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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.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
Sunday, October 24
The Lakers and the Celtics snatch their first Ws of the season while Cole Anthony dominates New York out of left field with the Magic
It had been rough for both LA's and Beantown's franchises, but the two eternal enemies finally caught a break yesterday to close the first week of play with a W in their record. The Lakers ousted Memphis by a nail 121-118 even with a 40-burger coming from Ja Morant, while the Cs put together a 10-point victory over the lowly Rockets even with Jaylen Brown out.
Cole Anthony, one of many point guards balling in Disneyland these days, had a monster game on Sunday facing the Knicks, and ultimately led the Magic to victory over the New Yorkers. Cole put up a 29-16-8-1 stuffed line in 35 minutes of playing time, and although he finished second in FP precise to Knicks' forward Julius Randle (30-16-3-2-4 impossible performance) he did enough to put the Magic above New York yesterday.
- Only the trio of Randle, Anthony, and Morant (40-3-10-3) finished the day with 65+ DKFP. Fourth-best fantasy player of the day Stephen Curry was already 7 DKFP down at 59 with an impressive 24-7-10-3 game himself but shooting just 39% from the field on 23 FGA. Curry is in for another run at that MVP award, and you better believe that.
- Rookie Rocket Jalen Green finally broke for a great shooting performance in which he didn't go to the free-throw line at all but was still able to finish with 30 pops (8 of those points via triple) while shooting 61.1% from the floor (18 FGA) against Boston. He also got to fill the line all across the sheet with 4 boards, 3 dimes, one steal, and two blocks.
- Another fantastic performance for another fantastic rook: Josh Giddey and his 19-8-7-4 line against Philly. The Australian has been a little bit underrated and out of the rookie conversation (mostly due to the high expectations from the top-4 picks than Giddey's lack of talent) but he could turn into one of the most productive freshmen of the year.
- Obviously, Cole Anthony, Josh Giddey, and Jalen Green (highlighted in the intro and bullet points above) were the best values of yesterday's slate. Fourth-best? Carmelo Anthony thanks to his 28-3-1-1-2 old-time-reminiscent line in 28 minutes through LA's first W of the year. That's the Melo I stan for, folks.
- Desmond Bane (17-5-4-2) has been fantastic for the Grizzlies through three games, but he's still flying quite under the radar. Make sure to get some shares before it's too late. Another Griz, Xavier Tillman, was also great yesterday with a lower 7-7-1-3 line but he put it together in just 22 minutes of play and a much lesser role (13.8% usage rate, for example).
- Davion Mitchell knows how offensive basketball works, just in case you were only focusing on the whole "DPOY potential" narrative around the rook. Mitchell closed Sunday with a 22-1-4 line, shot 56%+ from the floor, and hit 3 treys while at it in 32 minutes of playing time.
- As much as Jalen Green ate, Kevin Porter Jr. did not (15-3-3, yes... but 8 turnovers and 6 personal fouls too). As much as Julius Randle excelled, Evan Fournier did not (8-5-1 shooting 27% on 11 FGA). As much as Harrison Barnes (24-7-1) kept it up, Buddy Hield did not (6-4-3 with a horrid 18.2% on 11 FGA).
- Bobby Portis is inching closer to his return to basketball courts, already probable/questionable for today's game between Indy and Milly.
- No real injuries happening yesterday, with Embiid leaving for a little time with blood in his knee but no further damage and Mitchell Robinson/R.J. Barrett also leaving for a while but ultimately returning to the bench.
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