Fantasy Spin December 17, 2014

It was a triumph of Grizzlies basketball. Marc Gasol $8700 was brilliant and they held the Warriors — who had won 16 in a row — to 41% shooting. Mike Conley $7900 and Zach Randolph $7400 did what they do, but it was the bench, led by Vince Carter $3000 with 16 points, that helped seal the deal with a tremendous second quarter.

Can Memphis summon up the same kind of effort 24 hours later in San Antonio? With the crystal ball in the shop for repairs after a slump, my Magic 8-Ball says Letdown. Tony Allen $3900 (eye) is questionable, which weakens that defense, but the Spurs are missing two cornerstones, with Tony Parker (hamstring) and Kawhi Leonard (hand) ruled out. Manu Ginobili $4900 (back) and Tim Duncan $8600 (rest) did not play on Monday in a road loss to the Blazers. Cory Joseph $4800 will start at PG, Danny Green $5500 will get extra touches, big Aron Baynes $4500 will try to slow Gasol a little and Kyle Anderson $3000 could be a factor off the bench.

Plays of the Day

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The best of nine other games might be Atlanta at Cleveland. LeBron James $11400 looms over DFS as a puzzle. Can you afford to use him? Can you afford not to? There’s been a subtle shift in the last few games with Kyrie Irving $9100 scoring a bit less and Kevin Love $9300 a bit more — 22 PTS, 18 REB on Monday. The Hawks have their own Big Three, more reasonably priced. Al Horford $7200 just played his best game of the year (21 PTS, 10 REB, 6 AST) in a big win over the Bulls.

In addition to 7:00 Eastern contests that span the entire NBA slate, there are 10:00 Late-only options at DK, with three solid favorites. Portland must overcome the loss of Robin Lopez (hand) for several weeks so Chris Kaman $4000 will be playing more minutes alongside LaMarcus Aldridge $10400. LMA and Damian Lillard $9000 should be given strong consideration every night. Joel Freeland $3000 has suddenly become relevant; we’ll see how productive he can be. The Bucks suffered a huge loss of their own when Jabari Parker injured a knee. I picked up Jared Dudley $3100 in a 20-team league and he’s made today’s Short List. Khris Middleton $4900 might also get more touches.

Much like the LBJ conundrum, you can build a lineup around James Harden $11400 or try to beat him and (often) regret it later. Dwight Howard $9000 is questionable. What else is new? He was amazing (26 PTS, 13 REB, 3 BLK) in his return after missing four weeks with a knee injury but we can’t be 100% sure he’ll play until it’s confirmed. Assuming he does, Patrick Beverley $5500 and Donatas Motiejunas $5500 lose a bit of value. Howard destroyed Timofey Mozgov $5000 in Houston on Saturday and Wilson Chandler $6000 was playing despite an illness. At home, the Nuggets will be pumped up for this rematch, but the Rockets should still prevail.

Don’t be misled by the Pacers’ easy win on Monday at home over the tired Lakers. They are in big trouble against the Clippers. Those of us who used Chris Paul $10300 on Sunday were burned when he was barely needed, and garbage time could be a factor again. DeAndre Jordan $7900 and Blake Griffin $10400 are simply too much for Roy Hibbert $7200 and David West $6100.

Getting back to the early tipoffs, Phoenix should beat Charlotte but the health of Goran Dragic $8000 (back) determines the value of quite a few others. Markieff Morris $6700 is the safest play, and Alex Len $4000 might have taken over as the #1 center.

The Mavericks won so easily in New York last night that only one starter played more than 25 minutes. Tyson Chandler $7200 might have a slight letdown after the emotional return to MSG; look for others to get the job done. Jodie Meeks $3300 got a sweet contract from the Pistons and finally began to earn it.

With a little imagination, you can see the Magic gaining maturity. Nikola Vucevic $9200 is a stud, and Tobias Harris $7200 continues to improve. Their even-younger teammates Victor Oladipo $6600 and Evan Fournier $4800 aren’t quite as consistent — yet. In daily action, we don’t care who wins this game if it’s a shootout. Rajon Rondo $8500 does enough without scoring to be playable but Jared Sullinger $7000 is in a terrible slump. The timeshare at C is frustrating; Tyler Zeller $5000 starts, but Kelly Olynyk $4900 had a 30-point, 9-rebound game on Monday.

Jazz at Heat is a rematch of sorts; they met in Utah on Friday before Chris Bosh (calf) got hurt. I was stunned that shorthanded Miami beat the Nets, with Dwyane Wade $8100 and Luol Deng $6300 playing very well in heavy minutes. This one may not be pretty, but Enes Kanter $6600 was brilliant last night in a loss to the Pelicans and the visitors are younger. It’s hard to predict a win in a road back-to-back for a team that’s lost 12 of its last 13.

Those Nets let an ‘easy’ one slip away at home on Tuesday as Mason Plumlee $5600 was their only real standout. Amid trade rumours, Deron Williams $7700 had a modest double-double (15 & 11) but the whole team must play better in Toronto this evening or risk getting trounced. Unfortunately for fans of the Raptors (like me) who play daily fantasy, the same depth that has helped them to survive the loss of all-star DeMar DeRozan (groin) makes it difficult to guess who will step up on a given night. Lately it’s been Patrick Patterson $5200 and Lou Williams $4600, who don’t even start., supporting team MVP Kyle Lowry $10200.

Pos	Premium	Midrange	Bargain
PG	Damian Lillard $8400	Jeff Teague $7200	Cory Joseph $4800
SG	James Harden $11400	Danny Green $5500	Jodie Meeks $3300
SF	LeBron James $11600	Wilson Chandler $6000	Jared Dudley $3100
PF	LaMarcus Aldridge $10700	Markieff Morris $6700	Darrell Arthur $4000
C	Nikola Vucevic $9200	Al Horford $7200	Chris Kaman $4000