The Locks
Bulls- In typical March NBA fashion, we were awarded the ever sought after Bulls chalk slate when news broke that they will likely be without all three of Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Otto Porter Jr tonight. This gives us a trio of guards to consider in all formats in Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaq Harrison and Antonio Blakeney, as well as Lauri Markkanen. I think that Archie + Harrison will be locks for me on this slate, both should be in line for massive minutes are well above 0.75 FPPM with those players off the court this season. Blakeney comes into play as a GPP punt or a FanDuel low score drop candidate, and while I don’t see Markkanen as a must play due to the next player I am writing up, it’s hard for me to envision him having a bad game, even if the efficiency isn’t there.
Julius Randle- Another mid-day news bomb was that Anthony Davis is now listed as doubtful for tonight’s contest with the Atlanta Hawks. Randle boasts a near 33% usage rate with AD and Jrue Holiday off the floor this season to go along with 1.3 fantasy points per minute. This is one of the top games to target tonight for both matchup and pace, and you can confirm that with the 240+ total in Vegas. The Hawks rank bottom-ten in defensive efficiency to power forward’s this season and with no AD, Randle becomes my top play overall on the slate.
Karl-Anthony Towns- Similarly to Julius Randle, I just don’t see how you can make a roster without Karl-Anthony Towns tonight in cash games. He gets a matchup with the Clippers who rank LAST in defensive efficiency to opposing centers, and he’s putting up almost 1.7 FPPM with the trio of Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose and Bob Covington off the floor this season.
James Harden (FanDuel)- Given the low score drop format on FanDuel, we always can fit in an extra stud and it leaves us going stars and scrubs pretty much nightly on their website. Tonight that decision comes down to James Harden vs Giannis Antetokounmpo as the top two MVP candidates will face-off head-to-head. Ultimately, I’m leaning Harden as he is a few hundred cheaper and he seems more invested in actually winning the MVP award. The Bucks have been playing so fast recently, and while the matchup is not good on the surface, they allow a ton of three point attempts and that’s going to fit perfectly into Harden’s game.
Thomas Bryant (DraftKings)- The other player I will be locking in on DraftKings instead of Harden is our ole pal Thomas Bryant in a #REVENGE game for the narrative crowd against the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s played 35 and 36 minutes since being inserted into the starting lineup and the matchup couldn’t get better for his price against a weak rebounding team…oh, and the spread is only TWO points!
Other Options
PG: Trae Young, Elfrid Payton, Kemba Walker
SG: Luka Doncic, Lou Williams
SF: LeBron James, Danilo Gallinari
PF: Dwight Powell, LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Nikola Jokic, Jahlil Okafor
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
