Our Week 15 list of upper-echelon fantasy performers is a fascinating mix of established superstars, an ascendant teen sensation and a player who once fit that latter description and is finally enjoying his first true breakout as a pro.
The following players averaged the most fantasy points per game last week (one-game minimum):
Week 15 Fantasy Basketball Power Rankings
#1. Luka Doncic, Lakers
Last Week: 67.0 FP/G Season Rank: 2 (65.2 FP/G)
Another week, another No. 1 ranking for Doncic, who averaged a stellar 35.5 points, 9.8 assists and 9.5 rebounds across the Lakers' four-game scoring period. As customary, Luka had a pair of double-doubles and one triple-double while shooting an impressive 56.2% overall, including 44.9% from 3-point range. In signature fashion, it was difficult to peg his best all-around performance of the week, as his 46-point, 12-assist effort against the Bulls that kicked things off was rivaled by his 37-point, 13-assist, 11-rebound triple-dub at the expense of the Wizards in a 142-111 rout for Los Angeles.
#2. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
Last Week: 63.5 FP/G Season Rank: 43 (40.6 FP/G)
The precocious Flagg had his first defining showing as a pro in one of his two games, as he hung 49 points on the Hornets alongside 10 rebounds, three assists and one block over 38 minutes on Thursday, a night where he went 20-for-29 from the field. In the process, Flagg set a new NBA record for points in a game by a player under 20 years
Our Week 15 list of upper-echelon fantasy performers is a fascinating mix of established superstars, an ascendant teen sensation and a player who once fit that latter description and is finally enjoying his first true breakout as a pro.
The following players averaged the most fantasy points per game last week (one-game minimum):
Week 15 Fantasy Basketball Power Rankings
#1. Luka Doncic, Lakers
Last Week: 67.0 FP/G Season Rank: 2 (65.2 FP/G)
Another week, another No. 1 ranking for Doncic, who averaged a stellar 35.5 points, 9.8 assists and 9.5 rebounds across the Lakers' four-game scoring period. As customary, Luka had a pair of double-doubles and one triple-double while shooting an impressive 56.2% overall, including 44.9% from 3-point range. In signature fashion, it was difficult to peg his best all-around performance of the week, as his 46-point, 12-assist effort against the Bulls that kicked things off was rivaled by his 37-point, 13-assist, 11-rebound triple-dub at the expense of the Wizards in a 142-111 rout for Los Angeles.
#2. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
Last Week: 63.5 FP/G Season Rank: 43 (40.6 FP/G)
The precocious Flagg had his first defining showing as a pro in one of his two games, as he hung 49 points on the Hornets alongside 10 rebounds, three assists and one block over 38 minutes on Thursday, a night where he went 20-for-29 from the field. In the process, Flagg set a new NBA record for points in a game by a player under 20 years of age. Perhaps nearly as impressive was Flagg's encore – he delivered a 34-point, 12-rebound double-double with the help of a 13-for-25 tally from the floor in a tough matchup against the Rockets on Saturday.
#3. (tie) Joel Embiid, 76ers
Last Week: 61.0 FP/G Season Rank: 20 (46.6 FP/G)
The reemergence of Embiid as a dominant force has been something to behold over the last several weeks, and the big man comfortably made it back into the top five in Week 15 by averaging 35.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks across 34.7 minutes per contest. Embiid shot 51.4%, including 45.5% from distance, during Philly's 3-0 week, also making good on 81.8% of his 11 visits per game to the free-throw line. Embiid continues to be held out of one leg of any back-to-back sets, but after he looked to be in fairly dire straits healthwise earlier in the season, he's back to being an elite fantasy performer when on the floor.
#3. (tie) Michael Porter, Nets
Last Week: 61.0 FP/G Season Rank: 32 (43.5 FP/G)
Porter is having lots of Cooper Flagg moments, albeit now as a grizzled 27-year-old in his seventh NBA season. Considered the No. 1 high school recruit nearly a decade ago, Porter finally is enjoying the opportunity to put a team on his shoulders. The most recent evidence he's up to the task came in Week 15, when he averaged 37.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks across 37.0 minutes over two games. Porter shot a blistering 52.0% from behind the arc in that pair of contests as well, and even though he missed Brooklyn's last two games of the week for personal reasons, he did more than enough in narrow losses to the Suns and his old Nuggets squad to secure a spot.
#5. Cade Cunningham, Pistons
Last Week: 57.2 FP/G Season Rank: 3 (57.6 FP/G)
Cunningham has been a relative mainstay in the top five this season, and he squeezed in this week with a solid four-game week that featured a trio of double-doubles. Two of those came in Detroit's offensive surge in the second half of the Pistons' four-game week, when Cunningham helped lead his squad to 261 total points in wins over the Warriors and Nets by shooting 60% while producing 23.5 points and 11.5 assists in that pair of contests.
Week 16 Preview
The following players are top fantasy point producers and play at least three games next week with fewer than two matchups against top-10 defenses:
Luka Doncic, Lakers (65.2 FP/G) - @BKN, PHI, GSW
Jalen Johnson, Hawks (55.0 FP/G) - @MIA, UTA, CHA
Victor Wembanyama, SAN (51.3 FP/G) - OKC, @DAL, DAL
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (48.8 FP/G) - PHI, CLE, @SAC, @MIN
Bam Adebayo, Heat (38.7 FP/G) - ATL, @BOS, @WAS
