Damian Lillard should slip through the cracks tonight thanks to his ankle

Following up a big 11-game slate on Monday, we are provided with only a mini three-game slate of NBA action on Tuesday night. Very small slates like we have Tuesday require a different mindset when allocating your bankroll and constructing your lineups. Typically, I will decrease my play in Cash games and throw a little extra in some GPPs.

So, for Tuesday’s FanDuel Lineup Advice, I will focus on providing a sample GPP lineup. The main decision on Tuesday’s slate is should play or fade the only high-priced stud on the slate, James Harden. In cash lineups, he is a must start but in GPPs pivoting away from Harden forces lineup construction down the road less traveled which is perfect for a short slate GPP lineup. So, Tuesday night in GPPs, fade James Harden, as difficult as that may be, resist the urge!

You will notice that I reference some of my own custom stats in my NBA DFS articles that I use to help determine my favorite plays. I don’t use the common Defense versus Position (DvP) numbers that most use. Instead, I calculate blended percentages for each stat category (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) that take into account team stats for the season and last five games, as well as a weighted average between similar positions. For example, my shooting guard DvP numbers are a blended between point guard (10%), shooting guard (70%) and small forward (20%) stats for each category.

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Point Guard

Kemba Walker (CHA): $8,900 vs BKN
With Yogi Ferrell priced at $6,100 and recently posting a huge game against his opponent again tonight, the Blazers, look for his ownership percentage to be sky high as long as Deron Williams sits out again. This represents a great time to pivot away from Ferrell in hopes that the Park Ranger will catch Yogi stealing all the picnic baskets, opening the door to roster both Walker and Damian Lillard. Walker’s production has been hit-or-miss recently but with a return to the New York area where he grew up could spark another big night like he had in New York against the Knicks posting 51.5 FanDuel points.

Damian Lillard (POR): $8,600 @ DAL
Lillard tweaked his ankle in the Trail Blazers previous game which has him with a probable tag for Tuesday’s matchup with the Mavericks. The nice little “GTD – Ankle” denotation on FanDuel will surely drive down his ownership percentage some making him a perfect GPP option at the position. At a position that doesn’t offer many quality value options on a short slate, Lillard provides a solid floor of about mid-30 FanDuel points with the upside to reach 50.

Others Options:

• Yogi Ferrell (DAL): $6,100 vs POR
• Patrick Beverley (HOU): $5,600 vs ORL

Shooting Guard

Nicolas Batum (CHA): $7,400 vs BKN
Part of the reason fading Harden is possible is due to the other quality options at the position. Batum leads the way as the top option with a very favorable matchup against the Nets who have allowed more points (+5.7%), rebounds (+18.3%), assists (+4.3%) and steals (+21.1%) to opposing SG. Batum has also had success against the Nets this season averaging 37.7 FanDuel points over three games.

Sean Kilpatrick (BKN): $4,000 @ CHA
Kilpatrick has seen his minutes and fantasy production rise over the last two games scoring 18 points with five rebounds in each game. He should see plenty of minutes again on Tuesday with Caris LeVert already ruled out. He has a favorable matchup against the Hornets who have allowed increased production in points, rebounds and assists to opposing SG, while Kilpatrick has averaged 30.7 FanDuel points in three matchups against the Hornets this season.

Other Options:

• James Harden (HOU): $12,700 vs ORL
• CJ McCollum (POR): $8,200 @ DAL

Small Forward

Harrison Barnes (DAL): $6,900 vs POR
Going with Barnes is a little bit of a gut call that Dirk Nowitzki either sits out due to rest or plays limited minutes in the second game of a back-to-back for the Mavericks. When Nowitzki sits, Barnes leads the team in usage at 30.3%. He is also a nice pivot away from Ferrell in the Dallas offense.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (CHA): $5,200 vs BKN
You may have noticed an awful lot of players from the Nets/Hornets game in my lineup already. Another technic to deploy in short slate is to pick a game that you expect to be close and high scoring and stack up a bunch of players from that game. The Nets/Hornets is my “stackable” game for Tuesday night even with the Vegas line at 11 points these two teams have played three times this season with the largest margin of victory being seven points. Kidd-Gilchrist gets me more exposure to the game at a very weak position for the slate. He typically gets around 30 minutes and has the potential for a big game against the weak Nets defense like he did the last time he faced them putting up 37.3 FanDuel points.

Other Options:

• Aaron Gordon (ORL): $4,600 @ HOU
• Bojan Bogdanovic (BKN): $4,200 @ CHA

Power Forward

Serge Ibaka (ORL): $5,900 @ HOU
Prior to his last game, Ibaka was on a bit of a “Serge” with three straight games with at least 36 FanDuel points. I am willing to write off his last game as a tough matchup against the Hawks and expect him to bounce back against the Rockets in an up-tempo matchup for the Magic. Ibaka should be able to take advantage of the Rockets who have allowed an increase in points (+9.2%) to opposing PF.

Marvin Williams (CHA): $5,400 vs BKN
Williams has played over 30 minutes in six straight games while averaging over 25 FanDuel points since Cody Zeller went down with an injury. Zeller is currently listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Nets. If he sits out again then look for Williams to continue to see big minutes and perform well against the (say it with me) weak Nets defense.

Other Options:

• Ryan Anderson (HOU): $5,400 vs ORL
• Frank Kaminsky (CHA): $4,500 vs BKN

Center

Brook Lopez (BKN): $7,600 @ CHA
Looking to get some more exposure to the Nets’ side of the matchup Tuesday and there is no better option than their leading scorer, Brook Lopez. I expect Lopez to be lower owned then both of the big men in the Magic (Vucevic) and Rockets (Capela) matchup making him a nice pivot. Lopez has a solid floor with some upside as he showed when he posted 38 FanDuel points in his last meeting with the Hornets. The Nets do play again Wednesday night so be sure Lopez or any of the other Nets aren’t ruled out for rest.

Other Options:

• Nikola Vucevic (ORL): $6,900 @ HOU
• Clint Capela (HOU): $5,100 vs ORL

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Brad Richter is a correspondent at FantasyPros and a contributor at DailyOverlay and GoingFor2. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot.