GSW 110, SAC 105: Bassey's Double-Double Keys 44 ESPN FP
Marcus Thompson Jr.
Fire Lieutenant ยท Golden State Warriors fan
Warriors Survive Sloppy Kings Showdown, But the Waiver Wire Is Where the Real Story Lives
Look, I'm not gonna lie. That game was uglier than a three-alarm warehouse fire on a Friday night. Warriors 110, Kings 105 is the kind of final score that tells you both teams left points on the table, and for fantasy purposes, it created some absolute chaos on the waiver wire.
But first, let's talk about who actually showed up to play.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Bassey | 44.0 | 40.4 | 14/12/0 | 4.2/3.7/0.3 | +9.8 |
| Killian Hayes | 41.0 | 37.8 | 18/4/4 | 5.3/2.4/3.6 | +12.7 |
| De'Anthony Melton | 41.0 | 35.3 | 21/4/5 | 12.6/3.2/2.6 | +8.4 |
| Dylan Cardwell | 37.0 | 30.8 | 8/9/2 | 5.4/7.5/1.5 | +2.6 |
| Gary Payton II | 33.0 | 28.3 | 12/4/3 | 7.5/3.7/1.7 | +4.5 |
| Doug McDermott | 29.0 | 27.8 | 16/4/2 | 5.7/1.2/0.8 | +10.3 |
| Precious Achiuwa | 24.0 | 27.2 | 13/6/4 | 9.9/6.7/1.3 | +3.1 |
| Brandin Podziemski | 30.0 | 26.7 | 20/1/3 | 13.6/5.2/3.8 | +6.4 |
| Nique Clifford | 20.0 | 26.2 | 12/6/2 | 8.2/3.7/2.3 | +3.8 |
| Stephen Curry | 26.0 | 26.0 | 17/5/2 | 27.0/3.5/4.8 | -10.0 |
The Kings Came to Play (For Once)
Killian Hayes put together the performance of his life. 18 points, 4 assists, 4 steals in 31 minutes? That's +12.7 over his season average and 37.8 Yahoo points. This isn't a one-off, either. You're looking at a backup guard who suddenly has usage. That's waiver priority material in deep leagues.
Charles Bassey was an absolute beast on the boards. 14/12 in 27 minutes translates to a +9.8 point swing. He's been a ghost all season (4.2 PPG average), so this is either a rotation shift or the Kings finally figured out they have size. Worth monitoring.
Doug McDermott hit threes (4 of them) and punched in 16 points. +10.3 over his usual output. Again, these are bench guys stepping up, which means opportunity is shifting.
The Kings' problem wasn't execution tonight. It was that their star power didn't show up (you'll notice some big names didn't even log minutes), and still they almost pulled it off against the champs. That tells me the role guys who did play earned trust, at least for this one night.
Steph Had an Off Night, and That's Fine
Look, I grew up watching Run TMC put on clinic scorecards, so I respect what Stephen Curry does on a nightly basis. All-NBA Second Team last year for a reason. But tonight? He was down 10 points from his season average. 17 points on 5-12 shooting, even with four threes, just isn't the Steph we know.
Here's the thing though: five threes in 25 minutes means he still looked comfortable from distance. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in for the best shooters on the planet. I'd chalk this up to variance, not panic. Don't sell low on Curry. The Warriors won anyway.
Warriors' Role Guys Did the Heavy Lifting
De'Anthony Melton (41 ESPN, 35.3 Yahoo) stepped in and absolutely carried on offense. 21 points, 4 threes. That's what happens when you're a 3-and-D guy on a contending team with spacing issues. He's been quietly solid (12.6 PPG average), but tonight he was special. +8.4 over his norm.
Brandin Podziemski had 20 points on decent efficiency (5-11 FG) with four threes and six free throws made. He only grabbed one rebound, which limited the ceiling, but he did his job on a night when the star wasn't quite there. Classic secondary scoring performance.
Gary Payton II with 12/4/3 and three steals in 24 minutes is exactly what you want from a role player. Defense showed up, points were there, and the efficiency was clean (5-7 FG). That's +4.5 over his season pace.
The Real Question: Is This Sustainable?
For the Kings' bench guys who went off, probably not. Hayes, Bassey, and McDermott had monster nights because situation and circumstance aligned. The Warriors' role guys, though? Melton and Podziemski are reliable. They'll eat into your league's wire based on tonight, but they're not shock adds. They're confirmation adds if you already had your eye on them.
Waiver Wire Reality Check
Precious Achiuwa is trending down. He put up 27.2 Yahoo points tonight (13/6/4), which sounds great until you realize he took 34 minutes to get there. His season average is 9.9 PPG, so he went +3.1, but the ownership is already dropping him slightly. If your league has depth issues at PF, don't sleep on that. If you've got better options, let someone else chase it.
As for the league-wide noise: Giannis dropped 0.1% ownership after getting added just about everywhere last month. That's natural regression. Ace Bailey is down 0.3%, which suggests Utah's looking at other directions. These aren't earthshaking moves, but they're the kind of subtle shifts that matter when you're setting your lineup Thursday night and need a streamer.
Bottom Line
The Warriors escaped, the Kings showed they can fight even without their full roster, and the fantasy value came from depth, not starpower. That's actually a more interesting narrative than a Curry 40-piece would've been. Role guys stepped up. Bench players got opportunity. That's how these things usually break, and that's where waiver gold gets mined.
Not every night is about the stars cooking. Sometimes it's about finding the next guy before everyone else does.