Fantasy Basketball Week 14: Who's hot and who's not, plus a DFS target for Thursday
Thu, Jan 27, 2022
NBA News (AP)
Guards dominated Wednesday's 10-game NBA slate and stuffed the stat sheet with reckless abandon. The Charlotte Hornets' LaMelo Ball recorded one of the night's three triple-doubles and finished as the top fantasy scorer in the field. A few other players are lighting it up in Week 15 ahead of the weekend. We've highlighted some of the best and worst performances from Wednesday ahead of Thursday's two-game slate, as well as a DFS target worth taking a look at in the Lakers-76ers matchup set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Who's hot
The Hornets unleashed Ball against the Pacers on Wednesday, and the second-year point guard put together the most impressive performance of the night. Charlotte's floor general tallied 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists on 11-of-16 shooting. He's averaging 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game in Week 15 on 59.4 percent shooting. Gordon Hayward is in health and safety protocols, and Ball is averaging 23.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per contest through four outings without him in the lineup this year.
Chris Paul stole the show from Booker in his 33-point outburst against the Jazz early in Week 15, but the Suns' star shooting guard stepped things up a notch on Wednesday. Booker tallied 43 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists in his rematch with Utah. He's scored more than 40 points twice in his last five games. His shot volume will likely stay sky if Deandre Ayton, Cam Payne, Jae Crowder, and others continue to miss time.
Murray recorded his third triple-double in five games on Wednesday when he posted 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Grizzlies. The Spurs point guard has quietly flirted with a triple-double average all year and is a threat to finish as this season's top fantasy point guard. Murray's doing it all for San Antonio on offense, and only Chris Paul has more steals than him this campaign.
Who's not
The Clippers' starters have been disappointing as a whole this week, but it's hard to argue that any of them have been as bad as Jackson over the last two games. The point guard's averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 20 percent from the field over his previous two games. Tyronn Lue's laid Jackson a total of 35 minutes this week, and the Clippers have been significantly better with him off the floor. A tough matchup against the Heat on Friday doesn't bode well for his chances of having a bounce-back game his next time out.
DFS Target
Maxey was a dud against the Pelicans on Tuesday but has a chance to recover with a big-time game against one f the league's worst fantasy defenses against point guards. The second-year guard won't have Seth Curry or Shake Milton to support him in the backcourt against a team that's given up 21 points per game to starting point guards since last Monday. Maxey averages 20.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game when Curry doesn't suit up and could very well match the production of Tobias Harris for less salary.
