If you’re going to have only three games, they might as well be good ones. While two of them may be kind of lopsided in real life, they are full of DFS possibilities and high scores are anticipated.
The schedule is no picnic for the Mavericks, who won a shootout in OKC last night, but it’s even worse for the Rockets — this will be their fourth game in five nights. James Harden $11300 poured in 51 points as they beat Sacramento; who knows how much he has left? Terrence Jones $6800 returned in fine form (16 PTS, 7 REB, 7 BLK) and shouldn’t lose too much value, even though Dwight Howard $7200 is expected to play. We got 25.5 FPTS from longshot pick Pablo Prigioni $3100, but he’s 38 and the whole team is fatigued. Dallas doesn’t really have a go-to scorer; Monta Ellis $6500 (26 PTS) and Chandler Parsons $6500 (22) led seven players with 10+ as the team shot 61.5% to beat the Thunder. Tyson Chandler $5300 could produce another inexpensive double-double.
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Miami limps into Cleveland — Dwyane Wade $7300 (knee), Hassan Whiteside $7200 (hand) and Goran Dragic (back) are playing hurt, while Luol Deng $5600 (knee) and Udonis Haslem $4600 (illness) sat out Tuesday’s loss to the Spurs. Kevin Love $7000 (back) will be a game-time decision but LeBron James $9900 and Kyrie Irving $7700 are healthy and the Cavs have enjoyed a nice three-day break at home. Timofey Mozgov $4700, Tristan Thompson $4000 and Iman Shumpert $3500 are possible bargains.
Phoenix is overmatched at Golden State, where the entire league is 2-34. Stephen Curry $9300 and Klay Thompson $7300 are much better than Eric Bledsoe $7900 and whoever starts at SG until Brandon Knight $5500 (ankle) returns — probably P.J. Tucker $5300. The Warriors can afford to give Draymond Green $7500 (shin) another night off; David Lee $4400 has filled in capably. Alex Len (nose) is out, so Brandan Wright $4100 has a tough assignment vs. Andrew Bogut $4700. For the Suns, Markieff Morris $6100 benefits most from Green’s absence and T.J. Warren $3000 played very well off the bench in back-to-back weekend games.
If you key on LBJ and the Splash Brothers, there’s enough left over to afford a respectable supporting cast. The six players in bold on the Short List are in all my lineups, leaving $7600 to try a variety of combinations in the G and F positions.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Stephen Curry $9300 | Kyrie Irving $7700 | Pablo Prigioni $3100 |
| SG | James Harden $11300 | Klay Thompson $7300 | Iman Shumpert $3500 |
| SF | LeBron James $9900 | C. Parsons $6500 | T.J. Warren $3000 |
| PF | Terrence Jones $6800 | Markieff Morris $6100 | David Lee $4400 |
| C | H. Whiteside $7200 | Tyson Chandler $5300 | Andrew Bogut $4700 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates..