NBA Fast Break Classic | Run 7 | Day 8
Memphis Roars in London, Charlotte Stuns Denver, Ayton’s Perfection Leads Lakers to Win
NBA Recap: January 18, 2026
Memphis opened with a 126–109 win over Orlando in London, UK, a game defined by Ja Morant’s return and the energy shift that came with it. The Grizzlies played faster, freer, and more connected, and the building responded in kind. Memphis scored 72 points in the first half and Orlando could not recover from the early deficit.
Chicago followed with a 124–102 win over Brooklyn, a performance built on balance and control. The Bulls dictated tempo, won the physical battles, and never let the Nets find a foothold. It was one of Chicago’s cleaner outings of the month as they continue to wait for Giddey’s return from injury.
Houston kept its momentum with a 119–110 win over New Orleans, leaning on steady offense and timely stops. The Pelicans made repeated pushes, but the Rockets answered every run and controlled the final stretch with composure.
Charlotte delivered the shocker of the slate as the Hornets buried the Nuggets 110–87 on the road. Denver’s abysmal 34 points in the first half was too deep a hole to climb out of and continue to count the days until Joker’s return from injury.
Portland followed with a 117–110 win over Sacramento, a composed road performance where the Blazers controlled the middle quarters and held off a late Kings push. Deni Avdija’s return from injury was the spark as he scored 30 points, gathered 8 rebounds, and accumulated 8 assists to get the Trail Blazers back to .500.
The Lakers closed the slate with a 110–93 win over Toronto, powered by Deandre Ayton’s flawless outing — 25 points and 10 rebounds on 100% shooting from the field with no turnovers — the first Laker to achieve the feat. His efficiency anchored L.A.’s offense and helped the Lakers gradually widen the gap until the game settled into a comfortable finish. This was a much needed win for the Lakers who had lost five of six.
Fast Break Recap: Day 7
Day 7 was brutal and worse than the assists minus turnovers day on Day 6, if that can be believable. Classic on Day 6 only had 4% of collectors earn a win and Day 7 saw only 1%. Pro mode saw a better win rate than Classic, but only by 3% more (4%). Historic had the highest win rate of the trio, but not by Historic standards as only 43% walked away happy. Long story short, brutal across the board.
Of the top five players (Durant, Zion, Ingram, Murray, and Doncic), none reached the average threshold needed to win the day. Doncic was the closest as he scored 25, but not enough to earn Stud status. Murray had the lowest scoring output as his 16 points put a big damper on the win rate yesterday, which earned him the Fast Break Dud of the Day award.
Today’s Fast Break Objective(s): Day 8 of 11
Objective(s): 50.0 Rebounds & 5.0 Blocks (10.0 REB & 1.0 BLK)
You’ll need five (5) players who will gather 50.0 or more rebounds & accumulate 5.0 or more blocks, which means each player needs to average 10.0 REB & 1.0 BLK. There are not many players who can reliably deliver in both categories, so many collectors will lean on a moneyball approach to lean on players who excel in one or the other.
Top Player Options:
Little of Both: Chet Holmgren, Mitchell Robinson
Glass Crashers: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jusuf Nurkic, Chet Holmgren
Shot Blockers: Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Alex Sarr, Evan Mobley, Myles Turner, Nic Claxton, Jay Huff, Isaiah Stewart
Top Five (5) Players in Classic Lineups: K. Towns (72%) | B. Adebayo (53%) | V. Wembanyama (51%) | C. Holmgren (42%) | J. Duren (36%)
Upcoming Fast Break Objectives:
Tomorrow’s Objective(s): 40 Field Goals Made & 50 Field Goal Attempts (8.0 FGM & 10.0 FGA)
Objectives Remaining (after today): AST, STL, FGM, FGA, PITP, OREB
Considerations:
Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando, & Portland have the least number of games remaining (1)
Six (6) teams have the most number of games this run (3)
Three of the remaining four days have two distinct objectives
Golden State, LA Clippers, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, & Utah are playing the tail end of a back-to-back tomorrow
Every day this run has at least 12 teams in action, but none have more than 18 (today)
Statistical Approach:
Top players in rebounds & blocks according to Rotowire & NBA.com, which is available in the table(s) below. Overall rank is based on daily projections, last 10 average, and season averages, which is stack ranked amongst peers for each objective. When there is a single objective, the three data points are still used to stack rank the players vs. ranking solely on projections. For tome+ members, all active player stats are available in the provided data file. Omission of certain players would be based on injuries at the time of data pull.
NBA Fast Break Classic Rewards:
Daily: Top 100 | Milestone: 3, 6, & 9 Wins | Run: Top 250
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Top Player Options for Fast Break:
The top players for today’s Fast Break objective(s). Source: nbatopshot.com, nba.com, & tomecollective.com, 2026.
Projected Rebounds
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Projected Blocks
Projected REB & BLK
NBA Fast Break Grid
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