Fantasy NBA Daily Notes: Rest for Pelicans has been brief - ESPN

11:20 AM ET

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  Andre SnellingsESPN

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  Regardless of whether the Chicago Bulls are formally tanking, their rotation has opened up the chance for some players to make a mark in fantasy.

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  We take a trip around the NBA to suss out key fantasy tidbits on every team, including the latest on Julius Randle, Jeff Teague and other players getting a boost down the stretch.

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The New Orleans Pelicans just finished a brutal stretch of games, and I have to take my hat off to them because they came through them beautifully. The Pelicans played on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers in a game that was originally scheduled earlier in the season, but had been postponed due to leaks in the arena.

Adding that make-up game gave the Pelicans five games in a six-night period, including the very rare "back-to-back-to-back" from Tuesday through Thursday. In the final game of that trio, the Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers 128-125, picking up their fourth straight win under very tough circumstances. I certainly thought they were going to have more difficulty with this stretch of games. However, I also thought the Pelicans could indeed do what they've been doing since DeMarcus Cousins went down.

There were analytics to suggest that Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday could step up their games and replace a lot of what they were getting from Cousins, and I thought that they would -- especially after they were able to add Nikola Mirotic. But that plan required a mega-effort from Davis, who has absolutely delivered. Davis has had durability and stamina issues in the past, especially when a lot of games were piled up on each other, and I thought he might falter during the last couple of games. Instead, on Thursday, Davis scored 33 points (12-20 FG, 9-10 FT), with 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 0 TO in 37 minutes .

Davis has maintained a consistent high level of play through this recent busy schedule, averaging 31.6 points (62.9 FG%, 86.8 FT%) with 10.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals during the last five games. In short, he's been a beast.

Davis wasn't out there alone on Thursday, though, by any stretch of the imagination. His backcourt was right there with him, bridging the gap between a win and a loss against a sneakily tough Lakers squad. Holiday scored 26 points (12-16 FG, 1-3 FT) with 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 3-pointer, while Rajon Rondo bounced back to turn in 24 points (11-18 FG, 1-1 FT), 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 3-pointer and 3 TO on the night.

The Pelicans, mercifully, have a night off on Friday. However, they're right back at it with four more tough games over eight days. All four games are against teams with playoff motivation and championship aspirations, so they should continue to have to go all out in order to put up big fantasy numbers as a unit to remain competitive. Don't bet against Davis.

Thursday recap

Box scores

Highlights:

Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets: 46 points (13-18 FG, 10-10 FT), 10 3-pointers, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 TO, 28 minutes

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Los Angeles Lakers: 28 points (9-15 FG, 2-2 FT), 8 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 TO

Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons: 17 points (6-13 FG, 5-10 FT), 20 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 TO

Lowlights:

Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic: 7 points (3-11 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 3-pointer, 2 TO

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks: 4 points (2-6 FG), 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 TO

JaMychal Green, Memphis Grizzlies: 5 points (2-7 FG), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 3-pointer

Thursday takeaways

• It should be noted that the Hornets are also headed to the lottery, and were playing without suspended center Dwight Howard, but they clearly still showed up to play on a day that the Grizzlies did not. Charlotte was led by a virtuoso performance from Walker.

• The Hornets also got 10 points and 12 rebounds from Willy Hernangomez, who started in place of Howard. Marvin Williams contributed 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 3-pointers and 2 steals, and Jeremy Lamb also played well with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 3-pointers and a steal.

• The Lakers' frontline was strong again, and all but one starter scored 22-plus points. Julius Randle went for 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points with 5 rebounds, 4 3-pointers, 2 assists and 1 steal. Brook Lopez scored 23 points with 6 rebounds, 1 3-pointer, 1 assist and 2 TO. It would seem that a lot of the credit for the strong Lakers' strong play should go to Lonzo Ball, who, despite a horrendous shooting night -- 6 points on 2-15 FG, including 1-12 from behind the arc -- led the team with 13 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 blocks.

Injuries of note

• Dwight Howard picked up his 16th technical foul of the season on Wednesday as part of his historic 30-30 game, which meant that he had to sit out Thursday's game with a mandated suspension. The Hornets obviously didn't miss him, as they won by 61 points, and he'll be back next game.

• Chris Paul has a sore hamstring, so he didn't play on Thursday. There is really no need for him to push it right now, as the Houston Rockets are pretty comfortably slotted in the top seed in the Western Conference and the Golden State Warriors seem too injured to make a run at them. As such, expect Paul to rest unless and until he is fully healthy.

• Dennis Schroder didn't play on Thursday to rest up. This just seems like an Hawks team that doesn't care anymore. Schroder is only 24 years old, and he's playing on a lottery team whose season ends in a couple of weeks anyway. There was no pressing reason for the Hawks to rest him, but then again they have nothing to play for and he's likely a part of their future, so they just decided to give him the day off.

Analytics advantage for Friday

The playoff matchups on Friday include Denver Nuggets-Washington Wizards, LA Clippers-Pacers, Miami Heat-Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz-San Antonio Spurs, and Boston Celtics-Portland Trail Blazers. Of the teams listed above, the Clippers (108.7 points allowed per game) and the Nuggets (108.4) are both among the 10 worst defenses in the NBA. Both the Pacers (105.6 points scored per game, 17th) and the Wizards (107.3, T12th) are middle-of-the-pack scoring teams, but could be in for better than usual nights against defenses that give up a lot of points in what should be hard-fought games that all involved teams need to win.

Top players to watch tonight

The Heat-Thunder matchup offers some interesting player situations. With Hassan Whiteside out once again, the Thunder should score a lot of points, led by the usual suspects of Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The Heat could also be interesting, though, with Kelly Olynyk in particular in the midst of a stretch of really strong play. The main question is whether or not the Thunder can run away from the Heat at home. If Miami is able to stay competitive, there should be some big numbers in this game.

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