Fantasy NBA Daily Notes: Life without Steph (again) - ESPN

1:21 PM ET

Andre SnellingsESPN

Stephen Curry came down awkwardly on a drive to the rim in the first quarter on Thursday night, re-tweaking his right ankle. He left the game, didn't return, and won't even travel with the Golden State Warriors on their upcoming two-game road trip.

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The Warriors have been in the midst of a race with the streaking Houston Rockets for the top seed out West, so let's take a look at how they played on Thursday without Curry ahead of a big Friday night game against the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers.

On Wednesday, Kevin Durant picked up the scoring slack for Curry, leading the way with 37 points (14-26 FG, 5-7 FT), 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 3-pointers, 4 blocks and 3 TO.

Draymond Green also had a big effort, producing a triple-double with 11 points (4-11 FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 3-pointer and 2 TO. This was Green's 22nd triple-double, and the Warriors tend to play well in games when Green does so:

Klay Thompson is the other star player to keep an eye on in Curry's absence. He didn't have a big game on Thursday, scoring 13 points (5-16 FG, 2-2 FT) with 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 3-pointer, but he has plenty of scoring chops that he could bring to the forefront with Curry out.

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2 Related

Shaun Livingston (99.5 percent available) is typically the player who gets the most minutes at point guard when Curry sits, though of late, youngster Quinn Cook (99.9 percent available) has been getting more run at point without Curry as well.

On Thursday, they split the 46 minutes that Curry didn't play, with Livingston having the better production with 9 points (4-10 FG, 1-2 FT), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block and 2 TO in 24 minutes against Cook's 2 points (1-6 FG), 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 TO in 22 minutes.

Thursday recap

Box scores

Highlights:

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: 29 points (11-14 FG, 5-7 FT), 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 TO

LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs: 30 points (11-20 FG, 8-11 FT), 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 TO

Nemanja Bjelica, Minnesota Timberwolves: 30 points (11-16 FG, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 3-pointers, 2 TO, 6 fouls

Lowlights:

Elfrid Payton, Phoenix Suns: 6 points (3-13 FG, 0-1 FT), 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 TO

Goran Dragic, Miami Heat: 7 points (3-13 FG), 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 3-pointer

Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers: 3 points (0-10 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, 1 block

Thursday takeaways

Kyrie Irving was back after a one-game absence (knee) and calmly led the Boston Celtics over the Timberwolves with 23 points (9-15 FG, 2-2 FT), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 3-pointers, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 TO in 30 minutes. Al Horford had his best game in quite a while on Thursday, scoring 20 points (8-14 FG, 3-3 FT) with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 3-pointer, 1 block and 1 TO, and Marcus Morris (83.9 percent available) chimed in as the third scorer with 17 points (7-15 FG, 0-1 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 3-pointers and 2 assists in 33 minutes off the bench.
Belly stole KAT's line in Minnesota. On Thursday, I made Karl-Anthony Towns one of my biggest recommends for the day based on his hot play of late, the Celtics' weakness in the middle, and Towns having exploited that weakness for a monster game against them earlier this season. Instead, Bjelica (91.4 percent available), known to Timberwolves fans as "Belly," stepped up with the game of his career:

Hassan Whiteside got the best of this matchup with heated rival Joel Embiid on Thursday. Whiteside scored 26 points (9-12 FG, 8-12 FT) with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal and 5 TO while Embiid was held to 17 points (5-18 FG, 4-7 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 3-pointers and 1 TO with 5 personal fouls. Plus, there was this:

Injuries of note

Jaylen Brown took a scary fall on Thursday night after a dunk attempt, crashing directly onto his upper shoulders/neck area after losing his grip on the rim. He stayed down in a hunched up posture for several minutes but was able to walk to the locker room on his own. He left the action and is being tested for a concussion, so consider him questionable moving forward until more information is released. If he has to sit, it gives more opportunity to Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and perhaps Morris.

Josh Jackson missed the second half of Thursday's game with a left knee injury. He had an MRI that reported no structural damage, but he should be considered questionable moving forward until more information is released.

Analytics advantage for Friday

The Denver Nuggets are one of the worst defenses in the NBA, ranking 25th in defensive rating with 110.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, their Friday opponents, the Los Angeles Lakers, are one of the hottest offenses in the NBA, having scored more than 100 points in 19 straight games with an average of 113.5 points per game during that streak.

Top players to watch tonight

With Curry out, I'll have my eye on Durant and Damian Lillard on Friday night. Curry's absence frees up Durant to put up big numbers, and Lillard has been on fire while leading the Trail Blazers on their current win streak.
The Rockets are at the Toronto Raptors on Friday night; one of the few matchups in the NBA in which the Rockets could be considered an underdog. The Rockets have won 17 straight games, so I'll be watching this entire game closely.

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