The Locks
Grizzlies Bigs- Ahhhh, nothing like a good ole Memphis Grizzlies chalk slate to get us back in NBA form! With the Grizz dealing with a healthy dose of injuries tonight, it appears they will be down to just Ivan Rabb, Joakim Noah and Jaren Jackson for the PF/C minutes tonight, and with Jackson listed as questionable there is a chance it falls to just Rabb/Noah. Both are averaging over a fantasy point per minute this season, and both saw well over 25 minutes in this exact situation a few weeks ago after Marc Gasol was traded. They are both locks for me on FanDuel, and will be the first two players in my cash game build tonight.
Russell Westbrook- We have a ton of value present on this sl;ate, which makes spending up for two studs the obvious cash game route once again on FanDuel, and that starts with Westbrook for me. Despite the tough matchup with Utah, the Thunder boast a near 116 implied team total and Westrbook has had success in this matchup in their recent meetings. He’s going for his 12th straight triple-double and I would not be shocked to see him tack on another tonight given his recent form and how the Thunder have been playing.
Secondary Options
Kent Bazemore- If the floor wasn’t so low given that he doesn’t really fit into any Hawks tanking plans, he would be in the lock section, but I still think Bazemore is a fantastic cash game play tonight. The price is perfect for him, as he has still put up over a fantasy point per minute this season and should see steady run tonight with Kevin Huerter out and Jeremy Lin now out of town.
Blake Griffin- Another guy who could find his way into the lock section against the Atlanta Hawks, Griffin becomes a priority tonight for cash games given his matchup and the fact that we have so much value coming from Bazemore and Memphis. I love that he is still $9,200 instead of upper-$9,000 and the Hawks come into tonight bottom-five in defensive efficiency against power forward’s. They also play at the league’s fastest pace and this projects as a ceiling-type atmosphere for Blake tonight should the game stay relatively close.
Luka Doncic- He recently got downgraded to questionable, but if he is active I have a hard time ignoring him for cash games given the amount of value we have available tonight. Doncic has been INSANE since the Dennis Smith Jr trade putting up over a 30% usage rate and a near 40% assist rate. He truly is doing it all for the Mavericks and they are only slated as 5 point underdogs in a 223 O/U at home.
GPP Plays
Spend Up at C- Literally everyone that knows how to play cash games will be focused on Joakim Noah on FanDuel at center tonight, which gives us a massive leverage spot to spend up at center in GPP’s. There are plenty of studs available to spend on at this position tonight, but the one that sticks out to me the most is Karl-Anthony Towns should he be active. He was moved to questionable after a car-wreck this morning, but he draws an elite matchup against the New York Knicks…the second-worst team in the NBA against centers this season. Should he miss, we can look at Nikola Jokic or Andre Drummond both in strong spots as well.
Paul George- With me focusing on Westrbook in cash games, and with them being the same price on FanDuel, it’s no doubt that George is the GPP play here. He is still playing at an MVP-level and the Thunder offense has basically been all him and Westbrook for the majority of the season.
DeMar DeRozan- I have to mention this as he is finally traveling back to Toronto for his first game in his former arena. He shredded the Raptors earlier this season in San Antonio and it’s clear he takes this personal! This would be the GPP-pivot off of Doncic for me.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
