Good morning! Many of you are focused on the NFL every Sunday, but don’t forget there are two ways to play daily fantasy hoops. Contests close at 1:00 ET for all four NBA games and at 6:00 ET for the three best ones.
No offense to Knicks or Nuggets fans, but the matinee features Carmelo Anthony $9800, Ty Lawson $7500 and not much else. You could try J.R. Smith $4700, as Iman Shumpert (hip) is doubtful. Or just play in the Late contests, where all the big GPPs (guaranteed prize pools) have our attention.
Plays of the Day
If you haven’t joined DraftKings yet, click for a FREE entry (worth $2) to win as much as $750 in tonight’s $15K Layup, where 1,800 of 8,625 teams get paid. DK will also match your initial deposit 100% (up to $600) with bonus money that gets added to your account as you play.
The Warriors are much better than the Lakers, even when Kobe Bryant $8700 is feeling great. Playing with an illness, the Hall of Famer missed 13 of 14 shots on Friday and can’t be 100% recovered. Stephen Curry $10500, Klay Thompson $7199, Draymond Green $6800 and Andrew Bogut $6400 are reliable, with Harrison Barnes $4800 better in his last four games. If it becomes a rout, Marreese Speights $3100 and Leandro Barbosa $3000 will benefit.
Stacking your lineup with seven teammates is permitted, as long as the eighth player is from another game. It so happens that the Golden State stack is a bargain, leaving $8300 for the Util spot, where Reggie Jackson $8100 fills the hole nicely. This is hardly a guarantee, just an illustration of one extreme strategy. I will be using a few variations of it.
If the Rockets are going to romp in Oklahoma City, both James Harden $10600 and Dwight Howard $9100 must earn every penny, with Trevor Ariza $6300 also contributing. Donatas Motiejunas $4000 and Kostas Papanikolaou $3700 are reasonably productive, though neither has had a breakout game. Jason Terry $3300 has been OK, but Patrick Beverley $4500 is expected back from a hamstring strain, so the guard rotation will change. Anyone who likes the Thunder to surprise could use Jackson, Serge Ibaka $7500 and Jeremy Lamb $5800.
On Friday, Dwyane Wade sat out with a sore hamstring. We can only assume he doesn’t play again tonight, so Mario Chalmers $5200 will get 40 minutes again and Norris Cole $4200 is cheap. Chris Bosh $8500 and Luol Deng $6200 also gain in value. To the surprise of nearly everyone, Shawne Williams $4400 is playing great. That’s a sweet price off his 21 PT, 6 REB night with 5-6 from deep.
Do I like the Bucks’ future? Yes. Can I recommend any of them tonight? Maybe Giannis Antetokounmpo $5300, but Jason Kidd has a deep, unpredictable rotation that suppresses everyone’s numbers. You could short-stack the Heat — Bosh, Deng, Chalmers, Williams and Cole — and have $21,500 to spend on the other three positions. I’m not confident enough of a high score, especially with it so likely for the Warriors.
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season.
Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.