Even the night before Halloween was quite scary in the NBA, with two-time MVP Stephen Curry incurring a significant injury while Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns engaged in an on-court tussle that could cost them both games.
Curry suffered a broken left hand after a hard fall in Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that Curry, 31, has a fracture in the second metacarpal, the bone in the hand below the index finger. General manager Bob Myers told ESPN that Curry will have an MRI and CT scan, and from there, the team will determine if he needs surgery and what his recovery timetable will be.
Fantasy managers will need to wait for a definitive timeline for Curry before making any significant decisions, while those speculating in deeper formats (think 12 teams) with the rest of Golden State's roster might want to secure free-agent shares of rookie Jordan Poole, who could become an important part of the Golden State rotation with Curry sidelined.
Per the fracas in South Philly between Towns and Embiid, both were ejected in the middle of the third quarter as tensions boiled into a fight. If we use last season's scuffle between the Lakers and Rockets as precedent, the suspensions could range from one to four games for the two star pivots (guessing the longer side). If anything, Al Horford becomes a fun DFS play with Embiid sidelined, while Noah Vonleh is a streamable option for the Wolves for as long as KAT sits.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
Aron Baynes, Phoenix Suns: 24 points (9-18 FG), 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 1 TO
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 46 points (14-20 FG), 6 rebounds 8 assists, 3 steals, 5 TO
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 59 points (18-32 FG), 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 TO
Lowlights
Robert Covington, Minnesota Timberwolves: 7 points (2-7 FG), 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 TO
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors: 4 points (2-8 FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
Wesley Matthews, Milwaukee Bucks: 3 points (1-8 FG), 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Wednesday takeaways
Harden and Beal combined for 105 points and Russell Westbrook had a triple-double in Wednesdays' epic that saw the two teams score 317 combined points -- the most in a game decided by a single point in NBA history. Wednesday also marked just the second instance all-time with three different players having at least 55 points, 45 points, and a triple-double in a single game. In 1961, Wilt Chamberlain had 78 points, Elgin Baylor had 63 points and Jerry West had a triple-double.
Indiana's Malcolm Brogdon delivered 13 dimes last night to become just the third player in the past 10 seasons with at least 10 points and 10 assists in each of his team's first four games, joining Chris Paul (2013-14) and Rajon Rondo (2012-13). Brogdon's massive uptick in assist creation has him in the elite ranks as a fantasy option thus far, which will prove even more interesting once Victor Oladipo can work his way back into action.
The Kings have dramatically slowed their pace from third overall last season to 23rd in the number of the possessions per 48 minutes under Luke Walton. Gone with the pace has also been success, with Sacramento winless through five games and 28th in offensive rating. It's still early, but this has been a rough start both in terms of real and fantasy results for the Kings and their key players. If there is one key fantasy story to track with the Kings, it's the emergence of Richaun Holmes and his solid production this past week. Lately, Holmes has been earning more run than Dewayne Dedmon, who played just four minutes last night.
In a rousing win over the Kings, the Hornets continued their hot-shooting ways and lead the NBA in 3-point efficiency at the moment. While this savvy shooting could prove aberrational, it's been a surprisingly fun start to the season for Charlotte on offense, embodied by the rise of rookie PJ Washington, who poured in 23 points with eight boards on Wednesday evening. Sticking with Charlotte, combo guard Devonte' Graham continues to flash strong assist and complementary scoring rates worthy of much more attention from fantasy managers.
The Warriors have now allowed at least 120 points in each of their first four games for just the second time in franchise history (1984-85). Facing Golden State is suddenly one of the more inviting matchups in all of fantasy hoops. A bright spot in the Warriors' otherwise forgettable Wednesday was the performance of rookie Eric Paschall, who somehow tallied a net rating of +19 while on the floor thanks to a career-high 20 points, while Golden State was -30 in the 10 minutes and change he sat last night.
Boston came from behind to secure an impressive won over Milwaukee on Wednesday in large part thanks to the play of Gordon Hayward, who turned in a strong line of 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists; good for his eighth career game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, and his first since 2016. Hayward has been quietly stellar to the start the season, evidence he could be forming into the All-Star caliber talent he was with the Jazz.
For those managers with shares of either Embiid or Towns or even Deandre Ayton, it could also help to look to the Suns' Aron Baynes, who nearly delivered a triple-double in a dominant showing on Wednesday and should enjoy plenty of minutes and post touches sans Ayton. For those in deeper formats, it's intriguing that Nerlens Noel produced 15 points and 14 rebounds last night for the Thunder, his most rebounds since a career-high 15 last October.
Injuries of note
The Pacers' Myles Turner was helped off the floor in a win over the Nets last night due to an ankle injury suffered in the first quarter. It's unclear how long Turner will be sidelined, but initial reports suggest a few weeks. Domantas Sabonis becomes far more intriguing in terms of usage and offensive potential sans Turner, while rookie Goga Bitadze could earn some increased burn, as well.
Jrue Holiday is considered probable for tonight's matchup with Denver, a good sign for a Pelicans team missing Zion Williamson likely until the 2020 portion of the season.
Atlanta's Trae Young will miss tonight's rubber match with the Heat, as the two teams played this past Tuesday.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
With Young sidelined for the Hawks, second-year guard Kevin Huerter could be tasked with increased scoring and creation duties, evidenced by his team-high bump of 3.8 fantasy points per game on DraftKings when Young was off the floor last season. Streaming Huerter could prove rewarding, as could interim shares of Jabari Parker for those in need of scoring pop in deeper leagues.
Top players to watch tonight
The narrative for this section of the column yesterday was about Kawhi Leonard's impressive uptick in passing production ahead of a meeting with the Jazz. We found out midway through Wednesday that Leonard would rest for load management, a tactic that helped him thrive in the postseason last summer with the Raptors.
While I'm intrigued by Leonard facing his former team tonight, I'm more excited to see how the Spurs' savvy combo guard Derrick White performs against Patrick Beverley and the Clippers' point-of-attack defense. White started the season slowly amid modest minutes, but he was excellent against the Trail Blazers this past Monday and could be an emergent player to target for fantasy purposes -- with tonight's marquee matchup serving as a solid proving ground.