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It’s FRRRIIIDDDAAAYYYY!!! Tonight we have the wildest slate of the year with probably the most edge we can get with it being Friday night and tons of news, injuries and tanking questions that we are going to have to sift through. If you put in the work today we should have a really good edge in our contests this evening. I feel like I’m starting to get close based on the last few nights results, so hopefully tonight is the night myself or one of my readers gets over the hump and wins some big money. I’ll be playing heavy tonight as there are an endless amount of plays with so many players ruled out. Only 10 days left of the NBA Season so let’s get it!
INJURIES
- Lebron James – Q
- Anthony Davis – P
- Paul George – D
- Desmond Bane – D
- Wendell Carter Jr. – D
- Jaren Jackson Jr. – D
- Malcolm Brogdon – D
- Steven Adams – D
- Marvin Bagley – D
- Alperen Sengun – Q
- Tyus Jones – D
- Goga Bitadze – Q
- Oshae Brissett – Q
- Isaiah Jackson – Q
- Luka Garza – Q
- Jamychal Green – Q
- Bates-Diop – Q
- Yuta Watanabe – Q
As you can see there’s tons of news that’s already dropped and tons of news we’re waiting on for this 10 game NBA Slate. There are a few teams very shorthanded tonight in the Thunder and the Grizzlies that we need to have players from on all our rosters. There are also a few teams on a back-to-back that I can see resting some players, specifically the Clippers as I can see them giving a night off to most of the veterans, which could open up even more value. With so much value, stars and scrubs builds will be the chalk.
GUARDS
Waiting on starting lineups today is going to be crucial as some of these teams we just don’t know who they are going to roll out until we get the starting lineup. At guard we have some great spend-up options in Dejounte Murray and Luca Doncic. Both look like great plays and I have no problem with either play. Luca is dominating of late and coming off back-to-back 70 point fantasy games. The match-up with the Wiz is mouth watering and I see no reason why Luca can’t go off for another 70 burger as he’s filling up the stat sheet and is always a threat for a triple double. He’s one of my favorite spends on the slate. Dejounte I’ll also be all over tonight and I’m expecting a little lower ownership on him then Luca. Murray has been around 1.5 fantasy points per minute over the last month but the past few games it looks like Popovic is starting to ramp up the minutes to try and make the playoffs. Murray has played 38+ minutes in 3 straight games and tonight gets a match-up with the G-League Blazers. There’s some risk of a blowout but we have to think even in a blowout, Dejounte is going to get his. If we’re looking for some savings at Guard, I’m expecting Luke Kennard to be in a great spot. We already have news that Paul George is doubtful and I’m expecting a couple other veterans from the Clippers to sit tonight. Kennard is at .82 fantasy points per minute without PG-13 on the court and he could be looking at 30 minutes of playing time tonight. The price tag of $3,800 is much too cheap should we get more Clippers ruled out. Keep an eye on news regarding the Kennard play, hopefully news drops late so we can get low ownership on Mr. Kennard.
FORWARDS
At Forward we have some close to lock button plays that should be chalky in Kelly Olynyk and Brandon Clarke. We are going to have to check on line-ups for both these teams but I do expect both to start and play big minutes tonight. Olynyk is well over a fantasy point per minute producer this year and throughout his career. Last night Marvin Bagley went down so I’m expecting him to sit tonight which makes Olynyk the next man up. At a $3,700 price tag, if he starts I’ll most likely lock him in all 50 lineups I make tonight in a dream match-up with the Thunder. Brandon Clarke is in a similar situation as Olynyk. Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr. aren’t expected to play tonight which means heavy minutes to anyone left in the Memphis front-court. Clarke has been at 1.17 fantasy points per minute with the main Memphis starters ruled out and if we expect anywhere near 30 minutes tonight he feels like close to a lock button play. He has a$4,000 price tag on DK and should be heavily owned. Keep in mind for tournaments that a lot of people will be playing Olynyk and Clarke at Forward so this should make other forward plays much lower owned this evening. If you are looking for a large field GPP play at Forward I think Cade Cunningham has slate breaking upside tonight. They get a match-up with the Thunder and Cade should get all the usage he can handle. Should the Pistons vs. Thunder game stay close, I see Cade having a monster night. He’s priced all the way up at $9,000 so this should lower ownership, this is just a GPP flier I thought I’d throw out that should be under 5% owned.
CENTER
Denver is on the slate which means Nikola Jokic is my favorite spend-up on the slate. Jokic continues to cement his case for MVP and has put up 3 straight 70 fantasy point nights. The guy is incredible and should go down as one of the greatest big men the sport has ever seen. He’s a new dad and seems to be in a great place mentally and is showing it on the court. I’ll be trying to prioritize having two spend-ups in most of my lineups tonight with so much value on the slate. Xavier Tillman is where we most likely want to go for value at Center. Should he start tonight he’ll look like one of the best value options on the slate at $3,100. We’re going to want to play some Memphis and OKC plays in all our lineups as they are so short-handed that it’s almost a guarantee that a couple guys from each team go off at their cheap price tags. A couple large field GPP fliers that I plan to be overweight on are Isaiah Roby and Jakob Poeltl. Roby is seeing big minutes for the Thunder in a starting role of late and produces at over a fantasy point per minute. The Thunder get a game that should be close tonight with Detroit, as they are two of the worst teams in basketball. Don’t be surprised if Roby goes off tonight. Jakob Poeltl is another GPP play I expect to be extremely low owned (less than 5%). As I mentioned earlier the Spurs are extending the minutes of their starters and just last game Poeltl played 34 minutes. Poeltl has produced at a rate of 1.17 fantasy points per minute over the last month, if we are seeing a minutes bump Poeltl has the upside to put up a monster game versus a terrible Blazers team. Should Portland keep this game close I think the Spurs are sneaky in GPPs this evening.
This is going to be an interesting slate and we are going to have to monitor news all night if we are playing GPPs to get some great plays in the late games at low ownership. We only have 10 days left of NBA so I’m going heavy in hopes that I can get one more bink before the playoffs start. Good luck tonight, let’s crush!
Cash Plays: Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Clarke, Nikola Jokic, Luca Doncic, Xavier Tillman
GPP Plays: Luke Kennard, Jakob Poeltl, Isaiah Roby, Cade Cunningham, Dejounte Murray
Max
