The young Memphis Grizzlies won in Charlotte on Wednesday evening on a game-winning shot from rookie Ja Morant that helped the team secure consecutive road wins for the first time in a calendar year. Morant was brilliant in producing his first career double-double with 23 points and 11 assists in the clutch performance. Morant delivered eight points in the final frame, including the game-winner, and now has 77 points in the fourth quarter this season, the most among all rookies.
Speaking of impressive rookies, teammate Brandon Clarke tallied 13 points and six rebounds last night in the win, and while he didn't deliver any defensive statistics, the Gonzaga product is impressively averaging 1.9 stocks (steals and blocks combined) while shooting 60.7% from the field.
Third-year swing Dillon Brooks is also thriving for Memphis with 18.0 PPG and strong shooting and defensive rates during his past two outings. Brooks tends to get into foul trouble, limiting his production at times, but he could emerge as a useful scoring source in deeper leagues as the season matures.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards: 44 points (17-27 FG), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 TO
James Harden, Houston Rockets: 47 points (12-26 FG), 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 TO
Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves: 30 points (12-23 FG), 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 TO
Lowlights
Patrick Beverley, LA Clippers: 6 points (3-10 FG), 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs: 11 points (2-6 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist
PJ Washington, Charlotte Hornets: 5 points (2-7 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks
Wednesday takeaways
In the loss to the Grizzlies, Charlotte's Terry Rozier tied a career-high with 33 points while establishing a new high as a Hornet. With a career shooting clip of 38.3% from the floor, it's not exactly surprising to see Rozier hover around 42% thus far. Even with his somewhat inefficient scoring pattern, Rozier can still return mid-round value if by sheer volume and opportunity alone.
In a win over the struggling Trail Blazers on Wednesday, the Raptors' Pascal Siakam produce 36 points -- good for his fifth 30-point game of the season -- amazingly matching his total in the first three seasons of his career. Can someone win Most Improved two years in a row? Maybe they can just keep the award in Toronto and hand it to Fred VanVleet, who scored 30 points in the win, good for his second 30-point game of the season -- more than in the first three seasons of his career.
Wiggins continued to thrive for Minnesota with a game-high 30 points in a win over the Spurs last night while also producing 15 combined assists and rebounds. This marked Wiggins' fourth 30-point game this season, matching his tally from last season.
Harden notched his fifth 40-point outing in just 11 games this season, which is the fastest any player has reached five 40-point games in a season since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964-65. Harden is now averaging 38.2 points per game this season. The only player in NBA history to average more through his first 11 games of a season is Wilt. Wednesday was Harden's 70th career 40-point, five-assist game. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, he's the third player in NBA history to reach that mark, joining Michael Jordan (96 games) and Oscar Robertson (75). Harden has now scored 36 points over his last two fourth quarters (19 Monday at Pelicans); the most over a two-game span in the fourth quarter in his career.
Lost a bit in the buzz over Harden's scoring is that Clint Capela secured 20 rebounds for the third straight game for Houston, becoming the first Rockets player with three straight 20-rebound games since Moses Malone in 1982, per Elias.
Injuries of note
Atlanta's Kevin Huerter is ruled out for Thursday's game against the Suns. The fantasy fallout of Huerter's absence is discussed below.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left last night's win over the Warriors with an ankle injury. It's unlikely anyone besides, say, Kyle Kuzma would benefit much from KCP's absence if he misses any time with the injury. Kuzma, after all, just produced his second straight 20-point game after having none in his first five appearances.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
When Trae Young was sidelined for a one-game stint with an ankle injury earlier in the season, Atlanta's DeAndre' Bembry thrived with a usage rate above 26 percent while nearly notching his first career triple-double. With Huerter out tonight, Bembry should again see his minutes, touches and usage rise. With at least one steal in all but one appearance this season and some strong assist production when afforded exposure, Bembry could be a savvy streaming option ahead of tonight's game in Phoenix.
Top players to watch tonight
Paul George is likely to make his Clippers debut on Thursday against the Pelicans in New Orleans, barring something unexpected, coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday prior to the team's 102-93 loss to the Houston Rockets, per ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.
It's unclear how much George would play if active, while it's wise to assume Kawhi Leonard could rest, given he played last night and didn't play a full tandem of back-to-back games for Toronto last season. Either way, it would be great to see George back on the floor in a matchup that should prove fun, considering the Pelicans' high pace and weak defensive rates.