NBA Weekend Recap: Dame's 71, Lakers Storm Back, Holiday Steps Up + More Fantasy News + Notes

There were plenty of exciting and historical takeaways from the weekend in the NBA including a 71-point game from Damian Lillard, a huge Lakers comeback win, an Anthony Davis resurgence, a 14-game winning streak for the Bucks and a 351-point (!!) game on Friday. Let's dive right in.

Damian Lillard scores 41 in first half, finishes with 71 points for Blazers

Damian Lillard scored 41 points in the first half against the defenseless Rockets on Sunday and hit 22-of-38 shots, 13 three-pointers and 14-of-14 free throws for a career-high 71 points. Dame hit 5-of-6 shots from 30 feet or more and only had two turnovers in 37 minutes. It seems to always be 'Dame Time' these days, and he simply put on a show. The Blazers left him in late in hopes of getting him to 70 points and he finally got there after missing three straight shots.

Lillard now has more 60-point games (five) than Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett combined, according to StatMuse. He became the eighth player to score 70 in an NBA game and finished one three-pointer behind Klay Thompson's single-game record of 14 triples.

Lakers come back from 27-point deficit to beat Mavericks

LeBron James hurt his right foot, Anthony Davis finally played with some fire and emotion, and Jarred Vanderbilt had a big game for the Lakers on Sunday. This was the Lakers' biggest comeback win in 21 years, and they've now won four of their last five games. 

LeBron was able to play through the foot injury after being hurt during the game and, as usual, will probably be listed on the injury report every day the rest of the way. But Sunday's win was a big one and while they're the No. 11 seed currently, they're only 2.5 games behind the No. 6 Mavs with 21 games to go. They're probably going to need LeBron to play in almost all of those games if they're going to pull this playoff push off. LeBron had 26 points and eight rebounds in the comeback win. 

The Lakers go back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, at Memphis and at OKC, which will be the first test to see how banged up LeBron is. After that, they only have two more sets of back-to-backs: March 14 & 15 and April 4 & 5, which works in their favor. 

Speaking of back-to-backs and guys on the injury list, Davis looked like a different player on Sunday. He went off for 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting and added 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal and three blocks to his gaudy scoring line. This was his seventh 30-and-15 game of the season but his first since prior to Christmas (Dec. 12).

AD was animated and fired up throughout the second half, showing signs of emotion we haven't seen much of lately. He also took advantage of being guarded by Luka Doncic at times and hit the game-deciding fadeaway over Luka late. An emotional and motivated AD could go a long way for the Lakers' playoff hopes, although they won't get to face the porous Dallas defense on most nights. They meet one more time this season on March 17 in Los Angeles. 

Jarred Vanderbilt, rostered in just 28% of ESPN leagues, went off for 15 points, 17 rebounds, four steals and a three-pointer on 6-of-8 shooting in a start. He also played excellent defense against Doncic, holding him to 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 10-of-22 shooting. Vanderbilt hadn't scored more than six points in his previous three games and this might be the game that gets him going for the Lakers. 

D'Angelo Russell (ankle) was out and Dennis Schroder was solid in the start with 16 points and eight assists in the win. 

Where did Luka's triple-doubles go?

Doncic has 10 triple-doubles on the season but hasn't had one since way back on Jan. 12. And they're probably not going to be easy to come by with Kyrie Irving and his assists in tow, as well as guys like Christian Wood and Dwight Powell grabbing rebounds. Luka and Kyrie also had a miscommunication with the game on the line after Irving threw an inbounds pass into the backcourt that Luka didn't realize he could go get without it being a violation. They're still learning how to play together. 

Josh Green came off the bench behind Justin Holiday in this one and played just 16 minutes. Holiday had six points in 28 minutes and Green had nine points and three triples in his limited run. If you want to drop Green for a hot free agent, it probably makes sense after what we saw on Sunday.  

How is Mark Williams not rostered in more leagues? 

Charlotte rookie center Mark Williams is only rostered in 17.0% of ESPN leagues and went off for 18 points, 20 rebounds, a steal and a block on 9-of-12 shooting in Saturday's win over the Heat. The points and boards were career highs for Williams and he has at least one block in eight straight games. The Hornets have somehow won four straight games and Williams should be scooped up everywhere. 

Bucks have won 14 straight games

The Bucks handled the Suns 104-101 on Sunday without Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee), and Jrue Holiday went off for 33 points to lead the way. Giannis was injured on Friday after just six minutes and Holiday tends to go off any time Giannis is out. Holiday is averaging 23.9 points, 10.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds without Giannis this season.

The Bucks are now just 0.5 games behind Boston for the No. 1 seed in the East and haven't lost since Jan. 21. They've beaten Denver, the Clippers (twice), the Lakers, the Celtics, the Heat (twice) and the Suns during the winning streak. Giannis was making a run to challenge Nikola Jokic for MVP before the injury and the odds are tightening in the race. As of Sunday night, Jokic is -230, Joel Embiid is +400 and Giannis is at +1100 to win the regular season MVP Award. 

Antetokounmpo is considered day-to-day and could make his return Tuesday at Brooklyn when the Bucks will look to push their winning streak up to 15 straight.

Naz Reid arrives with Rudy Gobert (illness) out

Reid started for Gobert on Sunday and went off for a season-high 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, five steals, two blocks and four three-pointers in 36 minutes against the Warriors. Reid was averaging 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in February before Sunday's explosion and may have earned more minutes with his big performance. 

Friday Night Lights! Kings beat Clippers 176-175 in double OT

While you were out partying on Friday night, the Kings and Clippers combined for 351 points, the second-highest total in NBA history. The Pistons beat Denver 186-184 in triple-overtime back in Dec. of 1983, which remains the highest-scoring game in history. Malik Monk scored a career-high 45 points, Kawhi Leonard had 44, De'Aaron Fox scored 42, Paul George had 34, Norman Powell scored 24 and Domantas Sabonis had 20 points in the race. Monk scored 15 points on Thursday and had 12 points on Sunday, so his Friday explosion looks more like a fluke than anything else. But if you got to watch this game, it was nutty.  

Jaylen Brown (personal) out Monday

Brown won't play on Monday so it should be Derrick White time for the Celtics. Brown has averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 13 games when Brown doesn't play, so make sure he's in your lineups on Monday. 

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