On a Tuesday night that saw the Nuggets continue to shine and the Lakers fall to a former prodigal son, it was Cleveland's Larry Nance Jr. who defined the slate with a career night on the glass highlighted by a game-winning tip-in as time expired.
Nance's buzzer-beater tip-in marked the first Cavaliers player other than LeBron James with a successful final-second shot since Dion Waiters downed the Pistons back in late March of 2014. The clutch shot also ended the Pacers' impressive seven-game winning streak.
It wasn't just the final put-back that made Nance's performance special -- his career-high 16 boards and awesome blend of assists and defensive numbers helped him earn the highest fantasy score among power forwards on FanDuel on Tuesday. The team is finally giving Nance the requisite run his talent merits, especially after giving him a four-year extension just before the season. A slow start to the campaign saw Nance average just 7.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.5 APG with 1.7 combined blocks and steals in 23.1 MPG. During the past seven games, however, Nance has averaged 11.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.9 SP, 0.9 BPG, and 0.9 3PG in 30.4 MPG.
Look again at those passing and defensive rates, as this is a truly emergent fantasy force who can be found for free in nearly 80 percent of ESPN leagues. Nance is even stretching out his shot beyond the 3-point arc, as the freedom afforded him on Cleveland could add dimension to his game. At least until Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson return, Nance is arguably the most valuable fantasy commodity on Cleveland at the moment.
Without a true high-level distributor on the roster, I buy Nance's atypically strong assist rate should hold up if the minutes do. Another lesson in scouring the league's weaker teams for undervalued statistical contributors, Nance is finally earning opportunities and is now thriving thanks to a recent promotion.
With an eye on meaningful fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's delve into the night that was in the NBA.
Tuesday recap
Highlights
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: 36 points (13-23 FG), 13 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 TO
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: 32 points (13-25 FG), 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 5 TO
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets: 22 points (10-18 FG), 7 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 TO
Larry Nance Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers: 15 points (7-14 FG), 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 TO
Lowlights
Darren Collison, Indiana Pacers: 5 points (2-6 FG), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
Josh Hart, Los Angeles Lakers: 6 points (2-10 FG), 3 assists, 5 rebounds
John Wall, Washington Wizards: 15 points (6-18 FG), 6 assists, 3 TO
Tuesday takeaways
Trevor Ariza is clearly much more valuable by NBA standards than the fantasy basketball market, as he's rostered in fewer than four percent of ESPN leagues despite netting a starting role for the Wizards after being dealt from Phoenix this past weekend. Despite the Wizards losing to the Hawks, thanks in part to the stellar play of Jeremy Lin and Dewayne Dedmon -- two other worthy fantasy acquisitions -- Ariza flashed a great line with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 3-pointers and an awesome 6 steals. That is some fantasy goodness. With Wizards coach Scott Brooks seemingly committed to starting Ariza at power forward even when Otto Porter Jr. returns from a knee injury in the coming weeks, the veteran forward is now a must-add fantasy free agent.
D'Angelo Russell is averaging 18.2 points and 8.6 assists during the team's current six-game winning streak, which came on the heels of an eight-game losing stretch. Spencer Dinwiddie, he of the fresh contract extension, has tallied 23.5 points and six dimes during this stretch of success for Brooklyn. Russell was in his bag last night, as the kids might say, with 21 points and a career-best 13 dimes in the inspired win over his former team. For those seeking shooting support from fantasy free agency, Brooklyn's Joe Harris hit three 3-pointers and scored 19 points last night and can provide clean shooting rates and a solid volume of 3-pointers in the weeks ahead.
The Nuggets have won four straight, all facing teams with winning records, and have done so missing Gary Harris, Paul Millsap and Will Barton to various injuries. Denver's 21-9 record ties the best start in franchise history through 30 games (1976-77). Murray stepped up with a career-best 15 dimes, of which he collected 13 in his first 18 minutes of play on Tuesday. Jokic is now one of just five players with multiple games with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds this season, joining Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns. The "Joker" remains the best passing big man I've ever seen. Beyond the impact of the team's stars, we also find backup point guard and steady playmaker Monte Morris, who quietly delivered 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers with the team's third-best net rating last night. Morris remains widely available in ESPN leagues and should have utility as a passing asset, at least until Barton is back in the rotation. I'd also try to find room to stash Barton by this point, as reports suggest a return looms.
The Mavericks' Luka Doncic just missed the highlights tier from Tuesday but did deliver a career-high 12 assists, his first game with double-digit assists. Harrison Barnes' resurgence has been impressive the past few weeks; he produced a season-high 30 points last night and has averaged 20.4 PPG, thanks to hitting 47.9 percent of his 3-pointers the past 13 games, compared to 15.9 PPG on 32.3 percent from beyond the arc in his first dozen games. It's likely Barnes' shooting efficiency will fall somewhere in the middle of these extremes, but I'd wager he's a solid buy in fantasy trades, given his likely deflated stock and quietly strong offensive profile.
Injuries of note
Boston's Al Horford will miss his sixth straight game with a knee injury on Wednesday. The team continues to play well in his absence, thus the Celtics might take their time in letting Horford heal. Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, is listed as questionable with a hand injury.
Julius Randle's ankle injury in the Pelicans' last game is significant enough to rule him out ahead of tonight's tilt with the Bucks. Nikola Mirotic is doubtful with an ankle ailment of his own. We can target Cheick Diallo as a sleeper from the Pelicans' frontcourt if both are ruled out.
Minnesota's Jeff Teague has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Pistons. Derrick Rose's value rises even more with added distribution duties.
The Lakers have Brandon Ingram rehabbing his injury in practices with their G League affiliate South Bay Lakers. It seems both Ingram and Rajon Rondo should return to the roster in the coming week.
Memphis' Mike Conley is questionable with a sore hamstring, one that kept him out of the team's recent matchup with the Warriors. If he can't go, Shelvin Mack becomes a viable streaming option for this game against the Blazers tonight.
Analytics advantage for Wednesday
The Oklahoma City Thunder head to Sacramento as small favorites in a game with a projected point total of 236, the highest of the entire slate. The matchup features triple-double machine Russell Westbrook facing possibly the league's fastest man in De'Aaron Fox.
For some fun, consider that Westbrook's per-36 rates in his second season in the NBA at age 21 included 16.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 8.3 APG, and 1.4 SPG. Fox, now 21 and his second NBA season, on a per-36 basis is averaging 20.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 8.3 APG, and 1.7 SPG. Which is to say, Fox is the grasshopper in training to Westbrook's impressive and unique mastery of speed and power from the point guard position.
In approaching the overall game for both daily fantasy and streaming purposes, it helps to consider the Kings are second in the league in pace at 105.35 possessions per 48 minutes, while the Thunder are sixth at 103.3. This suggests there could be some fun in rostering the likes of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica from fantasy free agency, while deep-league managers might consider Nerlens Noel's epic defensive rates in a game that should include some added trips down the floor.
Top players to watch tonight
In a game that has the second-highest opening total of the slate (234.5), early candidates for the MVP square off Wednesday when Anthony Davis and the Pelicans take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. Per the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, Antetokounmpo has the best odds to win MVP, while Davis has the second-best odds. Davis is third in the NBA in scoring, with the Bucks' Antetokounmpo sixth. The Bucks' superstar is fifth in rebounds per game, while Davis is sixth. This matchup should prove compelling from the opening tip to the final buzzer.