As the 2025-26 NBA season approaches the two-month mark, we should all be talking about how dominant the Oklahoma City Thunder have been sitting at 22-1. Or perhaps we should also be talking about how Denver Nuggets big Nikola Jokić appears poised to win a fourth MVP award. Or maybe bring up how this could be the end of an era with LeBron James potentially in his final season.
Nope. Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors are what’s on everybody’s mind right now. The Greek Freak could be sidelined for about a month due to a calf strain. The Bucks don’t appear to be a contender in the East (though it’s early). Milwaukee needs to weigh what’s best for the franchise and whether the team can compete before Giannis can hit free agency again in 2027. So Antetokounmpo is back in the mill and could be on the move at some point this season before the NBA trade deadline.
Whatever happens with Giannis will surely have a huge echo for fantasy basketball. If you haven’t stockpiled some Bucks exposure now, the only player who is above 60% rostered on Yahoo is Myles Turner. Everyone else on Milwaukee’s roster can be had in most shallow High Score leagues and are worth considering. Some contingent of Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma will have to carry the load while Giannis is out (and if he’s ultimately traded).
Anyway, with the Greek Freak sidelined, he’s not making an appearance in this week’s High Score perfect lineup (though he’s been in there a few times). Let’s take a look at the top-six scorers from this week.
The top-six performances overall by position from Week 7.
(Taylor Wilhelm)
More on the top performers
Luka Dončić, guard: Luka had missed the past two games this week due to personal reasons before returning on Sunday to make the list. He had a 31-15-11 triple-double to help the Lakers get back in the win column against the 76ers. This score likely swung a decent amount of matchups one way or the other on Sunday; had Dončić not played, his High Score for the week would have settled at 59 points. L.A. could have only one game this week (vs. the Spurs in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals), so you’ll need a good one from Dončić to pay off.
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Cade Cunningham, guard: In a four-game week for the Pistons, Cade managed his best score last Monday. Everyone is still chasing his 101 points from early November that stands as the highest output of any player in a single game all season.
Alperen Şengün, frontcourt: The Rockets big man started the week off right with the top overall score but did very little else after that. Şengün missed a Friday-Saturday back-to-back due to an illness. The Rockets continue to run Şengün like a point-center (remind you of anyone?) and it’s paying off big in fantasy basketball. He finished with 31-14-8 with seven stocks. Şengün now has 11 games this season with multiple stocks, which will always elevate his floor/ceiling combo.
Nikola Jokić, frontcourt: Nikola Jokić. Part of me wants to just leave this paragraph with that, just the future Hall of Famer’s name. Jokić has made his way into the perfect lineup in five of seven weeks this season. But this score is special since it was the star’s first 20-rebound game of the season. It was also his NBA-leading 11th triple-double of the season.
Jalen Johnson, frontcourt: Johnson is also getting some Most Improved Player hype and will continue to be the guy in ATL so long as Trae Young is hurt. Young is set to be reevaluated at some point this month, so a return could be on the horizon. Whenever Young gets back, it’ll impact Johnson, but the Hawks may be wise to continue to run their offense through the forward. He turned in back-to-back triple-doubles on Friday-Saturday, the first score helping him land in this lineup. That line read 21-18-16 with a pair of steals.
Jamal Murray, UTIL: This is Murray’s first appearance of the season on the perfect lineup. With the Pacers already staring down the lottery, Murray took advantage, going off for a season-high 52 points, three points shy of his career high he set last season. The veteran guard turned in one of the best scoring performances in NBA history, shooting 19-25 from the field while going a near-perfect 10-11 from downtown. Unfortunately, we likely won’t see Murray hit this number often in High Score given his lack of peripheral stats. His only path to gaudy fantasy point totals is scoring volume and while Murray is capable, he just isn’t going to shoot like this every game. In fact, he may never do something like this ever again. Cherish these moments.
Austin Reaves, UTIL: The Lakers swingman will have a good case for Most Improved Player for 2025-26 and has kept up his numbers despite Luka Dončić and LeBron James being in and out of the lineup. With Luka sidelined due to personal reasons last week, Reaves took advantage of the extra usage by dropping 44 points with 10 assists and 5 boards against Toronto. With Dončić and James missing games pretty consistently, Reaves should continue to be a top High Score asset. All it takes is one game with Dončić sidelined and we see the type of ceiling Reaves can provide.
Karl-Anthony Towns, UTIL: KAT was held out Sunday vs. the Magic due to a calf injury. Hopefully he can get back on the court Tuesday vs. the Raptors, the Knicks lone game this week depending on how they do in the NBA Cup. Last week, Towns was one of four players to post 69 as a High Score and make it onto this list. It was a smash spot against the Hornets with the big man scoring 35 points with 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
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