We're looking at the top six scores from Yahoo High Score to form the Week 8 perfect fantasy basketball lineup.
It was an odd week for fantasy basketball with the NBA Cup quarterfinals and semifinals taking place in Week 8. As a result, many fantasy managers had fewer games to work with. That definitely impacted the week's High Score fantasy basketball perfect lineup. Let's take a look at the top-six scorers on the week after recapping the NBA Cup so far.
In the Eastern Conference, the Magic took down the Heat while the Knicks defeated the Raptors last Tuesday to advance to the semifinals. Desmond Bane was brought in via trade to Orlando before the season and this was his signature performance so far, dropping 37 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the floor. The Knicks got 35 points from Jalen Brunson in their win over Toronto. Brunson would continue his strong play, scoring 40 points in the semifinal match against the Magic to lift the Knicks to the NBA Cup Final.
Out West, the Thunder kept up their historic win pace by demolishing the Suns 138-89. A career game from point guard Stephon Castle helped the Spurs get by the Lakers to advance. Castle had 30 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, carrying the team with Victor Wembanyama sidelined. Then, Wemby would return in heroic fashion to help San Antonio stun OKC with a 111-109 victory, the Thunder's second loss of the season. Wembanyama came off the bench but scored 22 points in 21 minutes with nine rebounds.
The Knicks and Spurs will meet on Tuesday in the NBA Cup final —those stats will not count for fantasy matchups this week.
A closer look at the top performers
Russell Westbrook: The Kings are likely headed for the lottery again and could start to move pieces as a result. But in the meantime, Westbrook is surprising everyone as a top-25 fantasy asset in High Score. He posted a vintage triple-double line of 24-12-14 with three stocks against the Pacers to start the wonky schedule week. There's almost always going to volatility with his box scores but we're seeing a 70-point ceiling for Westbrook in the right spot.
Keyonte George: The Jazz guard has taken a huge step in Year 3 in the NBA. He's becoming a nice 1B option to Lauri Markkanen's 1A for Utah. Isaiah Collier missing time early on really cleared the way for George, who scored a career-high 39 points against the Grizzlies over the weekend. He has great category coverage averaging 4.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game this season. That will allow him to maintain his floor of around 45 fantasy points.
Derik Queen: Freezing Cold Takes must be having a field day with everyone questioning the trade up for Queen at the 2025 NBA Draft. While New Orleans gave up a lot, it looks like the franchise may have a stalwart as Queen is firmly in the Rookie of the Year conversation. He lands on this list thanks to a first-career triple-double with 33-10-10 to go with three blocks against the Spurs on Monday. Since Nov. 4, Queen is averaging 14.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while playing over 28 minutes per contest.
Nikola Jokić: This feels like it's becoming a de factor weekly Jokić update. The top High Score asset had a quiet week with just one game in which Joker and the Nuggets made swift work of the Kings on Thursday. It was one of the lower High Score totals for the big man this season but still likely helped your lineup pick up the W with scoring down last week. He had 36-12-8 with two steals in just 29 minutes of action.
Jalen Johnson: A down week can also be said about Johnson, who failed to reach the 70-point mark but sneaks onto this list after edging out a few players at 59 points. Johnson recorded two triple-doubles on the week and now has a four-game streak of triple-doubles. He continues to make his case for Most Improved Player as we await the return of PG Trae Young. He's expected to be back at practice this week so a return appears imminent. That will likely impact Johnson's fantasy stock.
Stephen Curry: Steph nearly reached a 50-burger on Sunday night to make it into the top-six scorers for the week. He was lights out, shooting 16-26 from the floor and 12-19 from distance for 48 points. He also added 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block. We talk about this a lot but the beauty of High Score is that players like Curry can still turn it back and give us a ceiling game in the right environment. That was the fourth time Steph has scored 40+ points in a game this season. The magic is still there.
Category: General Sports
