Last Updated on March 11, 2026 2:11 pm by Mike Passador | Published: March 11, 2026

Any discussion of Tuesday night in the NBA has to be about Bam Adebayo and his history-making performance. He dropped 83 points against the Wizards, planting himself second all-time for single-game scoring. It was a special night just 12 minutes in as Adebayo had 30 points in the first frame, and when he entered the half at 43 it was lining up for something truly incredible.

The Heat chose to go for it even with the win firmly in hand against the tanking Wizards, and even when it looked like there was ample opportunity to sit Adebayo for a job very-well done, they kept him on the floor. Deep into garbage time, the Heat were running all kinds of plays for Adebayo and he was running and gunning — he ended the night 20-of-43 from the field and an absurd 36-of-43 at the free throw line while hitting seven 3-pointers. The game entered the theater of the absurd in the fourth quarter as the Heat were dead set on having Adebayo chase history and the Wizards were trying everything to stop him. Adebayo saw double- and triple-teams; the Heat were throwing long bombs in hopes of him catching it in the frontcourt and intentionally fouling the Wizards to prolong the game and save clock. It wasn’t exactly NBA basketball, but it was a compelling watch in terms of strategy and the brazenness with which only one player on the court mattered to the other nine. At the end of the day, Adebayo put up 83 points in a single game. No antics detract from that.

Adebayo may also single-handedly decide fantasy matchups after the night of a lifetime. Last night’s scoring effort is basically worth four or five games of a standard player’s output; Adebayo essentially created a huge volume edge in one night for head-to-head managers. He had scored 92 total points over his previous four games, and that’s Adebayo himself — a player that is actually good that is counted upon to score. You may as well be playing with an extra active roster slot. maybe even two depending on your roster construction. What’s more, he did all that on reasonable efficiency. His thumb is very much on the scales of FT% this week and somehow he attempted enough freebies to grade out positively despite missing seven of them. It’s an all-time performance at a perfect time for fantasy managers — or the worst possible time if you’re facing him.

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Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

Cam Payne (11%)

Adebayo’s night overshadowed what was an incredible performance from Payne: 32 points (9-of-10 FG, 6-of-6 FT), three rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, two blocks, eight 3-pointers and no turnovers in 30 minutes off the bench. That is an incredible effort. Payne was already worth adding for the Sixers’ five-game schedule this week, and then Tyrese Maxey’s finger injury only added to his appeal — and that was when Maxey was only guaranteed to miss two games instead of three weeks. Now that he’s playing well, it’s a no-brainer.

Danny Wolf (5%)

Nic Claxton has seen his minutes dwindle of late and he has been playing poorly even when the minutes are there. Day’Ron Sharpe looked like the main beneficiary but lately it has been Wolf. On Tuesday he added to his case with 13 points (2-of-6 FG, 7-of-9 FT), eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two 3-pointers in 28 minutes off the bench. It was a blowout loss but even that is illuminating, as we can see that Wolf is going to get a lot of run even when the Nets are getting thrashed.

Daniel Gafford (24%)

Gafford is on a run of three straight double-doubles and is coming off 14 & 10 with a steal on 6-of-9 shooting (2-of-4 free throws) last night vs. Atlanta. He’s not going to push past 25 minutes but Gafford doesn’t need more than that to be relevant in standard leagues. Just be aware that he’s still going to provide value even without double-doubles because of his constant FG% boost. There will be games where Gafford posts modest counting stats but that is just part of the deal.

Games

Cavaliers – Magic @ 7:30 ET
Raptors – Pelicans @ 8:00 ET
Knicks – Jazz @ 9:00 ET
Rockets – Nuggets @ 10:00 ET
Hornets – Kings @ 10:00 ET
Timberwolves – Clippers @ 10:30 ET

Teams on Second Night of a Back-to-Back

Note: Teams on the second night of a back-to-back must submit their injury report by the release of the 4:15 pm ET Official NBA Injury Report. 

TOR, HOU, CHA, SAC, MIN

The Raptors should get Jakob Poeltl back in the lineup tonight after he was out sick last night, and that’s their only injury situation of note.

Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith could end up getting a rest day but we’re cautiously optimistic that both suit up. The same goes for Tari Eason, though his history of injury management makes you a little more skeptical that he’ll suit up.

The Hornets and Wolves should be all good to go with no questions asked.

As for the Kings, working with their rotation is a little bit like preparing for a permanent back-to-back. The guy who won them the game last night didn’t even hit the court until the third quarter and both Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan were at 25 minutes or less. Those are the two guys to watch out for tonight, and Malik Monk left Tuesday’s game with an injury.

Teams on First Night of a Back-to-Back

ORL, DEN

We have two teams that should be expected to be near full strength. Unfortunately for the Magic, that’s only because we already know that Franz Wagner and Anthony Black will not play for a bit. For Denver you’re keeping an eye on Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson. Gordon is the most likely player to sit out.

Top Stories to Watch

Brandon Ingram has been mired in a week-long slump, struggling to score and bottoming out with nine points in last night’s game, which was close after three quarters before the offenses sputtered out. While buying into narratives is a little dangerous, a return to New Orleans should cure what ails Ingram. Expect him and his teammates to be highly motivated for this one.

On the flip side of that, we’re going to be watching — begrudgingly — the Pelicans’ center rotation. DeAndre Jordan and Karlo Matkovic have bounced in and out of the rotation lately but things could be different on any given night. The one guarantee is that none of the gang will play enough to provide legitimate 12-team value. Unless?

Anthony Edwards is coming off a horrendous game on Tuesday in which he went 2-of-15 from the field in an ugly loss to the reeling Lakers. That’s bad news for the Clippers. Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo and Jaden McDaniels were also pretty rough last night so the Wolves should be a lot better by default.

As for the Clippers, they’re going to need Bennedict Mathurin to stay hot and keep outrunning his stat set deficiencies. It sure looks like he can do it. Derrick Jones Jr. has also been coming on strong of late and is working his way towards 12-team viability as a consummate 3-and-D professional. He’s going to be needed in tonight’s matchup.

The Kings continue to toy with Devin Carter’s minutes — last year’s first-round pick, of all people — but with Malik Monk injured and the team on a back-to-back, he might finally get decent run. He certainly earned it after last night’s effort, scoring a career-high 24 points in just 16 minutes. The Kings may continue to play him behind Killian Hayes but Carter is exactly the sort of player who should get a ton of run as the team circles the drain so hopefully common sense prevails and he just gets 24 minutes to run wild.

For the Houston-Denver game — the expected game of the night, for our money — we’re going to be watching to see if Reed Sheppard can bounce back from last night’s rough shooting performance as well as how the complementary Nuggets fare. Aaron Gordon has been way more hit than miss this year and the team will need him to keep that up; Cam Johnson has been more miss than hit and the team will need him to figure it out.

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Check out our Live Injury Report to see who is probable, questionable, doubtful or sidelined for this slate!

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Streamers

We are not including players who are either most likely on a roster or should be on a roster.

Standard Formats

Keon Ellis – points, steals, blocks, 3-pointers.

Ace Bailey – points, 3-pointers, rebounds.

Brice Sensabaugh – points, 3-pointers, rebounds.

Sam Merrill – points, 3-pointers.

EJ Harkless – assists, steals, 3-pointers.

John Konchar – rebounds, steals, blocks (if he plays).

Kris Dunn – steals, assists.

Derrick Jones Jr. – rebounds, steals, blocks, 3-pointers.

Jeremiah Fears – points, assists, steals.

B2B Watch for Standard Formats

Wait for the official injury reports of the Raptors, Rockets, Hornets, Kings, Wolves, Magic and Nuggets before streaming their players. 

Tim Hardaway Jr. – points, 3-pointers.

Sandro Mamukelashvili – points, rebounds, blocks, 3-pointers.

Devin Carter – points, assists, steals, 3-pointers.

Ryan Kalkbrenner – rebounds, blocks.

Deep Leagues

Yves Missi – blocks, rebounds.

Landry Shamet – points, 3-pointers.

Karlo Matkovic – points, rebounds, blocks.

Thomas Bryant – rebounds, blocks.

Isaiah Jackson – rebounds, blocks.

DeAndre Jordan – rebounds.

B2B Watch for Deep Leagues

Wait for the official injury reports of the Raptors, Rockets, Hornets, Kings, Wolves, Magic and Nuggets before streaming their players. 

Tristan da Silva – points, rebounds, steals, 3-pointers.

Bruce Brown – points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks.

Jevon Carter – assists, steals, 3-pointers.

Bones Hyland – points, 3-pointers.

Killian Hayes – steals, assists.

Josh Okogie – 3-pointers, steals.

Ja’Kobe Walter – 3-pointers, steals.