Fantasy Basketball Stud Performance: Nicolas Batum Records Triple-Double

The Portland Trail Blazers have a few fantasy basketball stars, and every night it can be anyone of them that have a huge game. On Saturday night, it was Nicolas Batum who carried the Blazers to victory.

Batum recorded a triple-double in the Blazers 101-100 win against the Los Angeles Clippers, his second in three nights and on the entire season. Batum has been on a bit of a hot-streak in January, as he scored double-digit points in all but one game in the month.

Batum shot 4-9 from beyond the arc and 7-15 from the field for 20 points. His 12 assists were a season-high and this was just the fifth time that he’s grabbed at least 10 rebounds in a game this season. He led his team in all three categories in the game, and while he did also have five turnovers, he was one of two starters to not have a negative plus-minus ratio on the game.

Up against a combination of Caron Butler and Matt Barnes, Batum outscored them by four points and dished out 11 more assists with two more rebounds than his counterparts. He’s averaging 4.8 assists per game and 6.1 rebounds per game, which are both well above the career averages for the 24-year-old from France.

In his fourth year, he is grabbing almost two full rebounds over his career average and is averaging three more assists per game. In the midst of his career year, he also has averaged highs in blocks, steals, and, turnover, which is a testament to the way the Blazers have entrusted him with the ball on the offensive side. While his three-point percentage is below his career average, he is shooting almost three  more 3-pointers per game and is making one more per contest.

Batum’s positional eligibility at small forward and shooting guard gives him great versatility on fantasy basketball rosters.