A brief look at current NBA trends, with a focus on daily fantasy sports.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies have collapsed offensively
Both teams have opponent-adjusted offensive ratings below -9.00 over the last 10 games, more than 3 points worse than the 3rd place New York Knicks.
The Lakers have looked lost without Lebron James, including scoring just 95 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers – a team that is playing by far the worst defense in the NBA. However, they do have the second best opponent-adjusted defensive rating over the last 10 games (-4.34).
Memphis was one of the surprise teams to start the season, but a 2-8 stretch has dropped them down to 14th in the West. They have only had the 9th best opponent-adjusted defensive rating during that time – respectable, but not nearly enough to offset their offensive struggles.
The Washington Wizards are surging without John Wall
The Wizards 5-4 record without Wall might not seem special, but consider that they were 13-22 prior to Wall going out. Bradley Beal has been carrying a massive load, playing 39.2 minutes and scoring 29.8 points per game, along with 6.6 assists per game.
Over the past 10 games, the Wizards have the most improved opponent-adjusted net rating at +5.72 (last 10 games vs season-to-date).
This has only made them a slightly above average team, but that’s a big improvement from their performance with Wall. Given that John Wall’s 4 year/$170 million contract doesn’t even start until next season, the Wizards have tough decisions to make.
The Portland Trailblazers have become an elite defense for DFS
Over the last 10 games the Trailblazers have the lowest total defense vs position (-76.38). This value takes into account the quality of opponent.
For example, the Trailblazers best performance was holding De’Aaron Fox to 21.50 DraftKings points over 37.8 minutes on January 1st. That’s just 0.57 DK points per minute, compared to his season average of 1.186. That gives a total value of -23.36. While they likely aren’t the toughest match-up in DFS going forward, they are clearly improving defensively.