The Locks
Joel Embiid- Today sticks out as another stars and scrubs type build night, and we are going to kick things off with Joel Embiid against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have given it up to big men all season, and this is the game of the night sporting a 231 O/U and just a three point spread. The 76ers are actually off after tonight until Friday, so we should expect Embiid to see his full allotment of minutes in a potential Eastern Conference playoffs preview.
Russell Westbrook- You can already tell what a fun slate this will be considering the first two players I’m locking in are both $11,500+. This game shouldn’t be as close with it taking place in OKC and featuring a nine point spread, but the matchup couldn’t get much better with the Magic ranking outside the top 20 in defensive efficiency against point guards. Westbrook put up a big 23-14-14 triple-double against the Magic three games ago, and that was with Paul George starting off mega-hot and stealing the show for the whole first half. There’s enough value to comfortably fit in two of Westbrook, Embiid and LeBron James tonight.
Jerryd Bayless- Now that we have two studs, we are going to need some value and that starts with Jerryd Bayless again tonight. It looks as if all of Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose and Tyus Jones will miss again tonight, which leaves us with just Bayless and Isaiah Canaan to play point guard for the Timberwolves. Over the stretch of games with two or more guards injured for the Wolves, Bayless has played almost 39 minutes per game and nothing should stop him from reaching 35+ again tonight.
Jaylen Brown- This is probably my favorite overall point per dollar play on this slate, with Kyrie Irving out again for the Celtics tonight. Brown has not seen the same price hike as Terry Rozier, he remains $5,100 on FanDuel, and he sees a 4% usage bump without Irving in the lineup. Given that he comes off the bench, he is pretty blowout proof and I will be locking him into all formats on all sites.
Secondary Plays
Josh Okogie/Daniel Theis- These are more FanDuel specific plasy for me tonight, as Okogie can be your potential low score drop at shooting guard and Theis fits that mold at power forward. Both should see somewhat steady bumps in playing time with some of the injuries on their teams, and they allow you to get in the two stud build we are going for tonight.
Gordon Hayward- This actually is a much better play tonight than I originally thought, and it’s because I under-estimated the absence of Marcus Morris. Hayward has topped 30 minutes in every game Morris has missed this season, so he should easily reach that number with Irving out as well. He hasn’t been good whatsoever, but I’ll take the minutes for the price and he is a string cash game play on both sites tonight.
GPP Plays
Kemba Walker- There are some elite point guard options tonight in Westbrook, Lillard, Simmons and Walker, but if choosing one for GPPs I’m going to go with Kemba at home against the Clippers. He’s the cheapest option, he’s at home where he thrives, and he has an extremely good matchup against a fast-paced Clippers team. This is my second-favorite game on the slate, and a game-stack in tournaments makes a ton of sense.
Reggie Jackson (FanDuel)- On DraftKings, Jackson sticks out as a strong cash game play to me against the Knicks, but on FanDuel he is priced all the way up to $7,000. Nobody is going to touch him in that price range, and outside of a blowout against the Nuggets in their last game, he has topped 35 minutes in four straight games with 39+ FD points in three of the four. This matchup against the Knicks couldn’t get any better, and I love some Reggie tonight even if it does scare me.
Myles Turner- This is my GPP center, as Turner is still too cheap and in an elite matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is questionable to play, so if he was out Domantas Sabonis would become a LOCK at PF, but it’s just a bruise, so I anticipate him playing. He dropped in 40 FD points last night against the Pelicans, and with how bad the Lakers are at rebounding I’m calling out a 15-15 double-double for Turner tonight.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
