WAS @ ATL: Rumors that Nene is near a return may be encouraging, but the Wizards need help everywhere. They are last in scoring, last in FG% and yet to win a game. In deep leagues, Shaun Livingston is a good pickup; A.J. Price has a shaky grip on the PG job and John Wall is at least another month away.
Overconfidence and the possibility of a rout are the only reason not to load up on Hawks players; if Devin Harris gets another start at SG, he becomes an interesting add in deep leagues. Josh Smith is way overdue for a vintage Smoove performance; I am also optimistic about Jeff Teague and Al Horford at their FanDuel prices tonight.
CHI @ HOU: This game is about one man, James Harden. If he’s still not recovered from the flu, the Bulls should win, because Houston has nobody else to pick up the scoring slack. If Harden is at full strength, he can be unstoppable. Omer Asik is enjoying a breakout season; he’s facing former teammate Joakim Noah for the first time and both should be psyched. The Rockets are starting Patrick Patterson at PF, and he’s scored 14 or more in four of their last five, but don’t sleep on backup Marcus Morris, who has had 25+ minutes off the bench in four straight while helping in several categories.
DEN @ MIN: Out of nowhere, the Nuggets played their best game of the season in Memphis and Danilo Gallinari found his shot. A similar effort tonight would be too much for the injury-riddled T-Wolves. Nikola Pekovic (ankle) is expected to play; get him back in your lineups. Brandon Roy, a speculative fantasy pick at best, just had his seventh knee operation and will miss at least a month, so rookie Alexey Shved is the main man at SG and countryman Andrei Kirilenko is Minnesota’s most important player until Kevin Love (hand) returns.
NYK @ DAL: Off an easy win in New Orleans, the Knicks have to dig deep 24 hours later. Fortunately for them, the Mavericks are out of sync. Shawn Marion may have returned prematurely from his sprained knee, Elton Brand is looking slow and they have lost five of seven. O.J. Mayo is having a career year and Chris Kaman is a double-double machine when healthy, but Darren Collison is 12-for-39 in his last four games and has no reliable backup. Owner Mark Cuban plans to boo Jason Kidd for leaving instead of cheering him for winning Dallas a championship.
POR @ PHO: After going public with his discontent, Marcin Gortat needs a big game at home or the fans may turn on him. The thing is, he’s right — the Suns are a mess. Michael Beasley is shooting 36.2% and Jared Dudley has been even more disappointing. Portland is heading in the opposite direction, gaining confidence as Damian Lillard gains experience. LaMarcus Aldridge is great and Nicolas Batum has never been better. Start all your Blazers and be cautious with the Suns until they turn things around.
LAL @ SAC: Obviously, the Lakers took last night’s home game against a good team seriously, so a letdown tonight would be no surprise. However, the Kings are in complete disarray. Nobody knows who the point guard is; Aaron Brooks started ahead of Isaiah Thomas last game and Tyreke Evans is handling the ball more. Sacramento also has a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, so L.A. should prevail but this may not be pretty to watch.
BRK @ GSW: What a brutal back-to-back for the Nets. Golden State has surprised me several times this year; their tenacity in Dallas was unexpected. Without much fanfare, rookie Draymond Green has played 25 minutes in each of the last two games and looks good enough to stick, while Richard Jefferson is fading into the sunset. Harrison Barnes is on a roll, with much-improved rebounding and scoring in his last four, and a third rookie, Festus Ezeli is the starting C, though he gives way to David Lee when Carl Landry comes in at PF. All the Warriors need is for Klay Thompson, mired in a shooting slump, to find the range, and for Stephen Curry’s fragile ankles to stay healthy.
The Spin is here by 9:00 a.m. EST, seven days a week. Follow us on Twitter — @SheridanFantasy — for updates and some great roster advice from Jeff Nichols, whose Saturday afternoon column is essential reading every week. My FanDuel Diary always has the latest on daily fantasy leagues.