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POINT GUARDS:
* ALL FORMATS *
Chris Paul (HOU @ CLE)
Matched up with Isaiah Thomas… No Eric Gordon. I like this very much.
Elfrid Payton (ORL vs WSH)
At least 46 DKP/45 FDP in three of his last four meetings with WSH… now he gets an even better matchup with Wall on the shelf. Elf should have more opportunities to score with Aaron Gordon out of the lineup. I had a Wall, Elf and Shelf in that blurb.
Jamal Murray (DEN vs GS)
GS: 3rd-best aDvP matchup for PGs this season – We can downgrade the Warriors defense a little bit playing on the back-end of a B2B in high-altitude Denver. Murray has looked strong over the last few games and the pace/need to score should be ratcheted up a lot tonight as well.
De’Aaron Fox (SAC vs DAL)
DAL: 2nd-best aDvP matchup for PGs this season – Sure, the Kings are on the back-end of a B2B, but they didn’t have to go on the road for this one. Fox has been so much more consistent since getting regular playing time, and he could also benefit even more from added minutes depending on who rests for the Kings tonight.
Dejounte Murray (SA vs UTA)
We can attack a Jazz team playing their second game in as many nights, also losing an hour via time zone travel in the process. Murray has been fairly solid over the last few games, with his only blemish coming against Chris Paul and the Rockets on Thursday.
* GPP *
Stephen Curry (GS @ DEN)
DEN: 6th-best aDvP matchup for PGs on tonight’s slate (10th-best this season).
Jeff Teague (MIN vs NO)
NO: 4th-best aDvP matchup for PGs this season.
SHOOTING GUARDS:
* ALL FORMATS *
James Harden (HOU @ CLE)
No questions asked… Harden is going to tear up the Cavs. Make sure you have some.
Brad Beal (WSH @ ORL)
ORL: 5th-best aDvP matchup for SGs this season – Another matchup where the defense doesn’t exist. With exception of a blowout in ATL last week, Beal’s numbers have been through the roof over the last four games.
Gary Harris / Will Barton (DEN vs GS)
The Warriors come to Denver on the back-end of a B2B, which is a very hard scenario. Don’t expect the Nuggets to cry for them… they will welcome the homecourt advantage. Both Harris and Barton are going to play big minutes and they have been so consistent as well.
* GPP *
Jrue Holiday (NO @ MIN)
MIN: 6th-best aDvP matchup for SGs this season – B2B game for Holiday, which kinda sucks, but I do like this matchup.
JJ Redick (PHI @ IND)
Not thrilled about using him on a B2B (in what would be his third game back from injury), but he’s so cheap and could get hot from behind the arc.
SMALL FORWARDS:
* ALL FORMATS *
LeBron James (CLE vs HOU)
One of the best players in the NBA gets a significant boost in pace tonight = very nice (Borat voice). There are some solid value options at small forward on this slate, but damnit, LeBron could very well have the most raw points when the night is done.
Jimmy Butler (MIN vs NO)
The Pelicans are on the back-end of a B2B, which already suck on defense as it is, and they really don’t have anyone to stick Butler one-on-one.
Jason Richardson (MIA @ DET)
When Hassan Whiteside is out of the lineup, J-Rich turns into a much more productive player. I don’t consider him a must-play since he’s in a back-end B2B game with a tempo that isn’t expected to break any records for speed. You can definitely expect somewhere around 5x value from him.
Gerald Green (HOU @ CLE)
The Rockets are without Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza once again so that will open plenty of minutes for Green. He has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last two games and produced sparingly. Even though Green hasn’t shown it in a while, he does have GPP-winning upside at a significant value.
Mario Hezonja / Jonathan Simmons (ORL vs WSH)
Aaron Gordon is out once again so both Hezonja and Simmons will soak up unused minutes and usage. These guys will go against Wizards players like Otto Porter, Kelly Oubre and Markieff Morris so it’s not a matchup that you have to attack by any means… However, the volume of minutes and every other metric is there so I like that and how cheap they are.
POWER FORWARDS:
* ALL FORMATS *
Dario Saric (PHI @ IND)
Joel Embiid will play a rare back-end B2B game so it is possible for him to struggle. If that happens, Saric could have a massive night on the scoresheet. Even if Embiid is his usual self, Saric’s matchup against Thad Young is a favorable one which should easily get him to value.
Markieff Morris (WSH @ ORL)
He’s starting to get very expensive, but that’s what happens when you start producing more. With John Wall out of the lineup, Morris is scoring the basketball more… thus giving him more fantasy points. Amazing how that works!
* GPP *
Anthony Davis (NO @ MIN)
Always have to be worried about AD on the back-end of B2Bs, but this is a solid matchup and he does have the motivation to do well against fellow youngin stud KAT.
Luc Mbah a Moute (HOU vs CLE)
He should be matched up on LeBron James for most of the night, so the risk of him focusing only on defense is there. He should be playing about 30 minutes at $4300 on both sites and could definitely fall into some points… it’s not like the Cavs are all that great on defense.
Dwight Powell (DAL @ SAC)
Powell started @PHX on Wednesday so I’m interested to see if that happens once again. He played 28 minutes in that game and did just enough at near-min price to not totally kill you. If he gets that situation again I feel like he can make the most of it.
Gorgui Dieng (MIN vs NO)
Things will be a little more different without DeMarcus Cousins in the Pelicans lineup, but it’s hard to overlook The Dong’s history against them.
CENTERS:
* ALL FORMATS *
Bam Adebayo (MIA @ DET)
Hassan Whiteside is inactive for tonight’s game, so this sets up about 30 minutes for Adebayo to do his thing near min-price. On the graphic below (time Whiteside missed from November-December), I am more focused on the last stretch of games where he posted great numbers at his current price ($3800 DK/FD) is now. Even more so, Adebayo has played well recently with Whiteside in the lineup… last night he posted a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) which led to 41.75 DKP/39.6 FDP.
* GPP *
Andre Drummond (DET vs MIA)
There’s good value at the position, but Drummond could put a serious hurting on the backup Adebayo.
Bismack Biyombo / Marreese Speights (ORL vs WSH)
– Biyombo: Smashed WSH a few weeks ago for 50 fantasy points.
– Speights: Crushed value in each of the last two games without Aaron Gordon.
