SAC 118, LAC 109: Achiuwa Fills Stat Sheet With Double-Double
Tommy Flanagan
Journeyman Electrician ยท Boston Celtics fan
Kings Stun Clippers 118-109: Precious Achiuwa's Breakout Game Changes Everything
Kings take down the Clippers in Sacramento, and if you own Precious Achiuwa, you're probably checking your waiver wire moves three times to make sure that 52.1 Yahoo FP performance actually happened. Spoiler alert: it did.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precious Achiuwa | 61.0 | 52.1 | 25/13/1 | 9.0/6.3/1.3 | +16.0 |
| Russell Westbrook | 45.0 | 49.4 | 12/12/10 | 15.4/5.5/6.6 | -3.4 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 41.0 | 41.2 | 31/6/0 | 28.3/6.3/3.7 | +2.7 |
| Darius Garland | 47.0 | 41.1 | 25/3/7 | 18.2/2.4/6.8 | +6.8 |
| DeMar DeRozan | 45.0 | 36.5 | 27/0/7 | 18.5/3.0/3.9 | +8.5 |
| Bennedict Mathurin | 28.0 | 32.7 | 24/6/1 | 18.6/5.6/2.3 | +5.4 |
| Isaiah Jackson | 36.0 | 32.6 | 6/8/4 | 6.3/5.4/0.9 | -0.3 |
| Daeqwon Plowden | 38.0 | 30.0 | 15/5/2 | 8.3/3.3/1.1 | +6.7 |
| Maxime Raynaud | 32.0 | 28.0 | 23/5/2 | 11.1/7.2/1.2 | +11.9 |
| Kris Dunn | 29.0 | 27.2 | 5/6/2 | 7.7/3.4/3.7 | -2.7 |
Let's start with the elephant in the room.
Precious Achiuwa Just Had His NBA Moment
Precious Achiuwa went 10-14 from the field and dropped 25 points with 13 rebounds in 36 minutes. That's a +16.0 from his season average in scoring alone. Before you trade away half your roster to make room for him, let's pump the brakes for a second.
Achiuwa's been sitting at 9.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG all year. Tonight he absolutely cooked, shot 71% from the floor, and apparently decided rebounding was his personal crusade. The rebounds part, I buy more. Teams that get hot sometimes stay hot for a few games. But 25 points? On 10-14 shooting? That's a cherry-picked outlier unless something changed in his role.
Here's the real question: did the Kings decide to use him differently, or did he just have one of those nights where everything fell? Because if it's the latter, you're looking at a guy getting added in 12-team leagues right now who's going to drop 9 and 6 again next week and everyone's going to be mad at him.
That said, 37.4% ownership with a +2.0% add spike means the market is already pricing him in. If you're in a 10-team league and he's still available, grab him. But don't expect this every night.
Russell Westbrook Did Russell Westbrook Things, But Make It Count
Russell Westbrook put up 12/12/10 with 4 steals. Let me translate that into what matters: he got you his Triple-Double-Lite special, and actually delivered the one thing that saves his fantasy value. 49.4 Yahoo FP is legit.
Here's the thing about Russ, especially for fantasy purposes. He's going to miss shots (4-15 tonight). He's going to turn the ball over some (didn't track the exact number in the stat line, but it happens). But 12 boards and 10 assists? That's him earning his paycheck. The 4 steals bump him into the assist-heavy Yahoo territory where he actually makes sense.
The problem is sustainability. This is the old Westbrook game, the one that works when everything clicks. You can't plan your season around this. But for tonight, in a game the Kings won, he was the engine that made it happen.
Kawhi Leonard Checked Out Early (And That's a Problem)
Kawhi Leonard dropped 31 points on 13-23 shooting with only 25 minutes of action. He met his season scoring average and then some, but only played 25 minutes. That's the move you make when you're up late in the third quarter and you don't need your superstar anymore.
41.2 Yahoo FP is solid, but the minutes tell you something: the Clippers got run out of the building. This wasn't a Kawhi performance worth celebrating, even though the stat line looks pretty. When Kawhi gets 25 minutes, the team's usually getting blown out by halftime. Nothing to panic about for Clips owners, but nothing to get hyped about either.
The Mid-Tier Guys Who Showed Up
DeMar DeRozan had 27 points on a clean 11-14 from the floor. That's +8.5 from his season average in scoring, and he did it without shooting a single three. Just mid-range master stuff. 36.5 Yahoo FP isn't going to blow up your league, but it's the kind of consistent performance that keeps DeRozan relevant. The assists (7) matter too.
Darius Garland went 9-20 with 5 threes for 25 points and 7 assists. Even in a loss, even on a night the Clips couldn't get it done, Garland was solid. +6.8 from his season scoring average means he had his fingerprints all over this one.
Bennedict Mathurin went 7-15 with 10 free throws made. He was hunting at the rim all night, which is his thing. 24 points and 6 boards on 32.7 Yahoo FP. Clippers don't have the interior depth Sacramento showed tonight, and Mathurin made them pay for it.
The Deep Cut That Actually Matters: Maxime Raynaud
Look at Maxime Raynaud. 23 points on 11-12 shooting. That's 91.7% from the floor. In 30 minutes. +11.9 from his season average in scoring.
I have no idea if this is a role change or a one-game explosion, but 11-12 is not normal. That's video game numbers. If the Kings have decided to run more through Raynaud in the post, or if De'Andre Hunter and Zach LaVine are dealing with injuries or load management (both sat out), that could matter for Sacramento going forward.
For now, he's someone to watch on the waiver wire if he's in your league. But be careful. One game of elite shooting always regresses.
The Streaming Angle
Kris Dunn grabbed 4 steals and 6 boards in 28 minutes. 27.2 Yahoo FP for a backup guard is the kind of performance that makes you consider him for streaming when the Kings play a team that generates turnovers. He's not a every-night add, but he's on the radar.
Isaiah Jackson out of nowhere pulls 3 blocks in 22 minutes. That's the Clippers' interior defense getting attacked. If the Clippers want to make a playoff run, they need to address the paint. Jackson's solid defensively, but he got worked tonight.
The Bottom Line
The Kings won because they were deeper and hungrier. Sacramento's role guys stepped up (Achiuwa, Raynaud, Daeqwon Plowden going 15 points on 6-9), and the Clippers couldn't close it out. For fantasy purposes, the Achiuwa explosion is the story everyone's going to chase, but temper your expectations. He's a solid add if you're thin at PF, not a league-winner.
If you own him already, congratulations. You rode the wave. Just don't panic when he drops to 10 and 6 next game.