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There might only be six games Wednesday, but two massive trades yesterday make the last games of the night enormous question marks right until tip-off. C.J. McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. were traded to the Pelicans in exchange for Josh Hart, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker essentially, and Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, and Jeremy Lamb were traded to Sacramento for Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield.
Only the Pelicans trade merits real impact on the league since New Orleans was emerging as a potential fringe play-in team, but both the Pacers and Kings have had underwhelming seasons thus far and have arguably just swapped their teams most productive player. How the Pacers frontcourt and Kings backcourt will be in the future is unsure, but based on how both played the night following the trade, why?
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CHI @ CHA
DeMar DeRozan (CHI) MORE 29.5 Points – LaMelo Ball (CHA) MORE 22.5 Points
There should be a significant lack of defense throughout this game and neither team is going to be afraid to miss a couple shots. For as much as DeMar DeRozan has done for this team this season, the lack of MVP-support has kept most of his excellence under the radar. DeRozan is averaging 35-points over the past week, 31-points over his last eight games, and the Hornets defense is notoriously bad at giving up points to forwards who don’t mind taking difficult shots over young defenders.
Likewise, the Bulls backcourt isn’t offering up much defense outside of Ayo Dosunmu, giving LaMelo Ball triple-double type upside. Ball’s ability to score is undoubtable, but putting money on him to score 20-points against anyone is bold. Not that he won’t put up 10-15 points with ease, but there’s a reason why the correlation between his point total and three-pointers made is so strong. Not that he won’t the shots here like he gets nearly every game, but his good shooting nights have proven more rare than rhythm.
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TOR @ OKC
Pascal Siakam (TOR) OVER 24.5 Points – Luguentz Dort (DET) OVER 21.5 Points
There’s quite a bit to unpack here with so many moving pieces, but overthinking it will get you nowhere. This is a great matchup for both parties here. Pascal Siakam is lining up against Derrick Favors and Darius Bazley in the frontcourt with weapons at his disposal. Lately, Siakam has been the one directing the offense, but when he get’s the chance to score he takes it…and playing against two defenders unaccustomed to his ultra-effective, super-sweet-spin-move / running side-hook combo is in for a really long night. Assuming this game stays relatively close will rely on the one of the two Thunder starters actually available.
Luguentz Dort has built his career off defense, but this season has granted him enough opportunities to prove he’s a two-way player. Normally, looking at this specific wager through a lens, the Thunder should get beat and Dort’s attention to defense should be what keeps him from scoring 22 points tonight. However, with Josh Giddey and Dort as the only two options, both are going to see near 20 shots tonight, because truthfully, the Raptors defense lacks a paint-clogging big and their younger defenders don’t close out on shots necessarily well. Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, every game for Oklahoma City will be tough, but at least we can count on Dort and Giddey splitting 30% usage each night.
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GSW @ UTA
Donovan Mitchell (UTA) MORE 25.5 Points – Stephen Curry (GSW) MORE 24.5 Points
It’s unfortunate to see Stephen Curry in a shooting slump now that Klay Thompson is back, but Curry probably feels differently seeing how only 10 days ago he scored 40 points against a professional basketball team. He’s getting the benefit of the doubt by not mentioning what team that was, but averaging 19 points over the past week qualifies as a slump if you are, technically, the greatest shooter to ever touch a basketball. Still, there aren’t many nights you look at Curry and say, “Under. Lock it in.,” without slight hesitation. And if you do, all the power to you but you anger the basketball gods.
Until the Jazz are healthy, Donovan Mitchell is not only the go-to guy, but he’s more or less the do everything guy if his teammates can’t provide the support. Without Rudy Gobert, the Jazz are rarely in a better situation, but since we care more about Mitchell scoring than the Jazz winning, everything is already in place for that to happen, Mitchell just has to hit the shots laid out before him. He’s coming off a 32-point outing against a wavering Knicks defense, but the night before he scored 27-points in just 21 minutes on 10 shots.
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