NBA Daily Notes: The Beard cools off, somewhat; Top fantasy picks for January 6th

The Beard couldn't get the Rockets a win tonight

Welcome to another day of the NBA 2018-19 season. Yesterday, we had 8 games to watch and we have another eight mammoth 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 results:

Charlotte Hornets 110-123 Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz 110-105 Detroit Pistons
Dallas Mavericks 100-106 Philadelphia 76ers
New Orleans Pelicans 133-98 Cleveland Cavaliers
Memphis Grizzlies 88-108 San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors 123-116 Milwaukee Bucks
Golden State Warriors 127-123 Sacramento Kings
Houston Rockets 101-110 Portland Trail Blazers

Highlights:

1. Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets): 39 points, 16-29 FG, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 2 TOs.

2. Kawhi Leonard (Toronto Raptors): 30 points, 8-16 FG, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 2 TOs.

3. Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors): 29 points, 11-20 FG, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 1 TO.

Lowlights:

1. Luke Kennard (Detroit Pistons): 2 points, 1-5 FG, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

2. Justin Holiday (Memphis Grizzlies): 2 points, 1-7 FG, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

3. PJ Tucker (Houston Rockets): 0 points, 0-1 FG, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Saturday's takaway:

The Charlotte Hornets and the Denver Nuggets kicked off the games, with the Nuggets coming out on top, 123-110. The Utah Jazz and the Detroit Pistons played a really close game, with the Jazz beating them to the win, 110-105. The Philadelphia 76ers went up against the Dallas Mavericks in a tight matchup, only for the 76ers to snatch a solid win, 106-100.
The New Orleans Pelicans faced a lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, only to smash their opponents off the court, 133-98. The top 2 teams in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks played each other, with the Raptors beating the Bucks, 123-116.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies in a low-scoring game, where both teams played better defense than offense, 108-88. The Portland Trail Blazers ended the winning run of the Houston Rockets, winning their match 110-101. The final game of the night was the Golden State Warriors against the Sacramento Kings, with the Warriors coming out on top in a record setting game, 127-123.

Sunday's games:

Los Angeles Lakers @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Brooklyn Nets @ Chicago Bulls
Orlando Magic @ Los Angeles Clippers
Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks
Washington Wizards @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Indiana Pacers @ Toronto Raptors
Charlotte Hornets @ Phoenix Suns

PG 1 - Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Oklahoma City Thunder are on a hot streak right now

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the top teams in the Western Conference right now. They are second and have won seven of their last 10 games, including a three-game winning streak.

Paul George has been carrying almost all the offensive load for this team, but their star still remains Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook has been criticized a lot for the past few weeks, for trying to shoot himself out of a slump, but his shooting only got worse.

But he is still averaging an amazing triple-double season, scoring 21 points per game, along with 10 assists and 11 rebounds per game as well.

In his last game, a win over the Portland Trail Blazers 111-109, he scored a huge 31 points, along with 9 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal. The Thunder will be hoping his cold streak has ended and he will be at his best tomorrow against the struggling Washington Wizards.

Alternate pick: Jeff Teague (Minnesota Timberwolves)