Fantasy Spin May 22, 2015

Another fantastic finish, another home win for the Warriors. James Harden $9800 was spectacular in defeat (38 PTS, 10 REB, 9 AST) and Dwight Howard $8500 (knee) not only played, he double-doubled in 40 minutes. The big man will be “questionable” every game, but it’s hard to imagine him not giving all he can in a must-win Game Three.

Unfortunately for Houston, Josh Smith $5700 went 5-for-17 and Trevor Ariza $6600 was quiet. Their third-best player was Terrence Jones $4600, who came off the bench for 12 points and blocked three shots. At home tomorrow night, expect the supporting cast to improve and the Rockets to climb back into an exciting series.

DraftKings matches your first deposit 100% (up to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash, plus you get a FREE entry in the $35K Sharpshooter — the top score earns $2,000 and 2,750 of 13,415 teams will get paid. Odds are even better in the $25K Crossover, normally a $27 buy-in. That one has 200 guaranteed prizes ($3,500 for first) and only 1,056 teams.

Stephen Curry $10500 was MVP-like with five more triples — all in the first quarter — for 33 points and Andrew Bogut $4600 must have recovered from his flu or hay fever, as he was extremely active at both ends of the floor. The Aussie hit seven of nine shots, grabbed eight boards and had five blocks in a complete turnaround from a lackluster Game One. As a result of him playing 31 minutes, the Warriors didn’t use a small lineup as much. Every playoff game is great in real life, but no two are alike for DFS purposes.

In Friday-Saturday contests at DK, which close at 8:30 Eastern, I’m going to give Curry a night off. It’s just a hunch. Harden will be unstoppable and combining him with LeBron James $11400 means being thrifty at every other position.

The big question mark tonight is the left knee of DeMarre Carroll $6700, who might be Atlanta’s most important player. The good news is, there’s no ligament damage; it looked much worse than a bone bruise. The bad news is, he’s in a lot of pain, though he did take part in shootaround this morning, wearing a brace. If DMC can’t guard LBJ — a very difficult task even at full strength — it will be up to Paul Millsap $8000 (too slow) and Kent Bazemore $2300 (too small) so the King is a decent bet for a triple-double.

Jeff Teague $7300 is the best daily play for the Hawks. He scored 27 in a Game One defeat and Kyrie Irving $7000 (knee) is somewhere between questionable and doubtful. Matthew Dellavedova $3800 would start at PG if Ky can’t go, and while he’d be a decent bargain in DFS, he can’t stop Teague. Hot as the sun side of Mercury on Wednesday, J.R. Smith $4900 hit eight 3-pointers. Tristan Thompson $6000 and Timofey Mozgov $4800 both played well.

This evening, desperate to split at home, Al Horford $7900 and Millsap must improve. Kyle Korver $5200 sure picked a bad week to give up scoring; he’s a mere 9-for-27 over his last five overall and has missed 13 of his last 16 attempts from deep.

My daily Short List is an attempt to narrow down the player pool to 15, three at each position in various price ranges. It’s a tool to assist with lineup construction. Teague being in bold does not mean I think he’s better than Curry; that’s a compromise to save $3200. It’s the same with Jones and Bogut. When you key on two expensive mega-stars, you have to plug in some second or third choices elsewhere. Bazemore isn’t as good as J.R. Smith, but he’s less than half the price. If Carroll starts, I’ll replace Bazemore with Smith, Dellavedova or Dennis Schroder $4800 and plug in someone cheap at Util.

Pos	Premium	Midrange	Bargain
PG	Stephen Curry $10500	Jeff Teague $7300	Dennis Schroder $4800
SG	James Harden $9800	Klay Thompson $7200	Kent Bazemore $2300
SF	LeBron James $11400	Trevor Ariza $6600	Josh Smith $5700
PF	Paul Millsap $8000	Draymond Green $7900	Terrence Jones $4600
C	Dwight Howard $8500	Al Horford $7900	Andrew Bogut $4600