A week after shooting 3-of-19, Cooper Flagg scored 43, and Kyrie Irving finally played both ends of a back-to-back

On November 2 against Sacramento, Cooper Flagg went 3-of-19 from the field with six turnovers in 40 minutes, a 16-fantasy-point night under ESPN's standard scoring that was the worst of his season by a distance. Four games later he went 16-of-25 against Indiana and finished with 43 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in 39 minutes of Dallas's 125-122 win, worth 81 fantasy points and second only to Victor Wembanyama on Monday. The Associated Press recap on ESPN called the 43 a season high and noted that it was his fourth straight double-double and his fifth of the season.

The other half of the story is Kyrie Irving, who scored 35 with a season-high seven threes on 10 attempts, and who did it in a season-high 38 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. According to the AP, it was the first time this season he had played both games of one, two and a half weeks after he sat out the second game of Dallas's first, and he is in his first season back after missing 19 months with a torn ACL. For a fantasy manager, Irving's availability on those nights is worth as much as Flagg's ceiling.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.