RADIO
The fantasy playoffs are upon us, but more importantly is that a one seed lost in the NCAA Tournament, and it wasn't even close! UMBC beat the Virginia Cavaliers by 20. This is where I would insert a Cleveland Cavaliers joke if I wasn't sure that Twitter had already used up all the good ones.
How about those Cleveland Cavs, though? They've looked the opposite of Virginia from a schematic point-of-view lately, but the results -- losing three of four -- have been mostly the same. Cleveland's offense has been fine, but their defense let the Lakers scored 127 points! They started Jeff Green at center against Portland! All the talk about the team fixing their issues seem to have vanished, and the Raptors are once again the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference and make the Finals in June, where they'll meet one of to teams: the Golden State Warriors or the Houston Rockets. This season has been great, but doesn't it feel like the number of teams that can make the Finals is, once again, tiny?
But the number of teams and players who can help you in the fantasy finals? Way bigger! These are some potential risers and fallers heading into Week 23 of the NBA season.
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Risers for Week 23
RISER: Terry Rozier (G, BOS)
A sore left knee for Kyrie Irving and a thumb injury that will keep Marcus Smart out for the rest of the regular season have given longtime Celtics meme Terry Rozier new life in the rotation. Though he'll move back to the bench when Irving returns, Rozier's recent play suggests that he's good for double-digit points and a decent number of rebounds and assists each game. Rozier should be in your lineups.
RISER: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (F, BKN)
Hollis-Jefferson was back in the Nets starting lineup on Friday against the 76ers and he responded by scoring 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, pulling down 10 rebounds, and dishing out five assists. Hollis-Jefferson has four consecutive games now with at least 12 points and six assists, and he's scored 18 or more in three of those. He's shot above 50 percent in each of those games. Though he doesn't give you anything from deep, he does get to the free throw line a good amount and shoots well enough from there to help you in that category as well.
RISER: Ben Simmons (G, PHI)
Simmons had two straight triple-doubles this week -- a 10 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist game against the Pacers, and then a 13 point, 10 rebound, 12 assist game against the Knicks. On the second night of a back-t0-back on Friday against the Nets, he scored 21 points and had 12 assists, but he missed another triple-double by pulling down just eight rebounds. Simmons hurts you from the foul line and still hasn't made a three pointer in his rookie season, but he's trending upward right now based on his recent performance.
RISER: Harrison Barnes (F, DAL)
Dallas still could use Barnes more effectively -- a starting lineup with Barnes, Dirk Nowitzki, and Dwight Powell just seems a little too big for the current NBA -- but he's been on an offensive tear lately, posting scoring totals of 25, 14, 30, and 27 over the last four games. He's had five or more rebounds in all but one game this month and his field goal percentage has been above 50 percent in three of his last four. As the Mavericks mess around with their lineups, a healthy Barnes shouldering the offensive load should be the main constant down the stretch.
RISER: Julius Randle (F, LAL)
RANDLE ISLAND IS FILLING UP FAST GRAB THE LAST BARGE BEFORE ADMISSION IS CLOSED AND START HIM IN FANTASY ALL THE TIME.
Fallers for Week 23
FALLER: Jonathan Isaac (F, ORL)
You probably didn't pick Isaac up and play him if you made the playoffs unless you'd already clinched a spot a while back, but there the rookie saw an increase in minutes after Aaron Gordon's concussion. That increase didn't lead to much -- in six starts, he hasn't made more than nine points, five rebounds, or one assist. His steals and blocks were nice if you needed help in those categories, but Isaac just hasn't shown enough to justify any fantasy relevance that players were hoping he'd bring. With Gordon set to return soon, get Isaac back to the waiver wire.
FALLER: Montrezl Harrell (F, LAC)
While he's still scoring the ball effectively, Harrell has seen his minutes drop to under 20 per game and has more than two rebounds just once in his last four games. If you were thinking about Harrell as an end of your rotation streaming option, you might want to look into other options. He isn't delivering results on a consistent basis.
FALLER: Ben McLemore (G, MEM)
I've given up on trying to figure out what the Grizzlies are doing. McLemore was playing 20-plus minutes for a while and getting the ball in the bucket at a good enough rate that he was worth streaming for the points, field goal percentage, and three pointers made upside. But Tyreke Evans returned and McLemore immediately saw his minutes drop down to just eight. Kobi Simmons played just seven. The Grizzlies still lost, but I don't...I don't think they know what they're doing re: tanking.
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