Daily Fantasy NBA - Best (and Worst) DraftKings Performances of the First Half 2/19/18

With All-Star Weekend in the books, we can take a few moments and look back at some of the highlights (and lowlights) from the first half of the season. There were some truly amazing fantasy performances both in terms of raw points as well as efficiency.

Best Overall Games

James Harden
Opponent Magic 1/30/18
102 DraftKings Points
Demarcus Cousins
Opponent Bulls 1/22/18
102 DraftKings Points
Both of these games were, of course, monsters though Harden gets a little more credit only because he needed five fewer minutes to put up the 102 DraftKings points. Without a resting Chris Paul Harden went bananas on the Magic to the tune of 60 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, four steals and a block. Amazingly, he actually shot below his normal rate from three going “only” 5-14, but he made up for it in volume shooting (30 total attempts) and going 17-18 from the line.

Just three games before his Achilles tear that ended his season, Cousins played 52 minutes in a double-overtime win over the Bulls. His line was a whopping 44 points, 23 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and a block. Surprisingly, Anthony Davis also played in this game but fouled out a couple of minutes into the first overtime.

Best DraftKings Points Per Dollar Performances

Criteria - needed to score more than 40 DraftKings points in a game.
Delon Wright
Opponent Bulls 1/3/18
DraftKings Points - 61.25 Salary - $3700
You would think this kind of performance from Wright would come with Kyle Lowry, or maybe Demar Derozan sitting, but that wasn’t the case. The Raptors played a lot of three-guard sets and Wright needed only 30 minutes to go for 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block. He went 10-15 from the field and 4-5 from beyond the arc. At only $3700 on DraftKings, he made for the best bargain of the season.

Alec Burks
Opponent Clippers 11/30/17
DraftKings Points - 53.25 Salary $3600
Not as impressive as Wright’s game, but still the second-best value on the season. Like Wright, Burks came off the bench with Rodney Hood and Raul Neto both injured, leading the second unit and shooting lights out with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. He went 11-17 from the field and 4-6 from three.

Best DraftKings Points Per Minute Performances

Criteria - More than 25 DraftKings Points

Joel Embiid
Opponent - Lakers 11/15/17
DraftKings Points - 90.75, 34 Minutes
The Lakers had no answer for Embiid in this game and it took him only 34 minutes to put up 46 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and seven(!) blocks. Embiid’s only real fantasy issue this season is the somewhat hard minutes’ cap the Sixers have imposed on the young big man. That he’s been able to sustain elite pricing tier salaries while never climbing over the mid 30’s mark in run is astounding. With a little more wiggle room on the minutes, he would have easily crested over 100 fantasy points in this game.

Fred VanVleet
Opponent - Hawks 1/24/18
DraftKings Points - 47.25 Salary, 18 minutes
The second bench guard from the Raptors to show up on this list, VanVleet came off the bench against the Hawks and needed only 18 minutes to basically do everything on the court. His 19 points, thanks to 4-6 from beyond the arc, led the team and he chipped in seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.

Honorable Mention - Leave Me in Coach Category
Damian Lillard
Opponent Kings 2/9/18
DraftKings Points - 69.25 Salary, 29 minutes
C.J. McCollum
Opponent Bulls 1/31/18
DraftKings Points - 62.75 Salary, 29 minutes

Special shout out to Terry Stotts who had not one, but two guys in Lillard and McCollum who, on separate nights, scored 50 real points in less than 30 minutes of court time. Do you think Coach would keep them out there to reach historic scoring heights? Etch their name in a history book or two? Nah, pull em and let the bench guys get some run. Part of me thinks that when he pulled C.J. in the first performance his hands were tied with Dame in the second and was thankful the game turned into a blowout.

Worst DraftKings Performance (Maybe Ever)

Criteria - More than 25 minutes

Terrance Ferguson
Opponent - Blazers 1/9/18
DraftKings Points - 2.5, 30 minutes
Look, I get it when you share the court with Russ, Melo, and PG you're going to have to just come to grips with the fact that you might not touch the ball ever. But this line for Ferguson is really something: 0/2/0/0/0/0/3 (fouls). It’s tough to do less on a basketball court in this many minutes and my hat is off to the guy. I doubt we see less per minute fantasy scoring for the rest of the season.

Quick note: Jared Dudley had a "game" on 2/2 against the Suns with 25 minutes, 0 points, two assists and three fouls.