Thursday night features a national TV doubleheader. Plenty of points should be scored in a pair of very interesting games that illustrate how the daily fantasy hoops challenge is never the same twice. There were almost too many bargains to choose from last night, definitely not enough tonight.
Congrats to “thebadgeattack,” who won the $20,000 top prize in the $200K Crossover at DraftKings on Big Wednesday with a whopping 351.25 fantasy points. My team managed a respectable 291 to finish at #1005 out of 7007 teams, good enough to win $60. Those consolation prizes really add up — without finishing first once this week, my bankroll has more than doubled.
Portland is the most predictable NBA team and LaMarcus Aldridge $8800 is as reliable as they come. Damian Lillard $8000 is coming off a 27-point gem against Cleveland. Wesley Matthews $6300 has been scoring more this year, Nicolas Batum $6500 not as much, though Batum contributes in other ways. Robin Lopez $5800 provides solid value. In real life and fantasy, the bench remains thin. Chris Kaman $3300 is a fine insurance policy who will rarely get 20 minutes unless LMA or Lopez gets hurt or in foul trouble.
The Blazers have their hands full. The addition of Chandler Parsons $6900 to the Mavericks has been smooth, Tyson Chandler $5700 looks rejuvenated, Dirk Nowitzki $7600 is still great and Monta Ellis $6800 is explosive. A PG problem for Dallas may actually get worse when Raymond Felton is healthy. Jameer Nelson $3600 starts for now, with Devin Harris $5200 coming off the bench.
Some 2-game nights are easier than others to “solve” from a DFS perspective. You can stack as many as seven players from one team into your lineup, but the eighth must be from the other game. Here’s one of my teams, subject to change at the G-F-Util spots when we see the Houston lineup.
Those runnin’ Rockets are 5-0, with lopsided margins of victory (18, 11, 14, 11 and 17) thanks to Dwight Howard $8700 looking fantastic and James Harden $11200 being unstoppable. Trevor Ariza $7500 has hit 21 3-pointers already, at a ridiculous 60% rate. Kostas Papanikolaou $4300 has been the biggest surprise, helping fill in for Terrence Jones $6500 against the Heat on Tuesday. Jones (knee bruise) is not certain to return tonight; if he starts,I’ll replace the Greek rookie with Brandan Wright $4200 on all my teams with one click.
The Spurs are a frequent source of frustration for fantasy owners, because Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich cares more about winning championships than pleasing us. They played at home last night, winning a close one, so don’t be shocked if Pop juggles his rotation in a road back-to-back. Tim Duncan $7700 and Tony Parker $7000 are rock-solid, Boris Diaw $4700 is underrated, Manu Ginobili $4700 still hasn’t lost a step and Kawhi Leonard $5000 should continue improving — a lingering eye infection finally over, he has two conditioning games under his belt.
Many contests fill up, so it’s good to enter early. You can make unlimited lineup changes until the 8:00 ET deadline. One of many things I’ve always liked about DK, even when this site was a DraftStreet partner, is the ability to make a lineup even change after a contest “closes” — your players are locked when their game starts, and remain editable otherwise.
Not signed up at DraftKings yet? Click for a free entry to win as much as $750 in tonight’s $15K Layup, where 1800 of up to 8625 teams earn cash. DK will also match your initial deposit (up to $600) with bonus money that gets added to your account as you play. See you there!
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season.
Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.