CHA 134, SAC 90: Ball Delivers 45.2 Yahoo FP
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Jasmine "Jazz" Porter
University Student · Oklahoma City Thunder fan
Charlotte Hornets Obliterated Sacramento 134-90 and Your Waiver Wire Just Changed Forever
Okay so this was genuinely one of the most lopsided fantasy nights I've seen all season. The Hornets turned the Kings into practice dummies, and honestly, if you're still holding some of Sacramento's guys, we need to talk about a potential panic sell.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaMelo Ball | 54.0 | 45.2 | 20/6/8 | 19.7/4.8/7.1 | +0.3 |
| Moussa Diabaté | 45.0 | 41.2 | 17/11/2 | 8.0/8.7/1.9 | +9.0 |
| Malik Monk | 34.0 | 34.6 | 7/3/14 | 12.8/1.9/2.8 | -5.8 |
| Coby White | 46.0 | 34.5 | 27/5/1 | 17.6/3.6/4.5 | +9.4 |
| Devin Carter | 31.0 | 28.1 | 18/3/3 | 7.1/2.7/2.1 | +10.9 |
| Daeqwon Plowden | 30.0 | 26.9 | 22/2/1 | 9.1/3.1/1.1 | +12.9 |
| Brandon Miller | 26.0 | 26.6 | 13/3/6 | 20.4/5.0/3.5 | -7.4 |
| Miles Bridges | 20.0 | 22.6 | 9/8/4 | 17.3/5.8/3.3 | -8.3 |
| Maxime Raynaud | 17.0 | 22.4 | 16/7/0 | 11.9/7.3/1.3 | +4.1 |
| Kon Knueppel | 24.0 | 22.3 | 14/4/3 | 19.1/5.3/3.4 | -5.1 |
The Hornets Just Woke Up
Charlotte came out absolutely unhinged. Like, this wasn't even close. LaMelo Ball hitting his shots (7-16 from three, 6 threes), Coby White going nuclear for 27 points in just 18 minutes, Moussa Diabaté suddenly remembering he's a professional basketball player with 11 boards and 17 points. This felt less like a game and more like a Hornets practice squad flexing on the scout team.
Coby White though? That's the line item everyone's texting about. Plus 9.4 from his season average, 9-12 from the field, 6 threes in 18 minutes. This is what happens when a team is playing with zero resistance. Question is: does this performance mean anything for next time, or was this just vibes because Sacramento was completely checked out? I'm leaning vibes, honestly. You can't bank on 50% shooting nights, especially not at this volume.
The concerning part for Charlotte managers is that Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges both underperformed. Miller dropped 13 on 5-15 shooting, which is ugly. Bridges had 9 points on 4-8. When the rest of your team is running away with the game, bench guys don't get the run they need, and role players disappear into the blowout. Don't sell the farm on these two, but this is a reminder that fantasy is chaos.
Sacramento Got Absolutely Cooked
Look, I feel bad for Malik Monk owners. He put up 14 assists (literally triple his season average of 2.8), which sounds great until you realize he was 3-13 from the field for 7 points. That's the definition of "empty stats in a blowout." You can't trust this line. When the game is out of hand in the first quarter, the losing team's guards are just facilitating garbage time buckets. Don't get excited.
Devin Carter had a genuinely nice game (+10.9 from average) with 18 points, but again, garbage time. Daeqwon Plowden was +12.9, which would be incredible except he averaged 9.1 ppg coming in. This was an outlier. Both guys will probably fall right back to Earth when Sacramento plays an actual opponent.
DeMar DeRozan putting up 7 points on 3-10 shooting tells you everything. Sacramento got completely broken today.
The Real Story
This game is basically unplayable for fantasy purposes. When you get a 44-point blowout, bench guys inflate their numbers, role players get minutes they wouldn't normally get, and statistical flukes happen everywhere. Precious Achiuwa is already getting dropped in 5.4% of leagues after playing 0 minutes, which... yeah, that makes sense when the team is getting cooked that badly. Coaches stop playing their real rotation and just let whoever's healthy mop up.
If you're looking at this box score to make trades or pickups, honestly? Wait for a normal game. This tells you almost nothing about actual viability going forward. Charlotte looked great, Sacramento looked lost, but both of these story arcs feel like they're basically invalid the next time these teams play competent defense.
The only guy I'm genuinely marking down is Moussa Diabaté. Plus 9.0 from average is real, and his rebounding (11 boards in 24 minutes) suggests the Hornets actually trust him. Keep an eye on that.