Kevin Huerter's five-block night was worth 72 fantasy points, and the 31 beside it is the line to act on

No Pistons reserve had put up at least 20 points, two steals and five blocks in a game since John Salley in April 1987, according to MLive's Jacob Richman as cited by Heavy, and Kevin Huerter did it on Sunday in 35 minutes off the bench. He finished with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, four threes, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and five blocks, which comes to 72 fantasy points under ESPN's standard scoring and was the best line of the night anywhere in the league. Detroit still lost to the Lakers 121-116 after trailing 38-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Associated Press recap on ESPN reported, and fell to 6-3 with two straight losses.

A night that good from a player we rank outside the top 200 deserves a hard look before anyone spends a waiver claim on it. In his first eight games Huerter averaged 20.4 minutes and 16.0 fantasy points, never played more than 26 minutes or scored more than nine points or 24 fantasy points in a game, and he had blocked four shots all season before Sunday. Daniss Jenkins, who scored a career-high 31 points with eight threes beside him, per Heavy, is the more interesting player for fantasy purposes, and the reason is the role rather than the box score.

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.