Fantasy Spin: Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Portland Completes Southwest Tour

Boston Celtics at Miami Heat* (7:30 pm EST); over/under 198.5; Heat -9.5. INJURIES: BOS: Jerryd Bayless (OUT); MIA: Dwayne Wade (P).
The Heat defense could not stop the Atlanta Hawks, which marks the second time in four games they’ve been torched. Dwayne Wade/MIA should be rested and ready to go and he is a decent speculative play. LeBron James/MIA will carry the load once again, but could be limited by blowout conditions. The Celtics have not been sharp and don’t have the weapons to expose the Heat defense. If you want to take a flier on a few Celtics, Kris Humphries/BOS and Gerald Wallace/BOS are low priced options that could come up big.

Orlando Magic at Brooklyn Nets* (7:30 pm EST); over/under; 195. Nets -9. INJURIES: ORL: Nikola Vucevic (D); BKN: Deron Williams (P)
Brooklyn is in a groove, as the trouncing of the crosstown rival Knicks demonstrated yesterday. I would avoid Kevin Garnett/BKN on back to back nights, but Paul Pierce/BKN and Joe Johnson/BKN are decent plays. The Magic are still missing interior linch pin Nikola Vucevic/ORL but have everyone else healthy. My top pick among the Magic is Arron Afflalo/ORL, and among the Nets it is Andray Blatche/BKN.

Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans (8:00 pm EST); over/under 205.5; Kings -1. INJURIES: SAC: none ; NOP: Anthony Morrow (Q), Jason Smith, Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday (all OUT).
I like the way the Pelicans match up against the Kings: their solid interior defense should limit DeMarcus Cousins/SAC and Rudy Gay/SAC, so if they are able to contain Isaiah Thomas/SAC they should emerge with a win. Anthony Davis/NOP is only fair value here. For speculative plays, I prefer Jason Thompson/SAC and Eric Gordon/NOP.

Portland Trail Blazers* at Oklahoma Thunder (8:00 pm EST); over/under 215; OKC -6. INJURIES: POR: Nicolas Batum (Q) ; OKC: Russell Westbrook (OUT).
The Thunder have the edge in this battle on West heavyweights – not only do they get home court, but Portland is coming off an up tempo loss to the Rockets last night. LaMarcus Aldridge/POR and Damian Lillard/POR are solid plays in what figures to be another high scoring game. Nicholas Batum/POR had reinjured his finger and may be limited or sit out. If so, whoever starts in his place will become an excellent bargain play. Kevin Durant/OKC is in a zone few players have ever reached and considering the likely pace and closeness of the game, Durant will play major minutes and will probably be the top fantasy producer of the day.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Utah Jazz (9:00 pm EST); over/under 203.5; Wolves -3.5 . INJURIES: MIN: none; UTA: Gordon Hayward (P), Derrick Favors (Q).
While Kevin Love/MIN has regressed from his brilliant start to the season, Nikola Pekovic/MIN has proven to be a dominant force in the paint. Unfortunately for the Wolves, the rest of the team has suffered from spotty play, which has contributed to an inordinate number of close game losses. The Jazz will likely get good news tonight in the form of the return of their top player, Gordon Hayward/UTA. It remains to be seen if Hayward is fully recovered from his hip flexor problems, and so I would advise a wait and see approach.

My Lineup

The following is my recommended lineup, subject to change, for the $11/$2,000 double up payout GPP at DraftStreet ($99,785 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: Kevin Durant/OKC, Damian Lillard/POR, Nikola Pekovic/MIN
Bargain Plays: Ray Allen/MIA, Andray Blatche/BKN
Speculative Plays: Jason Thompson/SAC, Arron Afflalo/ORL, Gerald Wallace/BOS.

Estimated DraftStreet Points: 210 (+/- 60)

Others Deserving of Consideration: Joe Johnson/BKN, Paul Pierce/BKN, Jameer Nelson/ORL, LaMarcus Aldridge/POR, Serge Ibaka/OKC, Gerald Wallace/BOS, LeBron James/MIA, Tobias Harris/ORL, Victor Oladipo/ORL, Nick Collison/OKC.

The Fantasy Spin is up at Sheridan Hoops every day, around 1 PM EST. Follow me @robdudek for breaking news and pre-game thoughts relevant to NBA daily fantasy.