Fantasy Spin January 13, 2015

It’s not easy to get 75% of NBA games wrong on a given night, but I managed to do it on Monday. Loved the Pelicans, especially Jrue Holiday, who hurt his ankle as they lost in Boston. Gave the Magic no chance against the Bulls — though yesterday’s Spin at least mentioned Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo — and figured a 95-85 score, missing by only 55 points. My Raptors bias underestimated both the determination of the Pistons and the degree of recent improvement in Brandon Jennings, who outplayed Kyle Lowry.

Fortunately, that lousy one-day fantasy ‘season’ is ancient history. Congrats to those who took my money. We all start in a dead-heat at square one for Tuesday NBA action at DraftKings. Most contests close at 7:00 Eastern spanning all seven games, but 4-game Late (9:00) and 2-game Later (10:00) pools are also available.

Cleveland at Phoenix changes completely if LeBron James $10500 returns from his knee and back injuries. It’s a game-time decision, so check breaking news before the deadline and adjust your lineups if necessary. Assuming he plays, Kyrie Irving $9100 and Kevin Love $10200 won’t have to carry the team quite so much, and newcomer Timofey Mozgov $4900 gives the Cavs an inside presence: 14 PTS, 12 REB, 2 BLK in 33 minutes on Sunday I’m bullish on J.R. Smith $4500 to eventually settle in as a productive sixth man, but he’s playing with a sore right elbow, partly explaining his 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter that loss. For the Suns, Eric Bledsoe $8700 and Alex Len $4400 have the best matchups; P.J. Tucker $4400 becomes a much better play if LBJ takes one more night off.

Plays of the Day

Open a new account and get a FREE entry for tonight’s $60K Layup — the highest score earns $5,000 and 7,600 of 34,500 teams receive guaranteed cash prizes. Your initial deposit ($5 or more) is matched 100% up to $600 with bonus money, earned a dollar at a time as you play. Win even more in the $130K Crossover — $20 to enter, maximum 7,386 teams, top 1,540 get paid and first place is worth a cool $20,000.

The 6-sport, $2.7 MILLION January Jam costs $100 per team, but you can win tickets in Satellite contests for $5, $2 or even a quarter. The main target for basketball fans is the $500,000 NBA Slam Dunk on January 28, with its top prize of $100,000.

Next stop for the 29-5 Warriors is Salt Lake City, where Trey Burke $5500 is overmatched by Stephen Curry $10200 and nobody can defend Klay Thompson $7300. Gordon Hayward $7700 and the Jazz big men will try to keep it close, but Derrick Favors $7800 is the only play, as there’s a timeshare at C now that Enes Kanter $6300 has returned. Draymond Green $8300 is always worthy of consideration and Andrew Bogut $4900 might be ready for more than 20 minutes in his third game back.

We’ve rolled with DeMarcus Cousins $11000 for three profitable games, but that salary is pretty high against the crafty Tyson Chandler $6400. I’m hoping that Monta Ellis $7200 and Dirk Nowitzki $6600 will both get hot and expecting a high score. Rudy Gay $8200 and Darren Collison $7000 are reasonably priced for Sacramento, while Rajon Rondo $7900 has shot an abysmal 7-for-37 (just under 19%) over the four games since going nuts against the Celtics. Maybe he’ll try a few layups.

The high-flying Hawks won’t need their very best in Philly. Jeff Teague $8500 should be an all-star and Al Horford $6600 can have his way. Beware of garbage time! Atlanta’s second unit might see plenty of extra minutes, with guys like Mike Scott $3300, Dennis Schroeder $3300 and Thabo Sefolosha $3600 more than capable of holding a big lead against the Sixers. You could take a chance on Tony Wroten $6100 and/or Michael Carter-Williams $8500 but they aren’t on my radar.

Chris Bosh $8500 is much better than any of the Lakers’ bigs and Dwyane Wade $8800 has stayed healthy this season. Even if the ever-questionable Kobe Bryant $8600 plays, I like the Heat. The recent emergence of Hassan Whiteside $5700 has helped, and Norris Cole $3500 was also sharp in a shocking upset of the Clippers on Sunday. Oddly enough, when Mamba sits out, L.A. has better DFS prospects, with Wesley Johnson $4000, Jeremy Lin $4900 and Jordan Hill $5900 among those getting more touches and shots at a reasonable cost.

How tough is it to figure out the Spurs? Not only has a different player led them in scoring for each of the last six games, none of them was Tim Duncan $8900. Unlikely heroes like Austin Daye $3000 and Jeff Ayres $3000 step up with huge nights when least expected. One way or another, they have beaten the Wizards an amazing 17 straight times. John Wall $9500, Marcin Gortat $6100 and Bradley Beal $6100 will be determined to end that streak.

Minnesota at Indiana is kind of a dud. Both Nikola Pekovic $4600 (ankle) and Kevin Martin $4800 (wrist) are getting close to a return, possibly tonight. They participated fully in yestrday’s practice, but Gorgui Dieng $7000 (illness) did not, and Shabazz Muhammad (abdominal) is out for at least a couple of weeks. The toothless Wolves have lost 15 straight and Indiana is very much in the murky East playoff picture, with David West $6400 and Roy Hibbert $6000 the best options in a game we expect to be low-scoring.

Pos	Premium	Midrange	Bargain
PG	Stephen Curry $10200	Jeff Teague $8500	Norris Cole $3500
SG	Eric Bledsoe $8700	Klay Thompson $7300	Thabo Sefolosha $3600
SF	Rudy Gay $8200	Gordon Hayward $7700	P.J. Tucker $4400
PF	Kevin Love $10200	Dirk Nowitzki $6600	Mike Scott $3300
C	DeMarcus Cousins $11000	Chris Bosh $8500	Alex Len $4400