Welcome to our NBA DFS Building Blocks article! Each day, we will dissect injury news and breakdown our favorite plays at each position. We also provide Core Plays nightly for our subscribers, as well as projections and a premium discord channel. You can sign up for access to today’s Core Plays and projections by clicking HERE — and can get access to a single day pass for just $5 HERE. Now, let’s get into today’s slate…
INJURIES
As I noted yesterday, this section will become increasingly more important as we wind down throughout the season. Luckily, most of the big news has already dropped for tonight’s small slate. Giannis and Khris Middleton are out for the Bucks, DeMar DeRozan is out for the Bulls and the Grizzlies just ruled out all of Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clarke and Killian Tillie. In addition to that, Kyle Kuzma is out for the Wizards and both OG Anunoby and Gary Trent are doubtful for the Raptors. We also have Larry Nance returning for the Pelicans, who would be a strong play if he’s confirmed starting.
GUARDS
Given how small this slate is with what should be condensed ownership after the injury news — I’m simply going to highlight my favorite player at each section. It’s a lock that most people are going to be forcing in Jrue Holiday here with the Bucks stars sitting out. Holiday is a great play, but there’s no way I can fade Darius Garland right now. His 30% usage rate over the last 8 games is up from his season average, and he’s on an absolute tear offensively. He’s topped 40+ DraftKings points in eight straight games, and is regularly playing 40 minutes as well. This is a crucial game for the Cavs to win in terms of locking up the six seed in the east, so I expect full minutes for the Cavs starters tonight. Garland is my top overall play on tonight’s slate.
FORWARDS
A lot of attention at Forward is going to be placed on the Wizards — mainly Kristaps Porzingis and Rui Hachimura. Hachimura has been around 0.9 fantasy points per minute this season, and is coming off a game in which he played 30 minutes. He’s one of the better value plays on the slate tonight. Porzingis is actually a better play than my favorite center (see below) and he has been great with Kuzma off the floor. He’s been close to 1.6 fantasy points per minute this season with Kuzma out, and he finally hit that 30 minute threshold in his last game. He’s only projecting for around 16% ownership right now , which could make him a top play come lock. If you play on playing nay Bucks guys, getting Washington exposure will be key in your builds.
CENTER
We are going to have enough value for Nikola Jokic at C tonight, but we also have Nikola Vucevic who gets a boost without DeMar DeRozan. Vooch is averaging over 1.3 fantasy points per minute this season with DeRo off the floor, as well as posting a 30% usage rate. I think a lot of people will be looking at the Bucks mid-tier plays here, but I’m going to lock in Vooch as my top-play given those rates. We also have the potential for Precious Achiuwa to get steamed depending on the Raptors news.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
