Point Guard
Top Tier: Stephen Curry- Steph Curry is one of my favorite plays of the night, in a massive 236 O/U game against the fast-paced Hawks. Curry played 36 minutes in his return game, and there is a bit of a narrative here as Trae Young infamously once said he would beat Curry in a three point shooting contest. I’m fully expecting a show from Curry tonight, and I’m locking him in for cash games.
Mid Tier: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander- If you’re looking in the mid tier, I love the matchup against the Pelicans for young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. This matchup with the Pelicans is a strong one, and SGA will benefit from the increased pace. This game also owns a huge 236 O/U, and I don’t expect SGA to be very highly owned given his price increase.
Low Tier: Emmanuel Mudiay- Mudiay presents the chalk value play at point guard tonight, and while I hate trusting Fizdale, this is what this slate has come to be. Trey Burke is listed as out, which increases the safety of Mudiay’s minutes and the 228 O/U is nothing to be upset about.
Shooting Guard
Top Tier: Tim Hardaway Jr- Oh man, you can already tell how this slate is going to go given all of the Knicks we are interested in…yikes! THJ is a strong play at his price in this matchup, and while his usage has declined over the last week his assists are up big-time, and I anticipate that to stick tonight with no Burke for the Knicks.
Mid Tier: Lou Williams- Sweet Lou comes in under $6,000 tonight in a fantastic fast-paced matchup with the Pelicans. I love taking him when he’s at this price, especially in a great game environment. The faster the pace, the more point opportunities there are and this should be a close game, meaning I’m expecting a big offensive performance from Williams tonight.
Low Tier: Allonzo Trier- Yesssssss, more Knicks! Trier has the ability to smash value if he gets stable minutes, and while I really don’t trust that happening the odds are in our favor with Burke sidelined.
Small Forward
Top Tier: Paul George- George is not someone I usually target with Westbrook healthy, but at under $9,000 he provides enough savings off of Durant that I’m making him both cash and GPP playable tonight. He fits in better on FanDuel where there’s no MPE and you must play two SF’s nightly.
Mid Tier: E’Twaun Moore- Moore was recently moved up to probable for tonight’s game with the Clippers, and I am going to consider him in cash games at his price. There’s really no elite plays at SF tonight, Durant is expensive, I like PG, and then the mid tier is full of $7,000+ options. The best route to go is going to be pairing George with a cheapie, and getting access to the 236 O/U with Moore is fine by me.
Low Tier: Kelly Oubre/Jeff Green- IF Otto Porter is ruled out, we can consider both of these guys strong value options alongside Moore. I probably would end up siding with Moore still, but ownership will undoubtedly be pushed onto these two should we get the Porter ruled out notification.
Power Forward
Top Tier: Anthony Davis- Anthony Davis has probably been my most-owned player in DFS this season, and even at almost $13,000 I’m not stopping tonight on FanDuel. It’s too easy to get up to him when you can punt given the low score drop scoring, and he’s at home in a monster O/U game, and is locked into to huge minutes. He is the Pelicans, and I’m using him in all formats again tonight.
Mid Tier: Serge Ibaka- I think the obvious route at PF tonight is to jam in AD with the cheap value in Jerebko, but if you want to get weird I do like Ibaka in the mid tier. I could list Noah Vonleh here, but I’ve had enough Knicks for tonight and Ibaka has routinely been seeing 30+ minutes where we don’t have that security with Vonleh.
Low Tier: Jonas Jerebko- The go to for cash games tonight is going to be plugging in Jerebko and Kevon Looney on FanDuel, and then hopping one of them gets you 20 and one of them is your low score drop. With Damian Jones, Alfonzo McKinnie and Draymond Green all out, they both should be locked into 20 minutes minimum against the terrible Hawks frontcourt defense.
Center
Top Tier: Karl-Anthony Towns- KAT is a great leverage play tonight, with everyone focusing on TT and the value options at center. His usage and rebounds continue to rise with no Jimmy Butler, and you’re going to get him under 10% owned which is perfect for GPPs on a seven game slate.
Mid Tier: Tristan Thompson- I cannot believe how much I’ve played TT this season, but we had him in cash games Saturday night and he put up another monster at low ownership. Now he gets the bread and butter matchup against the Nets, and I wish I could play him on FanDuel…I just don’t see it happening. On DK, he is a lock for me, and I love him in tourneys on FanDuel.
Low Tier: Kevon Looney– Like I said with Jerebko, he should see 20+ minutes and you just need one of them to get 20 points or so, lockhim in for cash and then avoid in GPPs.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
