If you adopted my recommended lineup for last night’s 50K/$22 buy-in/$10,000 first prize, you are likely happy with the result. First of all, if you didn’t participate you missed out on significant overlay. Second, because there were very few standout performances and lots of major busts, the winning score was a mere 252.5 points by “Marblesnap”, just a half-point ahead of second place “paulpierce3434”. My recommended lineup scored 232.25 points, with only Robin Lopez/POR and Ersan Illyasova/MIL weighing the lineup down. That would have been good enough for 50th place and $100.
Thursday is a prime time showcase for the NBA, with two nationally televised games plus a clash between the Thunder and Suns on the schedule. DraftStreet’s biggest NBA contest tonight is the $22/$10,000 GPP with $2,000 up top. If you don’t have a DraftStreet account, you can sign up using this link. Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
Featured DraftStreet Contests
Salary Cap: $22/$10,000 (500 max), $5/$4,000 (880), $2/$4,000 (2200) and five other standard payout GPPs.
Pickem: $11/$2,000 (200 max), $2/$1,000 (550)
50K satellites (for next week): $1/$110 (5 tickets- 120 max), $11/$220 (10 tickets – 21 max) and two others; 150K satellites (for March 26 main event): $5/$440 (8 tickets, 96 max) and three others.
Register and set your lineups by 8 PM EST.
My Lineup at DraftStreet
The following is my recommended lineup, subject to change, for the $5/$4,000 Standard Payout GPP at DraftStreet (closing at 8:00 pm EST). You are required to have three guards, three forwards, one center and one wildcard/utility player for a legal eight-player lineup in DraftStreet NBA contests:
G-Chris Paul/LAC-$19,307, F-Blake Griffin/LAC-$18,503, C-DeAndre Jordan/LAC-$17,415, F-Matt Barnes/LAC-$11,999, F-Markieff Morris/PNX-$11,256, G-Ish Smith/PNX-$7,728, G-Mario Chalmers/MIA-$7,819, F-Shane Battier/MIA-$5,482.
With the interior weakness of the Lakers and the high pace of the game, Jordan/LAC is by far the best play of the night. Griffin/LAC is only slightly less playable, while Paul/LAC is only a notch above fair value. Ish Smith/PNX is of a more speculative nature, as it appears that Goran Dragic/PNX will play and Smith will get 15-25 minutes off the bench. Barnes/LAC is coming off a scorching shooting night. Absent from the list is the top Thunder players, though Perry Jones/OKC is an intriguing cheap play if he continues to start.
Rematch of NBA Finals in the Lone Star State
Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs (8:00 pm EST); over/under 209 ; Spurs -2.5 . INJURIES: MIA: Dwayne Wade (P), LeBron James (Q) ; SAS: Jeff Ayres (OUT) .
Strangely, the Spurs are arguably healthier than their opponents tonight. LeBron James/MIA is officially questionable, but this is a prime time game against an elite NBA rival, so I figure he will be in there. Earlier this season, the Heat took the Spurs to the woodshed, but this the Spurs are firing on all cylinders now so it should be a tight game.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns (9:00 pm EST); over/under 216 ; Thunder -5.5 . INJURIES: OKC: Thabo Sefolosha (OUT), Kendrick Perkins (OUT); PNX: Goran Dragic (P), Miles Plumlee (OUT), Eric Bledsoe (OUT), Leandro Barbosa (OUT)
Russell Westbrook/OKC has now been reintegrated into the Thunder offense and it should be smooth sailing down the stretch for one of the NBA’s most talented duos. The Suns will hang tough the whole game. I love Kevin Durant/OKC but he is a little bit overpriced against a solid opponent.
Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers (10:30 pm EST); over/under 225.5 ; Clippers -10.5 . INJURIES: LAC: Jared Dudley (Q), Jamal Crawford (D), J.J. Redick (OUT); LAL: Nick Young (OUT), Kobe Bryant (OUT).
This will be a high-octane battle. Lots of scoring is expected and the top DraftStreet scores are likely to occur in this one. My only concern is that the Clippers build a big lead early and the front line players get fewer minutes than usual.
Yesterday’s News
TOP GUNS:
Al Jefferson/CHA. He had his share of doubters in a matchup against the Pacers, but he led the Bobcats to a humiliating defeat of Indiana.
Greg Monroe/DET. The Pistons look much better on paper than their results indicate, and Monroe is Exhibit A.
Josh Smith/DET. Allowing 104 points to the Bulls is indicative of lax defensive play.
Joakim Noah/CHI, Carmelo Anthony/NYK, Isaiah Thomas/SAC, Raymond Felton/NYK.
SLEEPERS:
Cartier Martin/ATL. Got minutes because of blowout conditions as the Hawks regulars brought their C game.
Chris Douglas-Roberts/CHA. Filled in for Gerald Henderson/CHA and showed the Bobcats might be better off with CD-R running the offense.
J.J. Hickson/DEN, Nick Calathes/MEM, D.J. Augustin/CHI, Marcus Thornton/BKN.
LET DOWNS:
Paul George/IND. He looked like a solid play heading into last night but was completely ineffective.
Mike Conley/MEM. How much the Grizzlies rely on Zach Randolph/MEM was apparent last night.
Kevin Love/MIN. Another case of a sweet matchup turning sour.
LaMarcus Aldridge/POR, Jeff Teague/ATL.
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