Fantasy Spin March 7, 2015

Hope you got some of the big money at DraftKings last night. The eight Saturday NBA games include several road favorites, and a couple of mismatches.

Apologies for shorter Spins the last few days and until Wednesday. We are vacationing in Florida, taking in some spring training baseball and escaping a brutal Toronto winter. I’m not even watching much hoops on TV; Clearwater Beach is too much fun.

Plays of the Day

New to DK? They match your initial deposit 100% ($5 to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash as you play, plus you get a FREE entry in another of the lucrative contests offered this evening, the $25K Layup — the top score earns $2,000 and 3,000 of 14,375 teams win cash prizes.

The Fantasy Basketball World Championship offers a million dollar first prize, to be awarded March 23. There are only 40 seats in the Final; finish first in a Qualifier to win a spot, including a 5-day VIP trip to Las Vegas (worth $55,000) plus a minimum of $7,000 in cash!

Houston should romp in Denver, though the Nuggets are trying much harder of late. Both teams played last night and James Harden $10500 had a superb triple-double (38-12-12) in a home victory, while Kenneth Faried $6100 and Ty Lawson $7100 kept their team reasonably close in San Antonio.

After throttling the Cavaliers in a huge win last night, Atlanta might rest one or two of their stars in Philadelphia, like they did in an easy win on January 13. Even if Paul Millsap $8200, Al Horford $7400 and Jeff Teague $6600 all play, they will give way to bench players like Dennis Schroder $4500, Mike Scott $3000 and Kent Bazemore $3200 as soon as the score permits. I’m not using any Sixers, though Nerlens Noel $6700 is playable and Thomas Robinson $3000 is getting a chance.

DeMarcus Cousins $9600 will get his numbers again (29 PTS, 12 REB, 3 BLK last night) and Rudy Gay $7200 was even better (39 PTS, 8 REB,3 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK) in a losing cause in Orlando. The suddenly snake-bit Heat also lost, with Luol Deng $5800 (thigh) and Dwyane Wade $7200 (hip) both injured, Goran Dragic $6600 (back) leaving early and Hassan Whiteside $8800 having a rare off-night. Mario Chalmers $4000 was officially a DNP-CD and also has a tender knee. It’s a Stars-n-Scrubs night for me; several Miami backups like Shabazz Napier $3000 could surprise.

Phoenix is a decided underdog in Cleveland, despite beating the Nets in OT last night, with both Markieff Morris $6300 and Marcus Morris $4000 starting. Each twin and Eric Bledsoe $8100 had 19 points. The Cavs started slowly in Atlanta and never recovered. DeMarre Carroll shadowed LeBron James $10500, who scored just 18 points and committed nine turnovers. LBJ, Kyrie Irving $7500 and Kevin Love $7800 can be expected to make amends tonight.

Portland visits Minnesota as the chalk, but it’s the third game in four nights for the red-hot Blazers and might be closer than many expect. LaMarcus Aldridge $9200 and Damian Lillard $8000 are more important than ever now that Wesley Matthews (Achilles) is done for the year. Nicolas Batum $6200 is also a good play as long as he stays healthy, and Arron Afflalo $4100 may turn it on. For the T-Wolves, it would help if Nikola Pekovic $5000 (ankle) was 100% healthy; Ricky Rubio $7900 and Andrew Wiggins $6800 remain the best bets.

The Bucks are back home from a disastrous 0-4 trip out West; the visiting Wizards almost blew a huge lead in the fourth quarter last night. John Wall $8700 scored only six points but still racked up 42.8 FPTS and can improve on that performance against Michael Carter-Williams $6600. If he’s up for a back-to-back, Marcin Gortat $6100 will own the paint. Milwaukee’s deep rotation makes it hard to predict individual standouts in DFS — there are better games.

Indiana is much improved and should easily beat the Knicks again; the final was 105-82 when they met on Wednesday. However, the Pacers do not push the tempo and they played at home last night. I’m predicting a closer game with a lower score.You could hope that Andrea Bargnani $5000 plays well again, but any Raptors fan will tell you that Il Mago is capable of disappearing.

Memphis at New Orleans figures to be tight and relatively low-scoring. The Pelicans were upset by the Celtics on Friday despite a healthy Anthony Davis $10800 (29 PTS, 14 REB, 3 BLK), while the Grizzlies took care of business against the Lakers. Zach Randolph $7400 led the way (24 PTS, 13 REB) but tonight look for Marc Gasol $7600 to be more prominent.

Pos	Premium	Midrange	Bargain
PG	John Wall $8700	Ty Lawson $7000	Shabazz Napier $3000
SG	James Harden $10500	Eric Bledsoe $8100	Henry Walker $3300
SF	LeBron James $10500	Rudy Gay $7200	Michael Beasley $3300
PF	Anthony Davis $10800	Kenneth Faried $6100	Mike Scott $3000
C	D. Cousins $9600	Marcin Gortat $6100	Robin Lopez $4000