After a fairly light Friday, it’s a busy NBA Saturday night with a dozen games. A quick look at the over/under lines suggests we should focus on three of them for fun and profit in daily fantasy leagues at DraftKings.
The Lakers must play their fourth game in five nights, on the road after digging deep against the Clippers only to lose again. They have allowed an average of 115 points. Most Warriors are good to own tonight, though David Lee has a tender hamstring and Andrew Bogut has been ill. Stephen Curry $10200, Klay Thompson $7100, Draymond Green $5700 and Andre Iguodala $4700 form the core of a competitive DFS lineup, with Harrison Barnes $4300 a possibility. Marreese Speights $3600 is likely to benefit if Lee and Bogut are used sparingly.
The Rockets play like their name, with James Harden $10000 capable of gigantic nights. So far, Trevor Ariza $6200 has been a perfect fit (9-of-15 from deep) for his new team and Terrence Jones $6000 is solid value. Longshots include Kostas Papanikolaou $3300, who has been a big surprise in his first two NBA games. Dwight Howard $8500 is the only low-post guy in this game, as Jared Sullinger $6300 and Kelly Olynyk $5700 both like to stretch the floor.
You can’t stop Isaiah Thomas $5900, as the Spurs found out last night. The wee man scored 18 points in the final 17 minutes. Markieff Morris $6100 is also good value. Riskier but affordable, Gerald Green $4000 and Marcus Morris $4000 might be fighting for minutes once P.J. Tucker returns from suspension and Alex Len $3000 (10 PTS, 11 REB last night) could be needed again against the Jazz big guys.
That’s not to say you can’t win using players from other teams in (presumably) lower-scoring games. Perry Jones $5300 was a rock-bottom $3000 bargoon when he scored 32 last time. Don’t overpay. Reggie Jackson $5900 might be less than 100% healthy. Ty Lawson $6800 and Arron Afflalo $5500 might pay their way.
Nikola Vucevic $8400 is on fire through two games and Tobias Harris $5800 is off to a good start. Not picking the Magic to win; the Raptors’ impressive depth actually works against big daily points for any individual.
The Bucks won me some cash last night (my record so far in 50/50 contests is stellar) but that was against the lowly Sixers. Love the Wizards here, especially John Wall $9500 and Marcin Gortat $6700.
Elsewhere, Anthony Davis $10800 is a beast if you can afford him. Chris Bosh $8700 was superb in his first game as the Heat’s main man, and Norris Cole $4700 is underpriced for a starting PG. Andre Drummond $8300 could dominate Miles Plumlee $5100, but there are many C options.
Bargain-hunting? John Henson $4200 had 6 BLK last night and Evan Fournier $4200 is dirt cheap. Chris Copeland $3400 is decent value for the depleted Pacers.
Tonight DK offers contests for every price range. Here’s a free entry to the $30K Layup, with its $5,000 top prize, for anyone who opens an account. That’s normally a $2 ticket. Finish in the top 4,000 (from a maximum of 17,250 teams) and you win cash. Good luck!
The Fantasy Spin offers DFS advice every day. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy.