Tuesday's main slate ended with a bang, as the entire league watched as LeBron James knocked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar down a peg on the NBA's all-time scoring list. While the grand finale was exciting, James was still beat out by a few player on the fantast leaderboard. Need to know what you missed ahead of Tuesday's historic ending? We'll go over who's hot, who's not, and a DFS play Wednesday here.
Who's hot
How could I not lead with the NBA's all-time leading scorer? James finished Tuesday's contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 38 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. The Los Angeles Lakers star was a top-five fantasy performer and is now averaging 30.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 55.7 percent shooting in February. Don't expect James to slow down now that he's reached this landmark achievement, as the Lakers don't seem to have many promising trades on the table ahead of Thursday's deadline.
Jokic didn't even need to play 30 minutes to record his fourth consecutive triple-double. The Denver Nuggets big man put up 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 16 assists in his team's drubbing of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. He made eight of his 10 field goal attempts and didn't play for even a second in the fourth quarter. Jokic is averaging 18.7 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 14.0 assists in February.
The Thomas hype train is still chugging along. The Brooklyn Nets guard eclipsed 40 points for a third straight game against the Phoenix Suns with 43 points, five rebounds, and three assists. We'll see how Spencer Dinwiddie affects the LSU product's numbers later this week, but Thomas is averaging 38.3 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting in February. Brooklyn has been competitive with him running the show and it appears like he'll get a longer leash while Seth Curry and Kevin Durant don't have timetables for their returns to the hardwood.
Who's not
Gobert played less than 20 minutes in both games of the Timberwolves' latest two-game series against the Nuggets. He was held scoreless with five rebounds in 19 minutes on Tuesday after totaling 16 points and eight rebounds in his previous game. The big man has failed to reach double-digits in rebounds for three straight games. Gobert's attempted less than eight shots in eight of the 16 games he's played in since the start of January.
DFS play
Donovan Mitchell (groin) and Darius Garland (thumb) popped up on Wednesday's injury report ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers' matchup against the Detroit Pistons, so Rubio could be set loose alongside Caris LeVert. The reserve point has now logged at least 20 minutes in two games this season and averaged 10.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 rebounds in those contests. Mitchell and Garland played in both instances, so it's not hard to see Rubio benefitting in an expanded role. He's returned at least 6X value in three straight games and could exceed his season-high in minutes (21) against the lowly Pistons.
Still deciding who to lock in for your DFS roster? We've identified a player worth locking in and one to avoid ahead of tip-off below, but you can get my full selection of stud and value plays at each position by heading over to SportsLine.
