Thunder Must Rely on Ailing Durant
Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks (3:00 pm EST); over/under 194.5 ; Nets -1.5. INJURIES: BKN: Deron Williams (OUT) ; ATL: Pero Antic (P), DeMarre Carroll (OUT) .
DeMarre Carroll/ATL will not be in the lineup for personal reasons, but Pero Antic/ATL will likely play, though perhaps not at full capacity due to back spasms. Elton Brand/ATL becomes a top sleeper play, as he will get extra minutes. Andray Blatche/BKN is also worth a look based on the weak Hawks interior thesis. The Nets have a great shot at a road win, as they waffle between playoff and lottery contention.
New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers (7:00 pm EST); over/under 184 ; Pacers -10. INJURIES: NYK: Pablo Prigioni (Q) ; IND: .
The J.R. Smith/NYK saga continues; no one ones how many minutes he will get if any. Th ebig surprise continues to be the lack of production from Tyson Chandler/NYK since he returned to the lineup several weeks ago. The Pacers are the best home court team in the league and will endeavor to limit Carmelo Anthony’s/NYK scoring.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets* (9:30 pm EST); over/under 207.5 ; Rockets -2. INJURIES: OKC: Russell Westbrook (OUT) ; HOU: Aaron Brooks (P), Greg Smith (Q), Patrick Beverley (OUT) .
I speculated when Russell Westbrook/OKC went down that the Thunder would have trouble winning without him, but Oklahoma City rolled on. The clock struck midnight in Denver a few games back and since then the Thunder have looked mediocre without their sterling point guard. Add the injury concerns pertaining to Kevin Durant/OKC, and the Rockets are strong favorites to cover the spread in this game as long as they get decent play from their formidable front line talent.
My Lineup
The following is my recommended lineup, subject to change, for the $5/$500 double up payout GPP at DraftStreet ($98,610 spent of $100,000 max). You are required to have 1 center, 3 guards, 3 forwards and 1 wildcard/utility player for a valid DraftStreet lineup:
Stars Worth Starting: Serge Ibaka/OKC, Chandler Parsons/HOU, Lance Stephenson/IND
Bargain Plays: Roy Hibbert/IND, Jeremy Lin/HOU
Speculative Plays: Terrence Jones/HOU, Amare Stoudamire/NYK, Joe Johnson/BKN.
Estimated DraftStreet Points: 210 (+/- 60 ). This is a relatively safe lineup designed for double up leagues. For standard payout, I advice choosing two of Harden. Howard, Durant and subbing in cheaper players like Brand to get under the cap. Good luck!
Others Deserving of Consideration: Kyle Korver/ATL, Reggie Jackson/OKC, Kevin Durant/OKC, Dwight Howard/HOU, James Harden/HOU, David West/IND, Elton Brand/ATL
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