-average 1.03 FP/min mark. Quickley is still available in 75% of Yahoo leagues, and odds are he ends the season starting at the point, so you know what to do.
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