Fantasy Basketball: Victor Wembanyama delivers historic night and more NBA Christmas Day takeaways

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! This year’s Christmas slate gave us plenty of action with clutch moments and dominant performances. As LeBron James stated, “I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day.” That was my sentiment, too — especially after all the noise about the NBA and its dying and unappealing product.

Here are three takeaways from the five Christmas games with a fantasy spin.

Game 1: Knicks 117, Spurs 114

Victor Wembanyama’s historic Christmas debut

In his first Christmas day outing, Wemby was a beast, putting up 42 points (16-31 FG, 6-16 3Pt, 4-4 FT),18 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, one steal and four turnovers. His production equated to 78.5 fantasy points, the highest of any player on the 2024 Christmas slate.

Wemby also was the third player in NBA history to deliver at least 40 points with 15 rebounds on Christmas.

Over the past month, Wemby has been the best player in fantasy nine-cat leagues. His unicorn-like skill set is a cheat code for fantasy managers.

Mikal Bridges’ season-best performance

I don’t think many expected this showing at Christmas, so Bridges’ performance easily won Secret Santa. Bridges scored 41 points with exceptional efficiency (17-of-25 FG) and added 6 3s.

Although I doubted Bridges earlier in the year, he’s recently looked more comfortable with his shot. He’s up to 49% from the field and has flourished in the mid-range.

For the past month, he’s been a fourth-round value while leading the league in minutes played at 38.6 per game.

Josh Hart, the fantasy X-factor

Game 2: Timberwolves 105, Mavericks 99

Luka Dončić injury fallout

Luka exited in the first quarter after reaggravating a calf strain. Per Shams Charania, Dončić will get an MRI on Thursday, but the team is bracing for an extended absence.

Kyrie Irving shined in his absence, scoring 39 points, but the injury opened opportunities for other Mavs players like Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie.

I’d prioritize Dinwiddie, but Grimes started in the second half instead of Dončić.

Anthony Edwards brought the Christmas cheer

Ant-man led the way for Minnesota in his first Christmas Day appearance, delivering 26…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-26 15:40:00

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