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Week 14 in the NBA ended in the worse fashion possible, with the news of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, passing away in a helicopter crash. The NBA world collectively mourns the passing of one of the league's all-time greats.
Kobe is a legend. His ability to completely dominate a game and make it look easy will never be forgotten. If you're not a Laker fan, then chances are he torched your team at some point. You may not have enjoyed it, but you definitely respected it.
Fantasy Studs - Mamba Edition
"8" guys (instead of our usual five) who stood out from the rest this week by putting up Kobe-like numbers.
Damian Lillard. Lillard had two Mamba-games this week. Scoring 61 points with 11 made threes and 10 rebounds, with seven assists. The next game he scored 47 points with eight made threes, six rebounds, and eight assists.
Kyrie Irving. Irving dropped 45 points and had six rebounds, seven assists, and five made threes. He also shot 50% from the field and 100% from the line.
Zach Lavine. Lavine scored 44 points in a win over the Cavs. He also added 10 rebounds, eight assists, and five made threes.
Russell Westbrook. Westbrook netted 45 points, six rebounds, 10 assists while shooting flawlessly from the line and 59% from the field.
Karl-Anthony Towns. KAT dropped a 40-point game and had six rebounds, four made threes, and two assists. The next two games he scored 30 or more points too.
Trae Young. Young put up 45 points on Sunday, and that’s not all, he also had six rebounds, 14 assists, and six made threes.
Bradley Beal. Playing opposite Young, Beal scored 40 points and had three rebounds and six assists.
Damian Lillard. Same capped off Sunday night with 50 points, six rebounds, 13 assists and eight made threes.
Week 14 Overview - LeBron passes Kobe
Typically here we would highlight five guys who didn't have the best week in terms of fantasy basketball. However, with the news that broke yesterday, instead of highlighting things that didn't go well, let's focus on some positive basketball news.
On Saturday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James passed Kobe on the all-time scoring list. LeBron now sits at third all-time with 33,655 points. He's currently 4,732 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for number one all-time.
Waiver Wire Potential
Here are 10 guys who are owned in 50% or less in standard Yahoo fantasy basketball leagues could possibly help your team this week.
Jeremi Grant, SF/PF (41%). Grant is quietly putting together a nice offensive game lately. Five straight games of double-digit scoring while tacking on a little bit from every category.
Eric Paschall, SF/PF (40%). With Willie Cauley-Stein being moved to Dallas, more minutes are going to open up for the rookie big man. The second-round pick has put up surprising numbers this season and they should increase soon too.
Darius Garland, PG (37%). The last time Garland didn't score in double-digits, was December 27th of last year. The rookie is starting to figure things out and if you need point guard help, he could be your man.
Duncan Robinson, SG/SF/PF (37%). I'll keep saying this, why more people haven't rostered Robinson is a mystery. Especially if you need help with three's. He has five straight games of making four or more three's.
Kris Dunn, PG/SG/SF (35%). Dunn has been all over the place this season, but lately he's starting to find his groove. His line over the last five looks like this, 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two and a half steals per game.
Christian Wood, PF/C (34%). Wood finally has found a home in Detroit. Partly due to their need for healthy big men, and also do to improved play. Twice this past week he scored over 20 points. He also capable of hitting three's, getting steals, and bringing down rebounds.
Elfrid Payton, PG (29%). The Knicks have been a mess this season, but Payton is starting to show his potential as a starting point guard. Over his last five games he has had seven or more assists each night.
Ish Smith, PG (27%). Smith has had some consistency issues when it comes to fantasy purposes. However, he is averaging almost five assists per game on the season. The potential is there if he can figure it out.
Josh Hart, SG/SF (25%). I've said this before here, but Hart is a good rebounder for someone who is 6'5. He had two double-digit rebounding games this week and has scored well, while also being a decent source of steals.
Shabazz Napier, PG/SG (22%). Outside of having the best name on this list, Napier just notched a triple-double in his most recent game, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds and 13 assists. He also added in two steals and two made three's. He's bound to be the big winner in the Jeff Teague trade, especially if the T'Wolves do not add another point guard.
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