After the weekend festivities, both the NBA and this column return. It’s time for the NBA contenders to get serious – perhaps to strengthen their teams through trade as the deadline approaches. San Antonio-Los Angeles Clippers is undoubtedly the feature game of the night, but several other matchups offer possible playoff series previews, including the Raptors-Wizards. DraftStreet hits the ground running, with several large guaranteed contests today and the $22 big Wednesday 50K , tomorrow. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
DraftStreet NBA Contests
I hope most of you were able to take part in the DraftStreet All-Star Game $10,000 Freeroll. I was fortunate enough to finish tied for 4th place out of 8,795 runners with 212.5 points, earning a $22 DraftStreet voucher. There was a tie for the first place prize of $1,000 cash: both “KingFi5h” and “Markbell2424” accumulated 221 DraftStreet points, with Durant, Irving, Blake, Paul, Noah, and Bosh filling their lineup card.
If you missed last week’s debut Wednesday 50K NBA contest, fear not, another shot at the big money is on the way tomorrow. Last week we had overlay and that could happen again (and free money is generally a good thing). If you want a discount on the $22 buy-in, there are satellite qualifiers ranging from $1 to $5 buy-ins in the DraftStreet NBA lobby as I write. But jump on them as soon as you can – they fill up quickly.
Tonight sees not quite a full slate of NBA games, but a full plate of action at DraftStreet. There are several big money, standard payout GPPs, including an $11/$15,000 GPP that I’ve already entered. If you don’t have a DraftStreet account, you can sign up HERE.
Spurs Take on Griffin and Paul
Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers (7:00 pm EST); over/under 209.5 ; Cavs -3.5. INJURIES: CLE: Anderson Varejao (OUT); PHI: Hollis Thompson (Q).
Kyrie Irving/CLE was named MVP of the All-Star Game and is my top premium plays tonight, particularly since he will face the defensively-challenged Sixers.
Toronto Raptors at Washington Wizards (7:00 pm EST); over/under 195.5 ; Wizards -3. INJURIES: TOR: Amir Johnson (P); WAS: Al Harrington (OUT) .
This is a good night to deploy Wizards’ frontcourt duo Nene Hilario/WAS and Marcin Gortat/WAS. I also like Bradley Beal/WAS as a spec play and Kyle Lowry/TOR as a lineup anchor on the Raptors’ side.
Atlanta Hawks at Indiana Pacers (7:00 pm EST); over/under 192 ; Pacers -10. INJURIES: ATL: DeMarre Carroll (Q), Pero Antic (OUT); IND: Andrew Bynum (OUT) .
Most of the Pacers’ core players are reasonably priced. Blowout risk is the main concern for those investing in Indiana players.