Dec. 19 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Ja Morant and More

Tuesday’s NBA games produced some fantastic individual performances and overall great games. 

Let’s break things down and discuss some of the best outings.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy basketball trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Damian Lillard Erupts in Historic Game

Lillard continued his recent hot streak in the Milwaukee Bucks’ win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday. Lillard reached 20,000 career points and tied Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant for the most points (40) on the night.

Lillard was 14-of-22 overall and 7-of-12 from 3-point land. He was perfect on his five free throw attempts. The veteran guard also had four assists, three steals and three rebounds, while committing just one turnover.

The Bucks’ point guard has scored 112 points over the past three games, scoring 33, 39 and 40 points.

Durant’s 40-Point Game

Since we already mentioned Durant, let’s dive into his big game.

Durant made 16 of his 28 attempts overall, including a 1-for-3 mark from deep. Durant was 7-of-8 from the free throw line to reach 40 points.

KD also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals. His only real negative from the game was his five turnovers.

Durant has scored 25 or more points in all but one of the 23 games he’s appeared in this season.

The Return of Ja Morant

Morant played his first game of the season after serving a 25-game suspension and made up for lost time with an incredible performance. Morant scored 34 points and made the game-winning shot to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a much-needed win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Morant also tallied eight assists, six rebounds, two steals and one block across nearly 35 minutes played. So much for needing to slowly work his way back into things.

The Grizzlies were +12 with Ja on the court. The only real negative for Morant was five turnovers, but like in Durant’s case, you can live with some turnovers if he puts up those kinds of numbers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Records Triple-Double

The Spurs decided to try to take Antetokounmpo out of things on the offensive end of the court, so he instead recorded a career high 16 assists in a triple-double effort.

Giannis tallied 11 points and 14 rebounds to finish out the triple-double numbers. He also had two steals and one block, while turning the ball over three times.

Fantasy owners might be disappointed in his scoring effort, but like great basketball players do when opposing teams take them out of things on offense, Giannis affected the game in other ways.

Deandre Ayton Posts Monster Double-Double

The Portland Trail Blazers ended up beating the Suns on Tuesday, with Ayton being a big reason why.

Ayton tallied 16 points and 15 rebounds in the winning effort. He also had three assists, while turning the ball over three times.

It wasn’t Ayton’s best offensive game, as he shot just 6-of-18 overall, but he helped out in a big way as a rebounder. Ayton was the NBA’s rebound leader on the night.

Brook Lopez Dominates on Defense

Lopez was another Milwaukee player that stands out in the daily leaders. He blocked a league-high six shots in the team’s win.

Lopez also added 14 points, five rebounds and an assist, while not turning the ball over. 

What fantasy owners need to know is that Lopez didn’t hit a triple on the night, so the fact he was able to still score 14 points is a good thing for his future outlook. His rebound numbers are never super impressive, but he’s now blocked shots in all but four games - he’s got five or more blocks in seven contests already.

Other Strong Showings

New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Boston Celtics’ Derrick White all delivered big scoring nights. Ingram had 34 points while shooting 61.1% overall, Curry made six 3-pointers and finished with 33 points and White had seven triples on his way to 30 points.

New Orleans’ Jonas Valanciunas recorded 14 boards to go along with his 22 points. Golden State’s Trayce-Jackson-Davis finished with 13 rebounds, 10 points and three blocks. San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson posted 12 points and 28 points on the night, Boston’s Al Horford had 12 boards, 13 points and six assists and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis had 10 boards and 23 points.

Golden State’s Chris Paul finished the night with 12 assists, seven rebounds and nine points. Paul and Giannis were the only players with double-digit assists on the night.

Rookie Standouts

Jackson-Davis was the top-performing rookie on Tuesday. He played 28 minutes.

Portland’s Toumani Camara tallied five points, nine boards, three steals and a block across 21 minutes.

Milwaukee’s Andre Jackson Jr. totaled seven points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal across 14 minutes. 

Golden State’s Bradin Podziemski played 16 minutes, tallying five points, five boards, one assist and one steal.

Portland’s Scoot Henderson was the only other rookie that played double-digit minutes. He was on the court for 29 minutes, recording nine points, five assists and four rebounds, but also committed five turnovers.