Fantasy Weekend: OKC Thunder players for an important stretch of games
By Sinjin Snope
The OKC Thunder head out on the road for a pair of important Western Conference games this weekend.
To be fair, Oklahoma City only has one game this weekend, Friday night against the ever dangerous San Antonio Spurs. For the sake of this column, we are going to add in Monday night’s tilt against the New Orleans Pelicans just because we can.
Since we last spoke, the OKC Thunder have climbed out of their recent rut and made it back to .500 at 7-7. Paul George has, on occasion, found his groove and the Thunder offense hasn’t been as bad lately. These two upcoming contests will be key to determining if OKC has truly turned the corner. The Pelicans and Spurs are among the West’s elite at this point in the young season.
As for fantasy basketball, which is the theme of this weekly column, these two games offer a lot of options. Let’s see who gets the nod this week for the OKC Thunder and their opponents.
LaMarcus Aldridge
With players Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard sidelined with injuries, the Spurs have been LaMarcus Aldridge’s team to start this season. Much maligned last season, LA has rebounded nicely to lead San Antonio to a 9-6 record. He also leads the team in scoring (22.0), rebounding (8.3) and blocks (1.3) per game.
When it comes to playing against the OKC Thunder, many will remember his dominant playoff series just two years ago. In the first two games of that series, Aldridge scored 38 and 41 points respectively. With the lack of size in OKC’s front court this season, we could see the return of those big performances.
Russell Westbrook
I have a feeling Russell Westbrook will be a consistent member of our Fantasy Weekend showcase. How could we not place Russ here when he is still putting up eye-popping numbers a year after averaging a triple-double.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
The good news for Fantasy owners and Westbrook alike, is that he has historically played extremely well against San Antonio and New Orleans. Last season, Russ averaged 27.3 points, 13 assists and 11.3 rebounds in three games against the Spurs. His splits against the Pelly’s were even better, averaging 34.5 points, 10.0 assists and 12.5 rebounds in 4 games.
So yeah, expect the Brodie to have a fantastic fantasy weekend.
Anthony Davis
Whenever the Pelicans show up on the schedule, it makes the inner OKC Thunder fan in me shiver. That’s because Anthony Davis seems to play at his best against Oklahoma City. Everyone will remember that outlandish three-pointer he hit a few years back that kept the Thunder from the playoffs. But I am here to tell you, that’s not all he’s done against the boys in blue.
In four games last season, The Brow averaged 29.3 points and 10.3 rebounds against the Thunder. Matched up against Carmelo Anthony (more on him below), Davis could continue his recent trend of dominance and have a solid fantasy weekend.
Carmelo Anthony
Last week, I pinned Paul George as a fantasy player to watch. In those two games, he exploded for 42 and 37 points. Hopefully some of that good luck rubs off on the other member of the OK3, Carmelo Anthony. According to the statistics, there’s no reason to think otherwise.
In limited action against the Spurs and Pelicans last season, Anthony averaged 23.5 points and 8.25 boards per game. Carmelo has scored well against these teams and could have a few breakout games this weekend.
Good luck and check back next week for your weekend fantasy.