From Yesterday’s Article: “Writing up Gortat is going to give me an Ulcer but here we go. “
Ulcer confirmed gentlemen and gentleladies. It really is a pain in the ass when you are spot on about almost every pick but one, and end up having a losing night because of it. Brogdon also killed me, but I wasn’t as heavy on him as I was Gortat. Nurkic got injured and didn’t come back in the 4th. Wall with foul trouble bested Lillard. Wall can survive bad games through other stats. Lillard needs to score. We will load up on Lillard tomorrow. For now, let’s focus on tonight.
It’s the Lebron Show tonight. My lineups will be spread between Lebron and Balanced lineups. My only Westbrook exposure will be for ownership purposes. When you MME, you should always have 1 Westbrook lineup just in case, especially when he is going to be low owned due to Lebrunski Fanbois. Harden needed to score 44 to get to 60+ last time out. I don’t see Jimmy allowing him to do that tonight. However, apply the same concept as Westbrook. He can go off and is match-up proof and will be lower owned due to…Lebrunski Fanbois.
Point Guards:
Russell Westbrook (12100/10800): As I stated above – I will have 1 RWB lineup tonight. He will be lower owned and he is always capable of going Roman on us and having a FEAST. For the most part, he tends to go undervalue against Utah so we’ll avoid him except for that 1 magical contrarian lineup.
Jeff Teague (7300/6600): I don’t know what it is but for whatever reason when Teague plays Houston he does extremely well. Maybe he just hates CP3. He did well against the Clippers too when Paul was there. So yeah, Maybe he does hate him…With that said, Play Teague tonight. Dropped 38 on them in 28 minutes last time out. Enjoy.
Ricky Rubio (7200/6300): Rubio has had a fantastic year and it is carrying into the playoffs. He did hit 40 last time out but a lot of that was from his steals and blocks. I still like him here though. I don’t mind pairing up Teague and Rubio together in lineups.
Darren Collison (5600/5000): I won’t be deterred from Collison’s last outing. He got to 25 against the Cavs but he usually destroys them. His shot really wasn’t falling and he had some steals that weren’t credited to him. He really should have been at 30+. However, he wasn’t really needed because there was an Oladipo Takeover. I will go right back to the well here tonight.
Derrick Rose (3600 on both): If you want a low owned value type play tonight look no further than here. He will only play around 15-20 minutes. However, when he comes in he looks to score, and score quickly. He took 14 shots last game so that is encouraging. If he gets hot from the field, Thibs will give him an extended run. If his shot doesn’t fall, he won’t. That is the risk. He won’t be a staple in my main lineups but I will definitely have some exposure here for the tournament winning upside he gives at 3600. If you run one lineup and play Rose though you have some big balls.
Honorable Mentions: George Hill – He will probably be high owned again and doesn’t do much on the court but he is only 4k. I am also not touching Chris Paul. He has done nothing against Minnesota all year.
Shooting Guards:
Victor Oladipo (9800/9000): Holy Dipo! He balled out last game. Dude plays with a chip on his shoulder for sure. I love how he acts too after he balls out. He’s got that attitude like “don’t be surprised bro.” His game fully relies on steals to get him above the hump. His price always is an issue for me but if you can afford him, don’t overthink it. If the Cavs don’t slow Dipo down tonight, they won’t see the 2nd round. Look for Cleveland to contest some of those transition threes and open looks Dipo put up last game to slow him down a bit. He can very well get to 50+ again, but it’ll be much harder.
Donovan Mitchell (8100/7800): Mitchell is my favorite SG tonight. I’m not too worried about his sore foot. He looked fine after the injury happened. Maybe it didn’t bother him with the adrenaline flowing. He might start off slow tonight, but he is very capable of hitting 50+ again tonight. Utah absolutely needs him to win and they lean heavily on him. The players already vouche that it his team to build his confidence. Remember, I said he might start off slow so wait to tilt on him, ok?
James Harden (12200/11200): I believe highly you can get away with running Dipo and Mitchell tonight and ignore Harden. Jimmy Butler is going to make it a priority to stop Harden at all costs. I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes offensive plays off just to focus all of his energy on Defense. He really prides himself on being a shutdown defender rather than a scorer. I will have some exposure here but not enough to warrant him as one of my main plays.
Jamal Crawford (3600/3800): There really isn’t much left after those top 3. I like Crawford here as a punt value type option. What I mean by punt value is that he could very well get you 10 but also could get you 25. So know that going into it if you do deploy him into your lineups. Sometimes I think people expect 4k guys to do well. Temper Expectations. There really never is much value in the playoffs like there is in the regular season. He will see 25 minutes and if he gets hot you should enjoy 20-30 points from him.
Honorable Mentions: Rodney Hood and Jr Smith. One of these two dopes needs to step up for the Cavs. They both carry tons of risk.
Small Forwards:
Lebron James (12100/11500): The Cavs were exposed last time out and it finally dawned on people that this team isn’t that good. However, it still has Lebron James. Listen, the Cavs rely heavily on ISO offense and open threes created by Lebron penetration. Guess what the Pacers rank at the top of the league at? Defending ISO defense and contesting 3 point shots. There is merit to fading him here as he will be the highest owned stud on the slate. If you fade him I think you stack some pieces around him like Love or Nance. Lebron isn’t going to just lie down tonight. He is going to ball out and might play 40+ minutes again. I will have a hard time fading him tonight because I know what he is capable of even against teams like the Pacers who are designed to slow him down. If this game stays close, which I think it does, he should easily eclipse 60.
Paul George (8000/8300): If you are fading LBJ, you better have Playoff P in your lineup. Hell, you should have him regardless. He dropped 36 real points and ended with only 43 Fanduel points. He was EN FUEGO. Imagine if he added some steals and blocks? He normally gets a bunch of steals too. I love him here as my favorite SF.
Jimmy Butler (8700/8000): I’m not sure how much his wrist injury is affecting his shot as he only scored 13 real points last time out. I won’t have much Jimmy exposure tonight as I believe he will focus strongly on the defensive side of the ball. This doesn’t mean he can’t find his way to getting 40 or so without scoring. I just don’t like his upside. I think he defers a lot of the scoring to other players, such as Towns or Wiggins.
Bojan Bogdanovic (5000/5100): I love Bojan here as a mid-tier value option. 30+ minutes and he is looking to score. If he adds steals like he did last time he will get to 30+ again. I prefer him over Lance Stephenson.
Lance Stephenson (4500/4300): Playoff Lance people were saying. The guy is a clown and that’s all. They put him on the court to try and disrupt other players. Stephenson does some really stupid shit at times that will get him pulled. He only played 17 mins last game and wasn’t really needed. I do believe though he will have 1 or 2 blowup games in this series. There just is no way of knowing when it will happen. He is definitely affordable and could crush value. I am not considering him a must-play but he is in consideration.
Honorable Mentions: Cory Brewer – He is a safer play than Stephenson with lower upside. Gerald Green – Low owned option that could see extra run if he gets hot or the game blows out.
Power Forwards:
Kevin Love (8100/7700): Kevin Love WILL be more involved tonight. No doubt in my mind. If his shots fall, he will easily get to 40+. Short and Sweet, I love him here. Playing him a lot.
Carmelo Anthony (5600/5400): Look at that, Playoff Melo came through. I told ya’ll that he will add blocks and steals. He is capable of doing that, he just was lazy in the regular season. He put up 3 steals and 2 blocks and crushed value last time. I love him here again regardless of how chalky he might be tonight. Carmello and Chalk together? Sounds weird right.
Larry Nance (4300/4800): Cavs really need to unleash Nance and let him play 30 minutes. Jeff Green has shown to be an extreme non-factor. I have no idea why Lue refuses to play Nance heavy minutes. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes or if Nance has a low Basketball IQ and can’t grasp the offense. He has looked confused in offensive sets at times. Not really sure what there is to Grasp. Lebron has the ball and you go set some picks. Go find an open spot on the court for him to get you the ball. Seems pretty damn easy Larry. With all that said, he will be a chalky value option tonight for his price.
Jae Crowder (4500/4400): Jae “Clam” Chowder is another value type option for you tonight. Whenever I watch Crowder and he touches the ball. I think to myself..”this could be his last shot he better make it!” He doesn’t have much usage but can give you 20-25. As this series goes on, I see Crowder slowly taking minutes away from Favors. There will be a big Crowder game in our future, but I don’t think it’s tonight. Tonight he will get you around 20-25. If you are comfortable with that, sign yourself up. He is a direct pivot off a chalkier Nance who we have seen to destroy lineups.
Honorable Mentions: Jeff Green – He will have the first crack for Cleveland. However, his leash is extremely short tonight. He has the first 5 minutes to prove he isn’t a liability before he gets pulled for Nance.
Centers:
Clint Capela (8200/7200): He won’t see much resistance against Towns. As long as Capela stays out of foul trouble he should have no problem feasting. Top center on the board for me.
Towns (10000/8900): I really don’t want to pay for Towns on FD, but I really don’t mind him on DK. He has tremendous upside in this matchup. He has shown it before with multiple 60+ games against Houston. People will want to pay for other studs and forget Towns tonight. He has GPP winning upside tonight.
Myles Turner (5500/5700): Everyone and I mean everyone is going to go here for value at center tonight. I don’t blame them either. I will be going here as well. He is basically a guaranteed 5x for you tonight.
I only like 3 centers tonight. I am avoiding the Adams vs Gobert matchup. There is no one playable under Turner. That means NO Tristan Thompson.