What’s up everyone and welcome to Ben’s Building Blocks! If you’ve never read my content before, welcome. To those that have, welcome back. I truly appreciate everyone that reads and supports during NBA season. This article is designed for me to highlight the top plays of the day. Obviously, things can change rapidly in the NBA with injury news close to lock, so I would be sure to subscribe to our premium package for access to our Final Thoughts cheat sheet, our premium discord channel and my core plays. Our Core Plays product gives you the ability to tail all of our analysts in your contests each night. We do the work for you, and you simply plug and play with our premium Core Plays. With that being said, let’s hop into the plays…
Building Blocks
Kyrie Irving
Despite the Nets being on a back-to-back, I’m siding with Irving as the top spend-up tonight as long as he is active for this game. He started off slow once Durant went out injured, but he’s been absolutely on fire topping 50+ fantasy points in four straight and sporting one of the highest usage rates in the NBA over that span. This is a dream-spot as well, with Detroit ranking bottom-three in defensive rating as a team. They specifically struggle with some of these more ball-dominant guards and I think Irving could push for 60 fantasy points again tonight if the game stays close in the second-half.
Jarrett Allen
Allen should be one of the higher-owned options tonight at his position in a great match-up against the Houston Rockets. Houston is on a back-to-back, while the Cavs should be rested after not playing yesterday. Cleveland will be missing Donovan Mitchell tonight, which has been good news for Allen this season. He gets the biggest usage rate (5%) and PPG spike on the team with Mitchell off the floor, and is averaging around 20 PPG with him out. Houston ranks bottom-five in fantasy points allowed to centers, and they have struggled in terms of FG% allowed in the paint — where Allen does all of his damage. Most will be locking in Garland and Mobley tonight, but Allen is viable in all formats and one of the top plays on the slate.
Value Plays
Zach Collins
Collins is popping in our projections portal as a top-value today — which means it could be a double-C night over on DraftKings and OwnersBox. Despite being the back-up to Jakob Poeltl, Collins has seen increased minutes recently and has logged 24+ minutes in three of his last four games. He’s been over a fantasy point per minute player this season, meaning he can absolutely smash his sub-$4K price-tag if he’s getting mid-20’s minutes. San Antonio being on a B2B could mean even more minutes for Collins tonight and I like him on all sites.
OwnersBox Top Play
If you’ve never checked out OwnersBox Fantasy — CLICK HERE and use Promo Code KARMA for a 100% deposit match up to $500 along with a free $10 DFS contest entry. The great thing about OwnersBox is the super-flex format and it allows for some really unique builds without having to force certain positions into your lineups.
Alex Caruso
I noted yesterday that finding value guys is key on OwnersBox since the roster flexibility allows for a more stars and scrubs approach nightly. Caruso fits that mold tonight, priced at $4,400 against the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets are horrible defensively and play fast, which suits Caruso’s play-style better than a slower paced game. He is someone that likes to stuff the stat sheet and contribute across the board and that comes more easily in quicker-paced games. He’s grading out as one of our top values tonight, and can be used to help jam in an extra stud on a smaller slate.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
