RotoBaller NBA Recap: KD Lights Up the Six

Welcome to the RotoBaller NBA Recap. In this feature, we highlight three fantasy basketball takeaways from last night's slate of NBA games.

Thursday night featured a typical short slate of games with Toronto vs Golden State as the premier game of the. Although Golden State was down to just two all-stars for the night, the game did not disappoint. The fourth quarter and overtime were an absolute show. All the while, the prominent figures in this game all managed to fill up their respective stat sheets. Lakers vs. Indiana was a pretty tight game in the second half as well but a little more disappointing overall fantasy-wise. The Kings and Clippers faced off in a Pacific division matchup that actually might have playoff implications for once but more importantly, provided its typical smorgasbord of fantasy production from those involved.

Anyways, let's take it away in the Thursday, November 29th recap with our fantasy highlights.

Kevin Durant: One-Man Show

People really forget how nice this dude is. Kevin Durant is a terror and almost singlehandedly beat the best team in the East. Toronto was sitting pretty after the first half. They handled the Warriors and built a solid nine-point lead. The home crowd was hype, Drake was hype and fans at home were wondering if Golden State really was vulnerable, especially after this past week or so.

Then KD decided to show up. He already had 20 at the half and was on pace for his third 20-point game in a row, but that was not enough. Durant went for 31 in the second half/overtime and made magnificent back to back threes in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime. If clutch shots were a category in 9-cat, he'd have won you that tonight. He even drained a three from the Raptors logo just because he could. Although Durant's team lost, fantasy owners won big. He ended the night with 51 points on 18-for-31 shooting (11-for-12 from the stripe), 11 rebounds, six assists, four threes, and just one turnover.

This was just one of those nights for Durant and it is a shame that this hot stretch is coming to an end. All of us owners would love for KD to keep up his usage from these past few games. Unfortunately, with Steph Curry due back this Saturday and Draymond Green set to return next week, Durant will likely slide back into that early-season form. A fully healthy Warriors team doesn't require anyone to take over. Each moving piece just has to play their part for four quarters and they get it done.

An interesting surface stat here is that Durant has successively scored more in each of the past six games. From 26 against the Spurs on November 18 until today, he has incrementally increased his scoring in each game. This streak is more than likely coming to an end on Saturday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: SGA is Here to Stay

Shoutout to Doc Rivers for giving this rookie a chance. Going into the season, the expectation for SGA, along with most other mid-round rookies, is that they will be eased in. This typically means that their minutes will fluctuate and their starts will be occasional if not delayed until mid-season (if at all). Rivers went into this season with wanting his best players on the court regardless of standing. He saw that SGA was ready and plugged him in.

This move has paid dividends as the Clippers now stand at the top of the Western Conference and have a budding star at point guard displaying his talents nightly. SGA is a stud in category leagues. There isn't a single category SGA doesn't contribute to in some manner. His percentages are above average, his scoring is in the double-digits, there are a handful of rebounds and assists per game along with the multiple stocks. You could nit-pick and say his turnovers are troublesome, but that just means he's getting solid usage.

His talents were on full display against the Sacramento Kings. SGA weaved his way to the basket on multiple occasions, drew some fouls and even hit from deep. His sheet couldn't be any cleaner with 17 points on six-of-nine shooting, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks. Best of all, no turnovers. He even outplayed his fellow Kentuckian, De'Aaron Fox.

There are plenty of questions online about whether SGA is someone to hold or stream but after his recent hot streak. In a points league with certain settings, it's understandable to see him on the waiver wire, but in any sort of category league, he's a must-own going forward.

Domantas Sabonis/Myles Turner: Staggering Centers

A "center by committee" is the best way to describe what's going on with the Pacers. Essentially, they're starting Myles Turner (because they're paying him a boatload of money) and bringing Domantas Sabonis off the bench and figuring out their minutes on the fly. Typically, Coach McMillan has rolled with the hot hand and played matchups/game-scripts. If it's late in the game and the Pacers are up or down a bunch, he'll keep Sabonis in. If it's a close game in the fourth quarter, Turner will come in.

There's no real opportunity to play them together since they're both centers. Their minutes will overlap for short stretches in each half but nothing more. The Pacers want to space the floor to allow their guards to operate at maximum efficiency. Having both big men on the floor at the same time goes against that philosophy. Turner is the better rim protector/shot blocker while Sabonis is the better rebounder and scorer in the paint. Neither has been shooting from the perimeter much this season, but Turner has proved that his three is more reliable.

Thursday night was a Sabonis night. Turner struggled to score early on against the larger JaVale McGee/Tyson Chandler combination the Lakers roll out which resulted in plenty of Sabonis. The son of Arvydas had a double-double in the first half and dominated the paint. He helped the Pacers come back from a 23-point deficit while Turner sat on the bench and waited for his turn. Turner ended up playing 30 minutes but posted an unsatisfactory six point, six rebound, one block, one turnover stat-line. While Sabonis finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, a three, a block, steal and two turnovers.

In a points league, Sabonis is probably making owners some serious dough weekly while Turner owners pull their hair out. Category leagues at least have the benefit of Turner's blocks. The dude is out of his mind on defense. He's a ball magnet. Thursday marked just his second game without multiple blocks in November. He can win the category for owners by himself and that is valuable. Owners have every right to be upset that he has not "broken out" yet but the 22-year old Turner is putting up respectable points and rebounds regularly on top of his blocks. He's someone to ride out and maybe even trade for if an owner is disgruntled enough to sell low. Sabonis is your guy if you got him. Hold tightly because he will be on some championship teams if he stays healthy.

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