Hey y’all, with the resumption of the NBA season, hoops fanatics are finally getting their fix of basketball. Somehow they did it — the NBA pulled off their master plan of creating a bubble during a pandemic (yes, the pandemic is indeed real) and giving us quality hoops. Only the top 22 teams were invited which means there aren’t any “throwaway” games and with only eight games for each team, every win is huge in terms of seeding implications.

Due to all of the reasons above, the fantasy season is murky for many folks. In every respectable league I’m in, the fantasy season ended with prize money being split in head-to-head leagues based on who was left in the playoffs, and roto leagues paid out whoever was in the top three spots as the season ended. Since eight teams are no longer playing, that means you’d have to redraft for your fantasy league and with only two weeks of regular season basketball, it just doesn’t make sense to restart.

This means that DFS is the most even playing ground in terms of fantasy so we’ll be shifting the weekly report to look at the top performers in DFS in terms of fantasy points. Use this as a look back at some amazing performances rather than a predictive tool.

We have an amazing DFS team who just released a pod for today’s games with Dan Bresbis as their host. Mike Apotria and Brenton Eckersley gave some awesome insight, if you haven’t check them out here.

TOP DFS Performers by points

7/31

James Harden welcomed back the league with a 49-9-8-3-3 game with three triples. The Beard was on fire against the Mavs and had 23 points in the first quarter. He finished 11-for-11 on his 2-point attempts and after a lot of talk about fatigue wearing him down at the end of seasons, the break in between might benefit him the most.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be on here a lot. He’ll most likely win MVP and for good reason; the Greek Freak is still an absolute, well, freak. It’s almost impossible to stop Antetokounmpo when he’s moving at downhill speed and the Bucks have the best record in the NBA due to his play.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 39 points with 16 boards against the Rockets in the Mavs’ debut and he’s killed the microball team in the past two meetings. Porzingis is the type of player that can take advantage of mismatches, especially when paired with an elite pick-and-roll maestro such as Luka Doncic. He’s had some time to heal those knees and the Mavs are going to need him to come up big in these next six games.

8/1

Joel Embiid carrying the Sixers in a disappointing loss. The Sixers are still doing Sixers things. The Process dropped 41 points, 21 boards, four assists, a steal, three blocks and a triple on .652 shooting in 34 minutes. They’re going to need to get a lot more from other players on their roster, but as of now, Embiid is playing as the best center in the NBA bubble.

T.J. Warren set a new scoring high for the bubble with 53 points. He connected on nine triples with three dimes and two blocks and hit .690 of his shots. This won’t happen again during the bubble, but if you were lucky enough to strike gold with him, you most likely raked in some money on those lineups.

Kyle Lowry dominated the Lakers on both sides of the ball. He was absolute menace on defense and his championship savvy helped steer the boat to a win over a favored Lakers’ team. This is one of his best seasons and he’s one of the most dependable guard plays on a daily basis.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finds himself atop the leaderboards again with 36/18/8 on .560 shooting. He’s a machine that can’t be stopped and the $11,000 price point on DraftKings was still too low for the value he brought in on this night.

Luka Doncic had a huge night for DFS and his value is priced-in big time. He had 40 points with eight boards and 11 dimes on .550 shooting, but no defensive stats or treys. The Mavs are the No. 1 offense in NBA history in terms of scoring and efficiency and it’s all because of Doncic’s brilliance. For some reason they keep coming up short when it’s crunch time, but DFS owners have a sure thing whenever they fire up Doncic.

Damian Lillard bestowed us with the greatest two-week stretch of the fantasy season earlier and he has not missed a beat. He almost willed the Blazers to a victory against the Celtics when they team was down by as many as 20 points. He’s rejuvenated and fighting for a playoff berth so you can expect some more monster games from Dame.

Value Plays

Here in Value Plays we’ll take a look at players who beat their expect value through their “ratio.” DFS players know all about this, but for the uninitiated, it just means how many points per dollar they raked in. A “standard” ratio would be around 50.0. Anything above, you can view as a win, but you’ll need big hits to win those tourneys, so these plays are vital to winning in DFS.

7/31

Trey Burke lit up the Rockets for 31 points with eight triples, but don’t be fooled by this. There’s something about role players absolutely scorching the pocket Rockets, so if you’re feeling frisky, go take a risk on the next rotational guy who plays Houston. I wouldn’t bank on Burke being this incredible too often.

Khem Birch is a bit of a different story. He’s a proven backup that can put up starter value when given the time and in 16 minutes, he dropped 12 points with four rebounds, five dimes, a steal and a block. He’s an amazing value play.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is getting more run for the Nets, but the price is going to catch up eventually. He dropped 24 points which is far and away above his expectations, but the home run potential is there.

A special shoutout to Brandon Clarke who was priced in at $4,100 but hit a ratio of 94.5 thanks to 21 points, seven boards, two assists, a steal and two blocks on .875 shooting. If he’s ever around that price range, hammer him in.

8/1

T.J. Warren won a lot of tournaments this day.

Kelly Olynyk dropped a light 20-5-3-1-1 line with four treys on .727 shooting. The line won’t always be this pretty, but Olynyk as a flier pick is never a bad option, considering he’s the lowest price available on DraftKings.

Aaron Holiday popped off against the Sixers in 34 minutes of action with 15 points and 10 dimes to go with five boards and a triple. He’s a capable guard and if he’s going to get this run, you can expect the pricing to catch up.

8/2

Thomas Bryant scored 30 points with 13 boards, three dimes, a steal, two blocks and four triples. This might be the best game of the season for him, but the issue was never really talent, but health. The break in between gave him time to rest his injuries and it looks like Scott Brooks is ready to play him as he logged 36 minutes against the Nets on Sunday.

Troy Brown Jr. is a legitimate NBA player and his name will start to gain more steam as the resumption games go on. The Wizards are without their two star guards, but Brown is going to make himself a name around NBA circles by the time this is over. He scored 22 points with 10 boards, eight dimes, a steal and a triple on .471 shooting. It’s on the higher end of his performances, but he’s got the goods.

Cameron Johnson showed out against the Mavs with 19 points, 12 boards, four dimes and four treys on .545 shooting but this line isn’t sustainable. He’s just not that great of a shooter at the NBA level yet, but he caught fire and helped out DFS guys that night. I’d be too scared to trot him out there in non-tourney lineups.