It’s a quiet Sunday in the NBA — only three games — on the eve of a busy holiday Monday. There are two start times at DraftKings; contests at 3:30 EST include the Pelicans game in Toronto, where Anthony Davis $11200 (toe) remains questionable. You can also play at 6:00, focusing on just two games. [Read more…]
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. [Read more…]
After last week’s loss in Atlanta, Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger – whose team has the fifth-best record in the NBA – lamented his roster’s shortcomings. “We have to get another playmaker on the floor,” Joerger said. “We’re going to have to start playing multiple point guards (at the same time). We’ve got to be able to get inside of defenses.” It doesn’t matter that the Grizzlies have been at or near the top of the league for most of the season.
In today’s NBA, the formula for winning in recent years was simple: Accumulate as many maximum-salary stars as you can without breaking the bank. But when you start piling up eight-figure salaries against the luxury tax, the bank breaks pretty quickly. So teams fill out their rosters with minimum-salary veterans. And if you look at the top of the NBA standings right now, many teams are getting very productive seasons from veterans signed to minimum-salary deals. The Chicago Bulls added Pau Gasol to Jimmy
New Year’s Day brought the latest round of All-Star balloting returns, and it’s a safe bet that the five leading vote-getters in each conference will remain there. Stephen Curry and Kobe Bryant lead the West backcourt, with James Harden trailing Kobe by about 180,000 votes. In the West frontcourt, Anthony Davis is a shoo-in, with Blake Griffin and Marc Gasol second and third, and Tim Duncan trailing Gasol by 55,000 votes. In the East, John Wall and Dwyane Wade are No. 1
Game of the night? East-leading Toronto visits West-leading Golden State. Stephen Curry $11000 and Kyle Lowry $10700 are both very effective despite their different styles. Draymond Green $7800 does a bit of everything for the Warriors, and Klay Thompson $8100 has never been better. [Read more…]
The rest must have helped. Kobe Bryant notched a triple-double (though only one turnover short of a less-spectacular quad-double) to lead the Lakers to a road victory. [Read more…]
This afternoon’s 4:30 start for Detroit at Cleveland leaves it on a DFS island; the vast majority of daily fantasy contests close at 7:00 Eastern and cover the five NBA games on Sunday evening. [Read more…]