The NBA schedule had 12 games on Wednesday night. While there were some pretty big production lines from some of the usual suspects, the majority of the most interesting fantasy lines of the night came from unexpected sources. Wednesday seemed to be the night of the streamable player, and some of the results might get your waiver wires buzzing.
Let's take a quick look at some of these intriguing performances from guys that you may or may not have known to look for:
Michael Beasley, New York Knicks: 20 points (8-14 FG, 3-3 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 3-pointer, 25 minutes
Beasley (available in 74.1 percent of leagues) has been playing himself into a larger role with the Knicks, and is one of the most added players in the league this week. Kristaps Porzingis was quoted on Wednesday as being "so tired" as he deals with the wear and tear of the season, and Beasley is showing his ability to step up his efforts off the bench to pick up the slack.
Kelly Olynyk, Miami Heat: 25 points (11-15 FG), 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 3-pointers, 2 TO
Olynyk (available in 74.8 percent of leagues) saw extra playing time over the last month when Hassan Whiteside and/or James Johnson were injured. Both are back and playing now, but Olynyk has played well enough to keep the starting role for the time being. He is more of a natural volume scorer than either Whiteside or Johnson, and has the potential to play well moving forward, even in a rotation with that duo.
Delon Wright, Toronto Raptors: 25 points (10-15 FG, 1-1 FT), 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 4 3-pointers, 1 block, 2 TO, 30 minutes
During this game's broadcast, it was mentioned that no one in the NBA had produced a stat line like Wright's off the bench since Clyde Drexler back in 1988. That may put his upside on any given night into perspective, but Wright (available in 99 percent of leagues) has done nothing to indicate that he can consistently produce at this level, given his role on the Raptors.
Gerald Green, Houston Rockets: 27 points (9-15 FG, 2-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 7 3-pointers, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 TO, 28 minutes
Green (available in 97.5 percent of leagues) is getting to do what he loves -- shoot the ball -- on the best possible team, while taking passes from one of the best point guards in history. With James Harden out, the door is open for him to continue to get looks and launch a lot of 3-pointers, even in his role off the bench.
Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers: 24 points (10-13 FG, 4-5 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 TO
Lance Stephenson, Indiana Pacers: 15 points (7-15 FG), 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO
Sabonis (available in 31.8 percent of leagues) and Stephenson (available in 88.3 percent of leagues) both helped to pick up the scoring slack for Indiana on Wednesday with Victor Oladipo (knee) still sidelined. Sabonis has been solid all season due to his rebounding, but his scoring on Wednesday marked a career-high. Stephenson has played well in three of his four starts since Oladipo went down, and he makes a reasonable spot-starter for as long as he maintains this role.
Terrance Ferguson, Oklahoma City Thunder: 24 points (9-12 FG), 6 3-pointers, 3 steals, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 33 minutes
Ferguson (available in 99.9 percent of leagues) got the start in place of the injured Andre Roberson. Ferguson had struggled from downtown in his part-time role this season, but knocked down six treys on Wednesday night. He got to play extended minutes in garbage time, and used that opportunity to get hot and put up the bigger stat line. His good performance could earn him extra playing time moving forward, though he won't usually get anywhere near this type of volume.
Wednesday recap
Box scores
Highlights:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: 31 points (12-18 FG, 7-8 FT), 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 2 TO
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: 29 points (11-26 FG, 6-6 FT), 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO
Gary Harris, Denver Nuggets: 36 points (14-17 FG, 5-5 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 TO
Lowlights:
Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 points (1-11 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 TO
Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs: 0 points (0-4 FG), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 TO, 13 minutes
Kris Dunn, Chicago Bulls: 2 points (1-6 FG), 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 TO
Wednesday takeaways
Joel Embiid was expected to sit out with his hand injury, but was surprisingly was announced as being "good to go" for Wednesday. He played at his usual level, scoring 21 points (6-12 FG, 9-11 FT) with 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 1 steal in a team-high 35 minutes. Ben Simmons (26 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals), JJ Redick (20 points, 4 assists, 3 3-pointers, 2 rebounds) and Dario Saric (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 3-pointers, 1 assist, 1 TO) all played well off Embiid's lead.
The Heat also turned in a balanced effort on Wednesday. We discussed Olynyk above, and Goran Dragic (24 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 3-pointers), Josh Richardson (22 points, 5 assists, 5 3-pointers, 1 steal, 1 block) and the just-returned James Johnson (16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 1 assist, 1 steal in 24 minutes off the bench) all had strong games as well. Interestingly, Hassan Whiteside (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) didn't contribute all that much to Miami's production on Wednesday.
Wright was mentioned above, but DeMar DeRozan needs to be acknowledged for his 35 points (10-20 FG, 10-10 FT), 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. The game announcers noted that DeRozan's two-day total of 87 points was the highest two-game output of the season for anyone not named James Harden or LeBron James.
The Spurs did a very Gregg Popovic thing, sitting most of their squad on Wednesday. Kawhi Leonard still isn't playing the second half of back-to-backs, and San Antonio also sat Manu Ginobili (rest), Tony Parker (rest), Danny Green (groin) and Rudy Gay (heel). Pau Gasol started, but played only 13 minutes. LaMarcus Aldridge (24 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and Patty Mills (26 points, 4 3-pointers, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal -- available in 96 percent of leagues) carried the weight for the Spurs with so many absent.
Dunn had a terrible shooting night, but did actually manage to have a strong all-around game. His work as a floor general still benefited the Bulls, as three teammates scored 20-plus points and another three reached double-digits. Justin Holiday (26 points, 6 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Lauri Markkanen (22 points, 12 rebounds, 2 3-pointers) and Nikola Mirotic (20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 2 assists) led the way for Chicago.
Injuries of note
Andre Drummond sat out Wednesday night's game with bruised ribs. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said that Drummond will be able to return when he can tolerate the pain. Meanwhile, in Drummond's absence on Wednesday, Boban Marjanovic (available in 99.9 percent of leagues) had a strong game with 15 points (5-8 FG, 5-5 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block against the Heat.
Kevin Love tweaked his right ankle on Wednesday against the Boston Celtics. He initially stayed in the game, but was ineffective and eventually left the court. Consider him questionable heading into Saturday.
Jonathon Simmons had to leave Wednesday's game with back spasms. He, too, should be considered day-to-day.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
With the Golden State Warriors visiting the Rockets, the encounter shapes up to be a 3-point shootout. The Rockets take -- and make -- by far the most 3-pointers per game in the NBA, with a whopping 43.3 attempts and 15.8 makes per game. The Warriors rank sixth with 11.6 made treys per game, but they do it on the highest 3-point percentage in the NBA, 39 percent.
There's a wrinkle on Thursday, though. With Chris Paul as the engine for the Rockets instead of James Harden, the volume of 3-pointers is likely to be distributed more to the other players than Paul himself. As such, guys like Ryan Anderson (available in 72.5 percent of leagues), Gerald Green (available in 97.5 percent of leagues), Trevor Ariza (available in 28.7 percent of leagues), Eric Gordon and even PJ Tucker (available in 96.5 percent of leagues) are more likely to have bigger days from downtown than usual.
Top players to watch tonight
Chris Paul and Stephen Curry have long been rivals, but in recent years Paul was leading the LA Clippers into the fray against the Warriors. This time Paul will be leading the Rockets, almost as a substitute for James Harden. Paul debuted in that role on Wednesday, but his opponents in that effort (the Orlando Magic) didn't provide much fight. As such, we didn't get to see Paul at his best. His best will be called for on Thursday, though, and it should be eye-catching against one of his primary rivals in the court of public opinion for best point guard of this generation.