NBA Daily Notes: Celtics keep it going; top fantasy picks for December 15th

Welcome to a new day for the 2018-19 season in the NBA. We had nine games that happened yesterday and another seven games to look forward to tomorrow.

Let us review some of the meaningful performances from the last night, results of the matches and the top players to look out for in the seven games tomorrow.

Friday's recap:

Atlanta Hawks 108-129 Boston Celtics
New York Knicks 126-124 Charlotte Hornets (OT)
Washington Wizards 118-125 Brooklyn Nets
Indiana Pacers 113-101 Philadelphia 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks 114-102 Cleveland Cavaliers
Miami Heat 100-97 Memphis Grizzlies
Oklahoma City Thunder 98-109 Denver Nuggets
Toronto Raptors 122-128 Portland Trail Blazers
Golden State Warriors 130-125 Sacramento Kings

Highlights:

1. Emmanuel Mudiay (New York Knicks): 34 points, 14-21 FG, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 TOs.

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks): 44 points, 14-19 FG, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks and 4 TOs.

3. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers): 40 points, 13-22 FG, 21 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 6 TOs.

4. Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors): 35 points, 11-23 FG, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 TO.

Lowlights:

1. Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks): 9 points, 2-11 FG, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 3 TOs.

2. Collin Sexton (Cleveland Cavaliers): 5 points, 2-11 FG, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 TO.

3. Furkan Korkmaz (Philadelphia 76ers): 6 points, 2-10 FG, 2 rebounds and 2 TOs.

4. Bogdan Bogdanovic (Sacramento Kings): 12 points, 4-13 FG, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 4 TOs.

Friday's takeaway:

The Boston Celtics overcame the Atlanta Hawks at the TD Garden with an easy 129-108 win. The New York Knicks grabbed a surprise win over the Charlotte Hornets in overtime, 126-124. The Brooklyn Nets managed to beat a struggling Washington Wizards, 125-118.
The Indiana Pacers surprised the Philadelphia 76ers with a great 113-101 win, a Joel Embiid 40p/20r game going in vain. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers with a monster 44 point showing from Giannis Antetokounmpo, 114-102. The Miami Heat beat a spirited Memphis Grizzlies, 100-97.
The Oklahoma City Thunder tried their best but could not overcome the Denver Nuggets, in a 109-98 loss. The Portland Trail Blazers managed to surprise a Lowry-less Toronto Raptors, getting a massive 128-122 win. In the final game of the night, The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings 130-125, despite a late surge from the visitors.

Tomorrow's games:

Utah Jazz @ Orlando Magic
Los Angeles Lakers @ Charlotte Hornets
Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets @ Memphis Grizzlies
Chicago Bulls @ San Antonio Spurs
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Clippers @ Oklahoma City Thunder

PG 1 - Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)

Mike Conley has led the Grizzlies to a solid start

The Memphis Grizzlies have started the season really well and are currently sixth in a tough Western Conference with a 16-12 record.

They are currently in a bit of a rut, losing six of their last 10 matches and lost to the Miami Heat 100-97 in their last game. Through all this, they have always been able to depend on their star guard, who missed almost the whole of last season with an injury, Mike Conley.

Conley has been averaging 20 points per game, to go with more than 6 assists and 3 rebounds per game as well.

In his previous game, which was a loss to the Miami Heat, he scored 22 points, along with 8 assists and 3 rebounds.

He has also become an elite defender and it shows, he had 2 steals and 3 blocks as well. Conley and the Grizzlies face the Houston Rockets next, where Conley will look to have another huge game and get another win on the board for the Grizzlies.

Alternative pick: Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)

PG 2 - Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics)

Kyrie has been improving since the start of the season

The Boston Celtics have continued their stellar form of late, winning their last 9 games out of 10 and are currently on an eight-game win streak. They have jumped up to the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference and are steadily improving, even with injuries to a few of their players.

They have a 18-10 record as of now and are just 3.5 games behind the leaders, Toronto Raptors. In their last game, the Celtics managed to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 129-108. A player who has been in some marvelous form for the Celtics with consistency is Kyrie Irving.

In his previous match against the Atlanta Hawks, he scored 24 points in just 24 minutes, adding 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a massive 4 steals as well.

This season, Kyrie is averaging more than 22 points per game, along with 6 assists and almost 5 rebounds per game too. He seems to be heating up as the season progress and the Celtics are starting to bank more and more on how Kyrie's game is and he seems to be running the floor effectively.

His next game is against the Detroit Pistons, who are currently on a 6 game losing streak and it will an interesting game to follow.

Alternative pick: Chris Paul (Houston Rockets)

SG 1 - James Harden (Houston Rockets)

Houston Rockets seem to be trending upwards

The Houston Rockets have had a disastrous start to their 2018-19 NBA season. They are currently 13th, with a really bad record of 13-14, for a team which was the Conference winner and came within one game of beating the Warriors, they are currently real far back.

Of late though, they've been getting better, putting two wins on the trot but still have 6 of their last 10 games. In the last match against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Rockets pulled a win out of the hat, majorly due to this guy, James Harden, who showed up with a 50 point, triple-double performance.

This season, Harden has been his best, even though it is not directly translating as a success for the Houston Rockets yet.

He has averaged a mammoth 31 points per game, along with 8 assists and more than 5 rebounds a game too.

His last game against the Lakers, he scored 50 points along with 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals, grabbing the Rockets by the hand and getting them the win basically. His next game is against the Memphis Grizzlies and he will look to continue this scoring run going.

Alternative pick: N/A

SG 2 - Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)

Utah Jazz seem to be making a move towards the playoff spots

Donovan Mitchell has been exceptional since his rookie season last year for the Utah Jazz. This year though, a loss of form and a few missed games with a niggling injury has dropped him and the Jazz down to the 12th spot in the Western Conference, but they finally seem to be getting it together.

The Jazz have a 14-15 record as of now, with a 6-4 run in the last 10 matches. In the last match against the Miami Heat, the Utah Jazz played really well, winning 111-84. Let us have a look at the player in the spotlight, Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell doesn't seem to have made a leap this year compared to his rookie season last year. He is still averaging just above 20 points a game, with 3 assists and 3 rebounds to go with it.

He is still an elite, clutch scorer but he is not able to improve the other important aspects of his game to really become something more than just a scorer.

In the last game against Heat, he scored 21 points in just 26 minutes, grabbed 5 rebounds and also managed to make 3 assists. He is a great defender and also managed to get 2 steals. Look out for him to have another big game against the Orlando Magic tomorrow.

Alternative pick: DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs)

SF 1 - LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)

LeBron James has been having a stellar start to his season

LeBron is going to probably the first name on any team for their daily squad. He has been playing out of his mind the past few games. He has ample support from the likes of Kyle Kuzma and a good defensive orientation.

The Lakers themselves have been surging up the Western Conference, on the back of LeBron's stellar performances. They are currently fifth on the table and have a 17-11 record. They have won their last six games in 10 and are seemingly on the rise.

In the previous game, which was a 126-111 loss against the Houston Rockets, LeBron scored a huge 29 points, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, along with 2 steals as well. He has started taking more shots this season, resulting in him averaging atleast 28 points per game this season, along with atleast 7 assists and 7 rebounds as well. He should always be the first player on any DFS squad and it shouldn't be any different for yours.

Alternate pick: N/A

SF 2 - Paul George (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Oklahoma City Thunder are not playing well of late

The Oklahoma City Thunder are having a great season, currently sitting pretty at the third spot in the Western Conference with a 17-10 record.

They have been in patchy form of late, going on a two-game losing streak and have won only 6 in their last 10 matches as well.

One of the players for the Thunder that is having one of the best seasons of his career is Paul George. He has been thriving when Westbrook has been alongside him and even when he is injured too.

George has been averaging a career high in points, scoring 24 points per game, to go with 8 rebounds and also a healthy 4 assists per game as well.

In the game against the Denver Nuggets last night, he tried to get the Thunder up and running with Westbrook not having the best of games.

He scored 32 points, along with getting 5 rebounds and 2 assists as well. He also ended up with 1 steal but could not lead the Thunder to a win.

Their next match is against the Los Angeles Clippers and George will try rallying the Thunder towards a win again tomorrow.

Alternative pick: Danilo Gallinari (Los Angeles Clippers)

PF 1 - Blake Griffin (Detroit Pistons)

Detroit Pistons are falling down the ranks hard

The Detroit Pistons are currently on a horrendous run of form, they have lost their last six games in a row and are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 13-13 record, slowly falling down the Conference.

One player who has been having one great game after another in all these losses has been Blake Griffin.

Griffin has been excellent this season, he is averaging more than 25 points per game this season, with 9 rebounds and 5 assists per game too.

In the previous game against the Charlotte Hornets, the Pistons gave up a big lead and ended up losing by 1 point.

But Griffin in that game, held his own, scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and also dishing out 7 assists.

He shot 56% from the field and even 50% from beyond the arc. He is truly having a great season and will look to end this run of losses for the Pistons tomorrow against the Boston Celtics.

Alternative pick: Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers)

PF 2 - Tobias Harris (Los Angeles Clippers)

The Los Angeles Clippers have been the surprise package of the season. They are currently 4th in the Western Conference with a 17-10 record.

They are on a two-game losing streak, a drop of form has been quite distressing to see as they have gotten blown out in both those games and are 5-5 in their last 10 matches. One player who seems to be holding it all together for them is their star forward, Tobias Harris.

Harris has been in fine form for the Clippers this season, averaging 21 points per game along with 8 rebounds and 2 assists per match as well.

In the last game, which was a blowout loss against the San Antonio Spurs 125-87, Harris managed to score 17 points in 28 minutes, along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists as well. In the next game, which is against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he and the Clippers will look to bounce back with a win.

Alternative pick: Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies)

C 1 - Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)

Utah Jazz are struggling to find their feet this season

The Utah Jazz, as we read in one of the previous slides, has not been really good to start the season. They are currently 12th in the West, with a 14-15 record and they have won 6 of their last 10 games, an encouraging upward trend.

Apart from Donovan Mitchell's performances, they also need their other rim protecting star to have a good game as well for them to win. This player is Rudy Gobert.

Gobert has been enjoying a great start to his season even though the Jazz are not. He is averaging more than 14 points per game along with atleast 12 rebounds to go with it. He is an elite rim protector as well, having 2 blocked shots per game as well.

In the win over the Miami Heat in their last game, Gobert was absolutely dominating Bam Adebayo on the court, not letting him score much and he himself put up 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with 2 assists.

He also had 2 steals and 2 blocks in just 26 minutes. He and the Jazz go up against the Orlando Magic and he will be looking to perform at this level again.

Alternate pick: Karl Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)

C 2 - Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)

As we read in one of the earlier slides, Detroit Pistons are not having the best of times in the 2018-19 NBA season.

They are on a six-game losing streak and have dropped to the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference and have won only 4 games in the last 10. They lost to the Charlotte Hornets in their previous game, 108-107.

This losing streak had coincided with the loss of form of their star center, Andre Drummond, who has since gotten back to form but hasn't been able to change the results for the Pistons.

Drummond is averaging a huge 18 points per match, along with 15 rebounds per game as well.

He is also a great rim protector, averaging almost 2 blocks per game too. His form has been fluctuating recently, with the game against Charlotte being a not so good offensive night from the big man.

He scored just 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds with a huge 5 blocks to go with it. But in the game before that against the 76ers, he scored a great 21 points along with 17 rebounds along with 3 blocks.

His game needs to get more consistent like at the beginning of the season and hopefully the wins start rolling in for the Pistons.

Alternate pick: Clint Capela (Houston Rockets)

Edited by Alan John