There are only three Thursday games in the NBA, on two continents. From the O2 Arena in London, England, at 3:00 Eastern time, the young Bucks should trounce the rickety Knicks, who have lost 15 straight. However, Carmelo Anthony $8800 (knee) did make the trip, has been hobnobbing with royalty and it sounds like he wants to play.
That will affect touches and shots for everyone else, not that rookie coach Derek Fisher has much talent to choose from. Amare’ Stoudemire $4400 (knee) is also talking about a return, and in their absence, Jason Smith $3700 has been starting at PF alongside Cole Aldrich $4700. Veteran point guard Jose Calderon $4600 has never played so poorly on either side of the Atlantic; he must be hoping for a rumored trade to happen ASAP. Langston Galloway $3600 might surprise off the bench if he can avoid foul trouble.
Milwaukee is going in the opposite direction. Now fifth in the East — just ahead of the Cavs, Heat and Nets — Kidd’s kids are led by Brandon Knight $7600, who has shattered his previous career bests in just about every fantasy category. Sophomore Giannis Antetoukounmpo $6500 had 16 points and 12 rebounds in an easy win at Madison Square Garden 11 days ago. Zaza Pachulia $5800 dropped a 16 & 14 in that game. Two caveats: Ersan Ilyasova $4000 (concussion) will return to an already crowded and unpredictable rotation, and the score will probably not be high.
DraftKings offers All-Day contests that include the matinee, along with 8:00 action that covers the other two games, both of which will be better sources of fantasy points. Unless you really like Knight, the same lineup(s) from the evening should be competitive in 3:00 leagues.
Plays of the Day
Open a new account and get a FREE entry for this afternoon’s $25K Layup — the highest score earns $2,000 and 3,000 of 14,375 teams receive guaranteed cash prizes. Or try tonight’s $30 K Layup — $5,000 for first and 4,000 of 17,250 teams win money. Your initial deposit ($5 or more) is matched 100% up to $600 with bonus money, earned a dollar at a time as you play.
The $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 $500,000 NBA Slam Dunk on January 28 has a top prize of $100,000.
The big DFS news is the Fantasy Basketball World Championship with a million dollar first prize, to be awarded March 23. There are only 40 seats in the Final, and you must finish first in a $20, $100 or $1000 buy-in Qualifier to win a seat, which includes an all-expenses paid, 5-day VIP trip to Las Vegas plus $7,000 in cash, even if you finish last! Every day features Super Satellite contests where you can get into an upcoming Qualifier for as little as $2. From the DK lobby, click on Qualifiers and look for a SuperSat in your price range.
There are quite a few superstars in action for such a light slate. My sample lineup is the first time I’ve ever considered three players who cost $10K or more; there aren’t many ‘scrubs’ to choose from, but it’s not easy to ignore the big guns.
Russell Westbrook $10000 and Kevin Durant $10700 lead the Thunder into Houston against former teammate James Harden $10500 and Dwight Howard $8100. It’s more of a must-win for OKC, still three games out of the eighth playoff spot, and they have enjoyed almost a week off, last taking the court on Friday. Those are reasonable salaries for the dynamic duo; Serge Ibaka $6400 and new bench gunner Dion Waiters $4000 are the only other guys worth considering. Possibly looking ahead, and certainly underestimating their opponent, the Rockets got ambushed in Orlando last night. GM Daryl Morey had a bad day on Twitter and Josh Smith had a poor game (2-11, 4 TO). The shocker was allowing the Magic to score at will — 36 points in the fourth and 120 for the night.
In the nightcap, the Cavaliers should snap a six-game losing streak with a win over the Lakers. When LeBron James $10700 is healthy, it takes a bit of value from Kevin Love $9900 and Kyrie Irving $9000, but obviously the team is stronger. The King is not happy; his body language suggests he’s tuned out rookie coach David Blatt. Even while scoring 33 points in Phoenix on Tuesday, LBJ looked frustrated during timeouts. That was his first game in two weeks, and we expect he will dominate tonight. Newcomer J.R. Smith $4600 hit eight triples en route to 29 points as the starting SG; with three other scorers he still fits best as the #1 option on the second team. Timofey Mozgov $4800 and Tristan Thompson $6200 appear to be in a timeshare at C, depending on the opposition. The Russian will start most games but the Canadian got 32 minutes off the bench and finished both halves.
Supposedly Kobe Bryant $8400 will play tonight and rest tomorrow but I’ve learned to ignore most of what Byron Scott says. Check for breaking news to confirm before using him. Jordan Hill $5800 (knee) also plans to suit up, though he might not be 100%. Tarik Black $3000 has made a strong impression with his new team since being waived by Houston; in limited minutes off the bench he’s almost double-doubled (14 & 9, then 9 & 9) in two of the last three games. L.A. shot an embarrassing 31.5% and managed just 75 points in Tuesday’s ugly loss. No offense to the Hall-of-Famer, but several of his teammates play better when he rests. Black is the only Laker to make today’s Short List.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Russell Westbrook $10000 | Brandon Knight $7600 | Langston Galloway $3600 |
| SG | James Harden $10500 | Kobe Bryant $8400 | J.R. Smith $4600 |
| SF | Kevin Durant $10700 | G. Antetokounmpo $6500 | Khris Middleton $4800 |
| PF | Kevin Love $9900 | Serge Ibaka $6400 | John Henson $4000 |
| C | Dwight Howard $8100 | Zaza Pachulia $5800 | Tarik Black $3000 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.