With Kyrie Irving missing his second straight game with a heel contusion and no return in sight, Tuesday was the time for fantasy managers to truly commit to Dante Exum. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, who is on 30% of the Yahoo League roster, struggled with injuries before heading to Europe to start his career. Signed by the Mavericks this summer, he rose from the back of the rotation to prominence thanks to injuries to Irving and Josh Green.
Tuesday’s 127-125 victory over the Lakers was Exum’s best game of the season. He hit seven 3-pointers in 36 minutes, scoring a season-high 26 points, and also had four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one blocked shot. . The Lakers were willing to help him shoot, with Exum making 8 of 10 field goal attempts on the night and his seven 3s, one fewer than his season total (8 of 28) entering Tuesday. Ta.
With injuries to Irving and Green and Seth Curry having to leave Tuesday’s game with an ankle soreness, any manager who didn’t deliver an exercise up front should try to jump on board. Dallas still has two games left on its Week 8 schedule: Thursday night against the Timberwolves and Saturday against the Trail Blazers in Portland. Even if he can’t repeat Tuesday’s scoring outburst, Exum has scored in double figures in each of his last three starts, totaling 14 rebounds, 16 assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Take a look at some more of Tuesday’s top picks.
reggie jackson (34%)
With Jamal Murray (ankle) sidelined, the fantasy managers knew Jackson would play a more prominent role as a replacement in the starting lineup. No one expected Nikola Jokic to be ejected in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game in Chicago (Serbian Heritage Night). That meant even more playmaking responsibility was placed on Jackson’s shoulders, but he did it. He had 25 points, two rebounds, six assists and five 3-pointers, going 9-of-16 from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line in a 114-106 victory. Jackson has now scored 20 points or more in each of the last five games he has started in Murray’s place.
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grant williams (15%)
Returning to the Mavericks’ win over the Lakers, those absences also meant more shots for Williams. He missed three games with a sore right knee, but made five 3-pointers and had 19 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 40 minutes in the win over the Lakers. Playing 40 minutes in his first game back was an encouraging sign for Williams, who made 7 of 9 field goals, and the absence of Derrick Jones Jr. (quad) has also been a heavy workload.
Norman Powell (38%)
Powell wasn’t picked up until Tuesday’s game against the Kings, but that changed during the first half of the Clippers’ 20-point win. Paul George left with a groin injury and did not return in the second half, with Powell filling the hole in the lineup. He played 27 minutes and had 15 points, one rebound, two assists, and two 3-pointers. It’s not the most noteworthy stat line, but Powell’s value will increase if George is unable to play Thursday against the Warriors.
Dario Saric (40%)
Saric also saw his fantasy value increase during Tuesday’s game, but it wasn’t because of the injury. Draymond Green was ejected with a Flagrant II rating during the third quarter of the Warriors’ loss to the Suns. punch Jusuf Nurkic in the face. After the game, Green apologized for his own actions, claiming that he was simply trying to sell a foul because he believed Nurkic was holding his lower back.
However, if the suspension is handed down, Saric’s value will increase even further. He finished the game with 15 points, four rebounds, one assist and two 3-pointers in 20 minutes off the bench. Also noteworthy are Green’s numbers during his five-game suspension last month: 14.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 2.2 3-pointers and field goal percentage in 23.4 minutes. He shot 51% and 80% from the foul line.
Fantasy administrators also need to monitor Jonathan Kuminga (twenty four%), moses moody (6%), and brandin podzemski (Five%). All three players performed well against the Suns, with Kuminga and Podzemski replacing Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, who were struggling on the back line.