We’ve played two months of the 2025-26 NBA season and Christmas Day NBA Roster is almost upon us, the best time of the year. Of course, in Yahoo’s new Fantasy Basketball format, High scorea player’s best performance in a given week is all that matters. So far, we have seen many superstars deliver their performances and also had some surprising performances along the way.
If you’ve been locked into your fantasy football team and haven’t been following the NBA as closely, don’t worry! Below, we’ll go over the perfect High Score lineup for the season, based on the top six scores at each position.
The six best overall performances by position so far this fantasy basketball season.
(Amber Matsumoto)
Learn more about best performance
Cade Cunningham, guard: The Pistons have the best record in the Eastern Conference and Cade has the best high score of any player all season. Cunningham posted an astonishing 46-12-11 triple-double with 7 plays in an overtime victory against the Wizards earlier in early November. The Pistons All-Star has had a wide range of results this season, from 28 fantasy points in October in a loss to the Cavaliers to this outburst against Washington. He will almost always have a high floor given his assist numbers, averaging 9.2 per game this season, second best in the League.
Advertisement
Luka Doncic, goalkeeper: The Lakers superstar was one of the mainstays of our weekly range of perfect items all season. Despite missing time due to various injuries and such, Dončić is the poster child for High Score. He arguably has the highest ceiling of any player in fantasy basketball thanks to his scoring volume and high usage. Dončić also has the highest scoring roster we’ve seen recently, with 99 points in a win over the Jazz on December 18. He used 45 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists and 5 steals to be just one point shy of the 100-point mark, seen only by Cunningham.
Jalen Johnson, frontcourt: Perhaps the most surprising name on this list, although we should give the burgeoning star some credit. Johnson had emerged as Atlanta’s No. 1 option in the short term with Trae Young out with a knee injury. Young has since returned to the lineup, but that hasn’t slowed Johnson down much. Before Young’s return, Johnson had a 31-18-14 triple-double with 7 steals in a win over the Jazz on November 13, the third highest High Score fantasy total of the season. We may not see another performance like that from him for the rest of the season.
Advertisement
Nikola Jokić, frontcourt: The three-time Nuggets MVP has been the best player in the High Score format (and honestly fantasy basketball overall so far this season). He leads all players in fantasy points per game average (69), two points more than second place (Dončić). Jokić has no less than 42 Fantasy Points in a game all season and has reached 80+ six times – two High Scores of 89. There’s no reason to think he won’t be the top Fantasy asset for the rest of the season.
Alperen Şengün, frontcourt: The Rockets continue to run Şengün as a point center (remember anyone above?) and that pays off big in fantasy basketball. He finished 31-14-8 with 7 actions at Utah on December 1st. Şengün now has 15 games this season with multiple actions, which will still elevate his floor/ceiling combo.
Tyrese Maxey, utility: Let’s be real, the 76ers are Maxey’s team. Unfortunately, Joel Embiid is not the same player and hasn’t even been able to play in more than half of Philly’s games so far this season. As a result, Maxey has taken full control and is aiming for his first NBA scoring title, averaging 31.7 points per game, third behind Dončić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There are few players who can fill it like Maxey on any given night. He did just that with a career-high 54 points in an overtime victory against Milwaukee on November 20. Maxey was a fringe first-round pick during draft season and it appears he should have landed in the top five.
