Hello DFS Army! My name is Michael, otherwise known as DFS Madness on Twitter (@MadnessDFS), I am one of the new writers/contributors that the Army has brought on to join the team! I’ll be writing a Core 4 article a few times per week and then full slate breakdowns on the weekends. A quick little background about me, I am an Economics student at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (yeah it’s cold here) with graduation coming this May. I’ve been playing DFS for about 4-5 years now and providing content for about 2-3 of those years.

Yesterday’s Core Results:

• Dennis Smith Jr – 48.5 DKP; 8.4x – If Smith is going to keep playing 35+ minutes and taking 15+ shots per game, we’re just going to keep locking him in until he’s $7500, stay tuned.
• Lauri Markkanen – 59.5 DKP; 8.5x – Markkanen played a lot of the 5 in this game and was able to rack up the rebounds and even some blocks. We might see much more of him at the 5 with Portis out of town, but again big men against the Nets…..
• Dwyane Wade – 26 DKP; 5.2x – Wade went down with a scary fall in the first quarter and had to spend a good chunk of the first half in the locker room. However, when he returned he was lights out.
• Karl-Anthony Towns – 52.5 DKP; 5.3x – There must have been a stat correction here, last time I looked he had around 57. That’s not a huge deal he had a solid game, as long as Rose and Teague are banged up I’ll keep going back to Towns at this price.

I hope you took advantage for Freebie Friday! Back at it with a nice 8 game slate tonight!

NBA DFS Game Break:

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Indiana Pacers:

Vegas Total: 210.5

Vegas Spread: Ind -13

If we take a look at CeeGee’s “1st Look” article, we see that the Cavaliers are the worst team in the league in team defensive efficiency, so we will want to find something to attack them with. However, we will start with the road team in the Cleveland Cavaliers. Colin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson are going to start to get a ton of minutes with Hood and Burks out of town and Cedi Osman still hurt. This isn’t as good of a matchup as it was yesterday, but Clarkson and Sexton are still too cheap for guys that are going to be playing 35+ and 30+ minutes respectively. People were all over Kevin Love yesterday, especially on Fanduel, and I really did not understand it. This guy has been out for months and is going to be heavily eased back into the rotation, I have no interest in him here. Larry Nance has recently made his return to the rotation and has actually be playing fairly well scoring at least 30 draftkings points in four straight games including a 50 point game yesterday, I’m liking him in this spot. From the Pacers, I mentioned that we should look to attack this Cavs defense, but to be honesty there isn’t a lot here. The only guy I have some interest in is Myles Turner, who has scored 30+ draftkings points in six straight games. He has been getting a ton of blocks lately and filling up the stat sheet, he’s got huge upside at his current price tag.

Charlotte Hornets @ Atlanta Hawks:

Vegas Total: 228.5

Vegas Spread: Cha -3

I never really play a ton of Charlotte players, but Kemba Walker is on another one of his heaters and draws an incredible matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. He has scored at least 58 draftkings points in his last three games and the Research Station tells us that the Hawks rank dead last against opposing point guards.With Cody Zeller back, the Hornets have gone back to using the Pick and Roll much more often which is causing for Kemba’s assists rates to sky rocket. I’ll have no issue if you want to play Kemba in this spot. Other than Kemba I don’t have much interest in anyone else from the Hornets. From the Hawks, they all seem appropriately priced. Trae Young and John Collins are fine plays as last guys into your lineups, but certainly not core plays.

Toronto Raptors @ New York Knicks:

Vegas Total: 217

Vegas Spread: Tor -11

Nick Nurse has came out and said that he hopes Marc Gasol is available for this game, so keep an eye out for that news. The news to me really doesn’t make a difference on this slate, I probably won’t have much if any Raptors. We will have to take a wait and see approach to see how Gasol impacts usage rates and all that good stuff. Kawhi and Lowry are both in good spots but priced appropriately in a potential blowout. From the Knicks,  I mentioned it in the Core 4 review from last night, but Dennis Smith is still under $6k. I’m going to keep playing him until he’s around $7500 or stops playing the massive minutes that he’s been getting. DeAndre Jordan is also a little underpriced, but draws a tough matchup if Gasol does indeed play, if Gasol sits I like Jordan quite a bit here.

Washington Wizards @ Chicago Bulls:

Vegas Total: 226

Vegas Spread: Was -2.5

This is a battle of two fairly bad teams, but let me tell you this game is going to be a fun one. Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker make a quick return to Chicago and look to get revenge on the Bulls. I will have a ton of interest in Bobby Portis in this spot, he is clearly upset that the Bulls traded him and even Zach LaVine said Portis will look to stick it to the Bulls. He is priced at only $5,400 and put up 43.5 draftkings points in his team debut last night. Not only will Portis look to score, but he shouldn’t have any issue in doing so, the Bulls rank dead last in defensive efficiency against opposing centers. Portis may be a core play for me tonight, we shall see. Jabari Parker also scored over 40 fantasy points last night, I have some interest in him but not as much as Portis. Parker feels like more of a gpp play for me tonight. Bradley Beal is also in a good spot, but at $9,000 I don’t know how much upside he has at that price tag. From the Bulls, Otto Porter will also be looking for revenge on his former team, he played 34 minutes in his first game with the Bulls last night. I like Porter here at only $5,600. Finally, Lauri Markkanen is in another great spot tonight after putting up nearly 60 fantasy points last night. He played a good amount of the 5 last night and the Wizards really struggle with big men. His price went up, but not enough, at $7,500 Markkanen is firmly in play once again.

New Orleans Pelicans @ Memphis Grizzlies:

Vegas Total: 213

Vegas Spread: Mem -3.5

The big story here is Anthony Davis who only played 25 minutes and didn’t see the court in the 4th quarter of last nights game. I expect he sits this game out as the team has said he will likely sit for one game on all back to backs. If that is the case Julius Randle sees a 31.7% usage rate with AD of the court and averages around 1.46 fantasy points per minute. Jrue Holiday would also become a strong play if AD sits, as he sees a 28.7% usage rate and averages 1.35 fantasy points per minute. Finally, Kenrich Williams played 37 minutes last night and most of the 4th quarter with AD sidelined. Kenrich is in play tonight should AD end up sitting. From the Grizzlies, there isn’t a whole lot that I like until we see how their rotations will play out after the trade they made. Mike Conley is a fine play, but there are better options on tonights slate.

Los Angeles Clippers @ Boston Celtics:

Vegas Total: 229

Vegas Spread: Bos -11.5

With Tobias Harris, Marcin Gortat and Boban out of town there will be some rotation adjustments and usage jumps. Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams figure to see jumps in usage as they are the primary scorers on this team. Of the two I much prefer Gallinari here who is extremely underpriced at $5,900. As I mentioned, Gortat and Boban are out of town so Ivica Zubac should draw the start and get plenty of minutes in this one. At just $3,500 he makes for a great play tonight against an undersized front court of the Boston Celtics. From Boston, I’ve said it a lot today but they’re all priced right. Kyrie is a fine play and draws an uptempo matchup, but I would leave him for gpps.

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Houston Rockets:

Vegas Total: 237

Vegas Spread: Hou -2

This game draws the highest projected total on the slate so we will look to get some exposure to this one. Starting with the Thunder, my favorite plays here are Paul George and Steven Adams. George continues to play at an MVP type level and has scored at least 50 draftkings points in 8 out of his last 10 games. As for Steven Adams, same with the Brooklyn Nets, I’ve been targeting Centers against the Rockets ever since Clint Capela went down and it continues to work. He’s a strong play at just $6,100. CeeGee’s “1st Look” article shows this to be an extreme pace up spot for the Rockets, and Eric Gordon stands out as a nice play at under $5k, he scored 33.5 draftkings points in there only matchup this season so I like him as a nice value. I don’t think you need James Harden tonight, but I certainly won’t talk you off of him at $12,300. Finally, I’ve loved Kenneth Faried this season, but I tend to stay away from bigs going against Steven Adams as he his one of the best defensive bigs in the game.

Orlando Magic @ Milwaukee Bucks:

Vegas Total: N/A

Vegas Spread: N/A

As of now there isn’t a total or spread on this game because Giannis has been ruled out for tonight’s game which I’ll touch on shortly. Starting with the Magic, I always have interest in Nikola Vucevic whenever he is under $9k as he is tonight at $8,800. He has struggled in this matchup averaging just 38.4 fantasy points in two meetings this season but that could change tonight with the Bucks not having Giannis in the paint on defense. Terrance Ross has scored at least 40 draftkings points in three of his last four games and the Bucks tend to struggle defending the 3-point line, I like him as well as Evan Fournier tonight. From the Bucks, with Giannis off the court Eric Bledsoe sees a usage rate of 29.3% and 1.57 fantasy points per minute, he becomes a strong play. As does Khris Middleton who sees a usage rate of 33.7% and 1.37 fantasy points per minute. Ersan Ilyasova also becomes a strong source of value at just $3,200 he should draw the start and play around 25 minutes in a plus matchup.

As always I appreciate everyone who gave the core or game break a read! Feel free to mix it up with me in our coaching forums as news breaks and lock approaches. If you don’t know about them, our two newest pages contain Breaking News and our exclusive Coaches’ Picks……both invaluable for late breaking news and pivots in NBA. Let’s make some money tonight!

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