NBA Daily Notes: Blake Griffin returns home; Top fantasy picks for January 13th

Detroit Pistons managed to beat Los Angeles Clippers on Griffin's return

Welcome to another day of the NBA 2018-19 season. Yesterday, we had 8 games to watch and we have 7 games to review tomorrow. Let's analyse some of the meaningful performances from the last night, results of the matches and the top players to look out for in the matches tomorrow.

Saturday's recap:

Detroit Pistons 109-104 Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies 108-112 Miami Heat
Boston Celtics 103-105 Orlando Magic
New Orleans Pelicans 106-110 Minnesota Timberwolves
San Antonio Spurs 112-122 Oklahoma City Thunder
Denver Nuggets 93-102 Phoenix Suns
Chicago Bulls 102-110 Utah Jazz
Charlotte Hornets 97-104 Sacramento Kings

Highlights:

1. Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers): 44 points, 13-23 FG, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 4 TOs.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves): 27 points, 10-23 FG, 27 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks and 3 TOs.

3. Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz): 34 points, 11-24 FG, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 TOs.

Lowlights:

1. Bruce Brown (Detroit Pistons): 2 points, 0-7 FG, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and a block.

2. Will Barton (Denver Nuggets): 6 points, 2-10 FG, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 TO.

3. Terry Rozier (Boston Celtics): 0 points, 0-5 FG, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 TO.

Saturday's takeaway:

The opening game was the return of Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pistons won 109-104. The Miami Heat held off a late comeback from the Memphis Grizzlies, 112-108. The Boston Celtics could not beat the buzzer and lost to the Orlando Magic, 105-103.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Minnesota Timberwolves on a big win over the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-106. Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs in the reverse fixture from 2 nights back, 122-112. The Phoenix Suns got a surprising win over the conference leaders Denver Nuggets, 102-93.
The Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls in a great win for them,110-102. The Sacramento Kings faced off against the Charlotte Hornets in the final game of the night, winning 104-97.

Sunday's games:

Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards
Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks
Milwaukee Bucks @ Atlanta Hawks
Houston Rockets @ Orlando Magic
Golden State Warriors @ Dallas Mavericks
Portland Trail Blazers @ Denver Nuggets
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Los Angeles Lakers

PG 1- Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)

Philadelphia 76ers are faltering a bit recently

Preview:

The Philadelphia 76ers are playing really well this season and have even acquired a star player in Jimmy Butler, strengthening their chances of an Eastern Conference finals run. They are currently 4th in the Eastern Conference, with a 27-16 record. They have of late lost a bit of form, winning just six of their last 10 and losing two in a row.

Last 3 games:

11/1/2019 - L - Atlanta Hawks, 121-123
9/1/2019 - L - Washington Wizards, 106-123
8/1/2019 - W - Washington Wizards, 132-115

Player performances and review:

Ben Simmons has been playing really well this season and has built on his rookie season campaign. He is currently averaging a nice 16 points per game, along with 8 assists per game and 9 rebounds as well.

He is still a really bad free throw shooter, averaging just 51% in the month of January but he is an amazing defender along with his almost triple-double numbers, making him a star worth having on each night on your DFS team.

In the loss against the Atlanta Hawks last night, Simmons managed to score 23 points on 77% shooting along with 15 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. The 76ers need a win against the New York Knicks to get them back on track and will be counting on Simmons to play with the same intensity again.

Alternate pick: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)