Jim McCormick, Special to ESPN.com 5y

Fantasy NBA Daily Notes: Giannis vs. Embiid lived up to the hype

Fantasy NBA, Fantasy, NBA

While the battle for playoff seeding builds in the NBA, two rising talents on teams outside of the postseason picture are emerging as critical contributors for fantasy purposes. Dallas' Jalen Brunson has been brilliant as the team's starting point guard recently, while Phoenix has unearthed a gem in 3-and-D wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

Brunson helped the Mavericks secure a win on Friday night with 16 points and seven dimes and has impressively slashed for 21.2 PPG and 9.8 combined assists and rebounds the past five games, all starts. With the Mavericks focusing on youth in the wake of a busy trade deadline and with J.J. Barea unfortunately suffering a season-ending injury, there is a rewarding role for this gifted rookie from Villanova to enjoy.

For some context as to just how valuable Brunson is proving in this new role, he ranks 10th in the league on ESPN's Player Rater (a standard deviation index that reveals value at each position and across each statistical category) the past seven days. You can find Brunson in free agency in roughly 80 percent of ESPN leagues.

Oubre also enjoyed a productive weekend, turning in 32 points in Saturday's overtime victory over the Pelicans. The young wing joins Brunson on the Player Rater at eighth overall during the past seven days, thanks to slashing for 24 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and amazingly 3.4 combined steals and blocks during this sample. Oubre is still a free agent in half of ESPN leagues as of Monday morning. Let's change that.

Saturday and Sunday recap

Highlights

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 52 points (16-25), 16 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 TO

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: 40 points (12-26 FG), 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 7 TO

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: 40 points (15-31 FG), 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 TO

Lowlights

Nikola Mirotic, New Orleans Pelicans: 2 points (1-7 FG), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 TO

Rajon Rondo, Los Angeles Lakers: 3 points (1-4 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 TO

Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets: 10 points (4-16 FG), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 TO

Weekend takeaways

  • Antetokounmpo and Embiid each posted at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists as the 76ers beat the Bucks in a Sunday matinee that lived up to the hype. Antetokounmpo became the league's 11th different 50-point scorer this season, setting an NBA record. The game marked the first time opposing players had 40 points and 15 rebounds in a game since March 8, 1966 (Walt Bellamy and Elgin Baylor). Adding in assists, this was just the fourth time in league history opposing players posted at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and five dimes.

  • Mario Hezonja blocked LeBron James' potential go-ahead shot, the sixth time a player has done that to James in the final five seconds of a game in his career. The Knicks beat the Lakers 124-123, as New York ended the game on a 13-1 run. James had nine points on 4-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter, and those 11 missed shots were the most in a quarter in his career, including playoffs. The fantasy takeaway from the Sunday matinee at the Garden is that Damyean Dotson is a must-add scoring asset for the playoffs in head-to-head formats.

  • Gifted rookie Marvin Bagley III tallied 21 points and nine rebounds in Sunday's drubbing of the Bulls. The performance marks Bagley's eighth 20-point game of the season and his second in his past five games. This guy is going to be a fantasy force -- possibly as early as next season.

  • Goran Dragic tallied a team-high 19 points in Sunday's commanding win over Charlotte. The Heat improved to 6-2 in March and are enjoying the dynamic play of Bam Adebayo in the starting lineup; the versatile big man has averaged 12.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.9 combined blocks and steals since shifting the starting lineup 10 games ago.

Injuries of note

                                                                                            

  • ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews report Milwaukee's Malcolm Brogdon could miss up to two months with a fascia tear in his right foot. This comes as a brutal blow to the Bucks -- as they missed his dribble-drive creation on Sunday -- and for fantasy investors. It's worth noting Brogdon finishes the season as a member of the illustrious "50/40/90" club that signals elite scoring efficiency. The team will likely turn to Pat Connaughton for increased responsibilities, but it's unlikely he surfaces as fantasy relevant in standard leagues.

  • CJ McCollum left Saturday's loss to the Spurs halfway through the third quarter after sustaining a leg injury. McCollum has been diagnosed with a popliteus strain in his left knee and will be re-examined in a week, the team announced Sunday. Rodney Hood or Jake Layman could both emerge as helpful steamers this week with McCollum ailing.

Analytics advantage for Monday

Russell Westbrook netted his 16th technical foul of the season on Saturday, meaning he is suspended for tonight's game against the surging Heat. This naturally leads to increased value for Dennis Schroder in both redraft and DFS competition, as he's consumed a team-high 7.4 percent bump in usage rate with Westbrook off the floor this season and subsequently a team-high five-point surge in fantasy points per 36 minutes (using DraftKings' scoring key) with the triple-double machine sidelined.

Top players to watch tonight

Jrue Holiday will miss another game with a core injury, meaning Elfrid Payton's impressive run as the team's top playmaker continues in Dallas tonight. Payton has compiled four consecutive triple-doubles, slashing for 14.8 PPG, 12.5 RPG and 13.3 APG during this brilliant statistical stretch. Payton faces Brunson tonight in a fun matchup of two emergent guards who the public is likely overlooking.

As a fun milestone watch, Dirk Nowitzki is just four points away from passing Wilt Chamberlain for sixth on the all-time scoring list. That's just an incredible feat for Nowitzki to claim.

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