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A new day has begun in Week 8 of 2018-19 season of the NBA. Yesterday, there were a lot of close games that took place and were very impactful both fantasy-wise and also affected the scenario of the NBA.
The Detroit Pistons were brought back to earth after a huge loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 110-83. The Denver Nuggets consolidated their place at the top of the West with a 109-106 win over the Toronto Raptors, handing them just their 5th loss of the season. The Los Angeles Clippers joined the Nuggets at the top with a 129-126 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Minnesota Timberwolves came back from a huge deficit to beat the Houston Rockets, 103-91.
There are 5 games tomorrow, with the exciting one being the Portland Trailblazers taking on the Dallas Mavericks. Since almost all the teams, except the Suns, are in playoff contention, it is an exciting match-up to see which team gains a foothold in the race for the playoff spot. The San Antonio Spurs broke out of their funk against the Portland Trailblazers the last time, winning 131-118 and will look to continue this against the Utah Jazz.
Now let us find out the top DFS players to watch on Week 8, Day 2 of the NBA 2018-19 season:
Honourable mentions:
1. PG - Darren Collison (Indiana Pacers), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)
2. SG - Evan Fournier (Orlando Magic), Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
3. SF - Josh Jackson (Phoenix Suns), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Sacramento Kings)
4. PF - Lauri Markannen (Chicago Bulls), Nemanja Bjelica (Sacramento Kings)
5. C - Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers), DeAndre Jordan (Dallas Mavericks)
1. PG 1 - Damian Lillard (Portland Trailblazers):
The Portland Trailblazers have been really good this season, after their drubbing in the playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans last season. They are 13-10, having lost their last game against 131-118 to the San Antonio Spurs. They are in this position, largely due to their talismanic Point Guard, Damian Lillard.
Lillard has been averaging 27 points per game, along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds per game too. He has been shooting a huge 21 shots per game, at a 44% clip. He had a massive 37 points and 10 assists in the loss to the San Antonio Spurs and look for him to continue this against the Dallas Mavericks.
PG 2 - De'Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings):
The Sacramento Kings have been great this season, which is a big surprise to everyone. They have been on the up and are currently 11-11 in the Western Conference. They won their last game in a closely-fought contest against the Indiana Pacers, 111-110. Their success is down to most of their rookies and sophomores taking a leap. But their most standout player has got to De'Aaron Fox.
He is in early conversation for the most improved player, averaging an amazing 17.6 points per game, to go with 7.6 assists and 4 rebounds per game also. He has had a triple-double this season and has been shooting at 47% from the field, a 6% increase from his rookie season. He is also shooting more 3 pointers this season and is shooting them at a good 39%. He seems to be the real deal for the Kings and should be rostered in your team.
SG 1 - DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs):
The San Antonio Spurs have had an up and down start to the season. They are currently 12th in the Western conference with a 11-12 record, which, given the tumultuous situation of the West, is not that bad.
But what is alarming for the Spurs is that they have gotten absolutely blown off the court in 2 of their past 3 games, by the Timberwolves and the Rockets. They had a nice comeback win against Portland Trailblazers and are hoping to keep this up when they go up against the Utah Jazz, who are having a similar season till now.
DeRozan has been averaging 24 points per game, to go with 6 assists and 6 rebounds per game. Given the injury situation the Spurs had in the beginning, he had to step in as the point guard and the shooting guard, doing a great job.
He had improved his 3 point shooting in his final season with the Raptors but it's now at his career worst, at 18.2%. He is enjoying a career high in field goal percentage though, at 48%, meaning that Popovich has given him the keys to the offense and to do whatever he pleases. In the win over Portland, DeMar was instrumental, having scored 36 points in 38 minutes, with 6 assists, 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
SG 2 - CJ McCollum (Portland Trailblazers):
As we read in the previous slide, The Portland Trailblazers are 13-10, having lost their last game against 131-118 to the San Antonio Spurs. Apart from Damian Lillard, his front court buddy CJ McCollum has quietly been having a great start to his 2018-19 season as well. He scored 24 points in the loss against the Spurs and put up a monster 33 points in a very close loss to the Denver Nuggets.
McCollum has been averaging almost 22 points per game, along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He has had a bad time from beyond the arc, just scoring 3s at a percentage of 37%. His field goal percentage has gone up, which is now 47%. He has the potential to explode on any given night and is a great option on your roster.
SF 1 - Josh Richardson (Miami Heat):
The Miami Heat had a great game the last time, winning a close encounter against the Utah Jazz, 102-100, thanks to 2 free throws by Dwayne Wade in the final seconds of the game. Josh Richardson had a off night that game, scoring just 16 points in 39 minutes. But that's what we have started expecting from Richardson, an All Star performance night in and night out. The Heat will continue moving forward onto their 9-13 season against the Orlando Magic, who have exceeded expectations this season.
Richardson is averaging around 20 points per game, which is way higher than his career average of 11 points per game. He also has the highest usage on the team for now, with Dragic out for a while longer. Richardson is also averaging 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game as well. He is mostly a scorer and chips in with valuable secondary stats as he is a great defender and ends up with at least a steal and a block every game.
SF 2 - Harrison Barnes (Dallas Mavericks):
The Dallas Mavericks are outperforming expectations as of now. They were expected to be better with the addition of Luka Doncic to their team, but they were not expected to be immediately competitive as well. Luka has not only elevated himself and his game, he has carried the Mavericks along as well. They are 11-10 right now, sitting in the 8th spot. Luka has made the players around him play better as well and you don't have to look further than Harrison Barnes to notice it.
Barnes had missed the start of the season with an injury and has come back all guns blazing. He is averaging almost 18 points per game this season, to go with 5 rebounds and 1 steal a game in the 17 matches he has played. He is taking more 3 pointers this season and is shooting better at 42%.
In the last 2 games, Barnes exploded, scoring 29 points and grabbing 5 boards in a loss to the LA Lakers and then followed it up with a 30-point effort along with 9 rebounds in a win over the LA Clippers. He is one of those players who has gotten better at basketball after leaving the Golden State Warriors.
PF 1 - Aaron Gordon (Orlando Magic):
The Orlando Magic have had a surprising start to the season. Tipped as one of the teams capable of finishing at the bottom of the conference, having no talent at the PG position, they are currently 8th in the Eastern Conference at 11-12. With no real competition in the East past the top 6 teams, they really have a shout at finishing in the playoff spots. One man to thank apart from Nikola Vucevic, has got to be Aaron Gordon, who had just signed his contract extension in the off season.
The Magic in their last 3 games, have lost two really close matches against the Trailblazers, 115-112 and the Warriors, 116-110. Their win came against the Phoenix Suns, 99-85. Gordon, through all this, was having a terrible night before an injury against the Warriors.
Coming back against the Suns, he scored 18 points and grabbed 6 boards in 34 minutes for the Magic. He has been averaging a huge 16 points per game this season, along with almost 7 rebounds.
He has shown a bit of regression compared to his previous season but there is no reason why he will not become better as the season progresses. He is a great pickup for a team that is giving it their all this season and Gordon has the capacity to explode on any given night.
PF 2 - LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs):
The Spurs had a pretty bad Week 7 in the NBA 2018-19 season, getting drubbed by the Minesotta Timberwolves and then by the Houston Rockets. They had some retribution against the Portland Trailblazers by beating them 131-118 and a big part of this win was the combination of star guard DeMar DeRozan and their forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
In a league moving towards big men who shoot 3s and post up lesser, Aldridge is a throwback. He has been posting the ball up more than any other forward in the league and has still been a dominant presence in the team. He scored 29 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the win over the Blazers, even though this season, he has averaged only 18.5 points to go with almost 11 rebounds per game. He has started to get into form and now is the time to go in on him.
C 1 - Hassan Whiteside (Miami Heat):
The Miami Heat have been doing well off late. They are on a 2-game win streak, winning against the Utah Jazz 102-100 and the New Orleans Pelicans, 106-101. Apart from the regular performances of their new star, Josh Richardson and the veteran Dwayne Wade still pulling them through, they have their star center, Hassan Whiteside as well, who has been grinding in huge performances and stat lines over the season.
Whiteside is averaging almost 14 points and 14 rebounds per game, to go along with almost 3 blocks per game, which is currently the highest in the NBA. He is also trying to shoot the 3 this season, but it's hardly an attempt a game.
He has been on fire of late, scoring 23 points and grabbing 24 rebounds in a win over Utah Jazz in 34 minutes. His minutes have been a bit jagged in the past 5 games due to issues with his knee but given he logged 34 minutes against the Jazz, he has got to be good to go as he gives a great value when he plays a lot of minutes.
C 2 - Willie Cauley Stein (Sacramento Kings):
The Sacramento Kings have surprised everybody this season. The team, which had been finishing near the bottom of the league every season, is now holding their own against the biggest names in the NBA. They are currently a .500 team, with a record of 11-11. They won their last game against the Indiana Pacers 111-110. A huge part of their rise to this record has been their young talent stepping up and taking things a notch higher and this also includes their young center, Willie Cauley Stein.
Stein has been averaging a career high 14.7 points per game to go with 8.4 rebounds, which is also a new career high. He is shooting at an elite percentage of 54% and is almost 12 shots a game. In his last 2 games, he has been averaging 17 points per game along with 11.5 rebounds as well. He seems to be one of the in-form players for the Sacramento Kings and he should be rostered on your daily fantasy team if you have the funds to accommodate him.
