Dose: Damian Lillard Back

For a six-game night there was a ton of action last night and some pretty compelling matchups. The beleaguered Thunder ended up falling on the road to the Bucks, and the Lakers kept things close against the Grizzlies before eventually falling.

The Magic and Raptors went down to the wire, with Jacque Vaughn turning to a surging Tobias Harris against James Johnson rather than Nikola Vucevic late, which didn’t work.

The Kings jumped out to a 500 point lead against the Mavs and then crumbled amidst big play after big play by the Mavs before eventually coughing it up. Dirk passed Hakeem Olajuwon to cruise into ninth place on the league’s all-time scoring list, while Tim Duncan became the 11^th NBA player to record 14,000 rebounds and Kobe Bryant spawned all sorts of unimaginative jokes about setting the NBA record for most missed shots.

The Hornets couldn’t close the deal in Portland as Steve Clifford balked in a fabled Al Jefferson-Joel Freeland showdown, instead opting for a bunch of botched pick-and-rolls with Jefferson that flopped. Gary Neal’s game-tying drive to the hoop ended up being about 0.1 seconds too late in the loss.

In the nightcap the Spurs did the thing where they remind everybody how good they are. There were bigger lines for San Antonio but Kawhi Leonard continued to stalk opposing fantasy squads with a ninja-like 19 points, six rebounds, one steal and two threes while hitting 7-of-11 shots.

Please stay healthy Kawhi. It’s going to be fun watching you rip owners’ hearts out.

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THE BIG NUMBERS

BUSTED

INJURIES

Nicolas Batum owners have been extremely uneasy over the past 48 hours after he suffered what he described as a scary knee injury. The timetable is officially that he is out for three games including last night’s game, but beat writer Erik Gunderson called Monday’s game against the Pelicans a “best-case scenario.” The good news is that there will be plenty of updates between now and lineup deadline time, and owners appeared to have dodged a bullet here. There are no overwhelming beneficiaries here, but Steve Blake (five points, 1-of-5 FGs, one three, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block, 25 minutes) could move into Batum’s facilitator role. Otherwise, the usual suspects pick up the slack.

Darren Collison popped up on the injury report with a bad shoulder and told beat writer Jason Jones that he dealt with the problem last year, too. While that doesn’t sound great he warmed up before the game and certainly didn’t look bad so owners can file this in the ‘good to know’ bucket. Ramon Sessions was not as bad as prior outings but still pretty much lost out there, posting an 18-point line with no assists against the marshmallow defense of Jameer Nelson. He’s a matchup play at best if Collison misses more time.

Speaking of Nelson, he left last night’s game late due to a hamstring injury but he’s optimistic that he won’t miss any games. J.J. Barea pounded the air out of the ball in his eight minutes and it sure seems like his arrival hurts an already busted situation for Nelson. Devin Harris scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two rebounds, five assists and three steals in 33 minutes, and with a top 75-100 start he'll be largely unaffected by the moving parts around him. Rick Carlisle will roll with Harris until he breaks and it would be a relative shock to see Raymond Felton mess that up whenever he returns.

Andre Iguodala didn’t suffer an injury but it looks like something isn’t right with his explosion. Plan accordingly. Andrew Bogut might have knocked knees according to beat writer Jordan Ramirez, but Steve Kerr said he went with Mo Speights late because he was playing well. It’s just something to watch for now.

Andre Roberson (foot): His injury wasn’t deemed serious originally, but there hasn’t been any movement on his timetable.

Perry Jones (knee): Has yet to practice but beat writers hinted that a return could be soon.

Kyle O’Quinn (ankle): Did not play last night but could rejoin the team on Wednesday. Consider him more questionable than not, and consider a pickup if he has been dropped. I know I’m not writing off my own loftier-than-most projections because he got injured early.

DeMarre Carroll (groin): Suddenly listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against his old Jazz squad. With all the salt being sprinkled on him and this injury, he could very well be on your waiver wire and after his solid start that shouldn’t be the case.

C.J. Watson (foot): He is no longer wearing a boot and my guess is that Donald Sloan continues to start until George Hill returns. It’s hard to bet on Watson shoving Sloan to the side given his inability to stay healthy.

C.J. Miles (migraine): Questionable for Wednesday, his absence does more to raise the floor for Solomon Hill and ensure Chris Copeland keeps chucking than anything else.

Michael Carter-Williams (shoulder): Expected to be on a minute-limit in his debut on Thursday.

For more injury news check out our injury page.

WELCOME BACK

Chandler Parsons’ status was never in doubt for last night’s game but he may or may not have had local authorities on the hunt for a missing person. It seemed like he was on that same path last night but along with his teammates he erupted after the first quarter to finish with 19 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal. With plenty of metrics that don’t reflect his true value, such as 39.1 percent shooting from the field for the 47 percent career-shooter, get those buy low offers out there.

Anthony Morrow played 14 minutes in his return from a sprained MCL and scored 10 points with one 3-pointer. With Jeremy Lamb infuriating beat writers and the Thunder still in need of offense, he should move through his learning and rehabilitative curves faster than he otherwise would. Still, one has to wonder if Scott Brooks wants to lean on Morrow for more than 20-25 mpg in any scenario, as he has never been known for his defense. There is absolutely upside for Morrow given the Thunder plague, but owners may want to tap the breaks with Brooks favorite Andre Roberson and Perry Jones returning at some point.

PICKUPS

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a nice game last night and finished with 14 points, nine boards, one assist and two blocks in a standard 26 minutes. I get the hype and at the same time I’ve been pretty steadfast that the numbers don’t scream upside. Again, more minutes aren’t the answer to his fantasy value here. Increased utilization and multiple steps forward across many categories have to occur for him to be a mid-round threat. Though he profiles as a guy with that potential, it’s a heavy lift for any player. So feel free to stash, but keeping expectations in check will ensure you’re not passing on mid-to-high level targets on the wire.

I sure hope everybody continues to sleep on Brandan Wright (10 points, 4-of-4 FTs, three blocks, 16 minutes), who is returning top 70-115 value (9/8 cat) in just 18 mpg. He’s criminally under-owned because even when his 77.5 percent field goal shooting dips 10-15 percent, you’re sitting on a guy that is one Tyson Chandler injury away from a serious role. That kind of upside with a serviceable floor is exactly what you want on your bench, even if Wright has some injury issues himself.

THE MIDDLE

Harrison Barnes had his best game in a while with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting with eight rebounds in 39 minutes. Yes, something appears to be wrong with Andre Iguodala, but this rotation is only getting more crowded as we go and Barnes needs to do this for a week straight before I pay much attention.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist lost all of his momentum after hitting the ground hard last week, and last night he turned in 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting with five rebounds, one assist and a 4-of-4 mark from the line. He’s basically under the cut line in 12-team leagues but his defensive numbers are way down, which suggests he may not be dead in the water in those formats. Upside is the appeal here as a younger player theoretically capable of a jump, but I can’t see giving him more than a game or two before throwing him back into the pond.

Jabari Parker (six points, four rebounds, three assists, 21 minutes) almost gets listed in the drop section, but I get it if you want to see if Jason Kidd lets their prized asset loose as the year goes on. The problem is that he isn’t incredibly versatile in the box score and he’ll need serious volume to cash in on mid-round upside. Factor in the crowded rotation and Kidd’s tweaking nature so far, and I can’t in good faith call him a must-own option.

Ben McLemore suddenly looks like a different player and it’s freaking people out in Sacramento, who have labored through over a year of unmet expectations. He hit 6-of-12 shots and four more threes after hitting four in his last outing, finishing with 17 points to go with four boards, one steal and one block. He’s getting his feet set, playing with confidence, and management has a lot of reason to keep him rolling – but I do get the sense that this peak will be followed by a trough and knock him off his current borderline 12-team value. Owners should be a bit more aggressive if he does magically turn the page, because the Kings need both scoring and shooting behind DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay.

Evan Fournier has played at a top-100 level this season and had another solid night against the Raptors, scoring 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting with four treys, two boards, two assists and three steals in 39 minutes. The elephant in the room is Victor Oladipo’s return, but the Magic are pretty high on him and owners may want to walk Fournier all the way to the edge of the cliff.

DROPS

Jeremy Lamb hit just 2-of-13 shots from the field for six points, eight boards, three assists and two steals in 34 minutes last night. He was railed on by the local writers and as we’ve covered a bunch the developmental minutes he could have been getting last year are taking place this year. With guys set to slowly come back, he’ll need to go big and fast to not be swept aside in short order.

Elfrid Payton played just 19 minutes last night and had just two points and three assists, with Luke Ridnour having to bail the rookie out in a 29-minute effort. Payton is hanging out on the outside of the top-200 and the only time I see him helping owners is late in the year. Even then he’ll probably need some injury help, too.