There are just nine games to work with tonight, but there are stars galore and mostly all in terrific matchups. The slate has enough value at the bottom that we can afford to squeeze four of those stars into our lineup. Let me show you how I made it fit.
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Point Guard
John Wall (WAS @ BKN): $9,500
It has been a gimme all season to start any point guard, let alone one as talented as Wall, against this Nets team. They are far and away the worst in the league at defending the position. Wall has not been on his best game since returning from injury 9 days ago, but this should be a major bounce-back game.
D.J. Augustin (ORL vs NO): $4,100
You may want to use Russell Westbrook here and load up at the point guard position, but this matchup is much more geared toward a big game for his opponent, so we will be dropping down to Augustin here. Shelvin Mack is technically the starter, but it is Augustin who has been seeing 25+ minutes consistently over the last two weeks, and we can expect that continue in a solid matchup against DVP #23 New Orleans tonight.
Shooting Guard
C.J. McCollum (POR vs DEN): $6,900
Damian Lillard is out this evening so you know what to do. McCollum hasn’t been as explosive this season as we grew used to seeing, but at this price, he has a legitimate shot at 7x value this evening. He has been right around the 30 point mark for most of the last month, but with a significant usage rate increase, that should leap at least 10 points, and perhaps even more considering the matchup is so great.
Lou Williams (LAC @ HOU): $6,800
With Chris Paul gone and Blake Griffin now out, Williams can essentially be expected to perform like a star tonight. He has at least 40 FanDuel points now in 6 of his last 13 games and has a chance to reach 50 tonight in a game against Houston with a 221 over/under. They are also a bottom quadrant defense against shooting guards so far this season. So while you may be tempted to use James Harden, consider that the two best values of the night are both at shooting guard so it makes sense to fade him, especially considering his minutes may be cut in a likely blowout.
Small Forward
Paul George (OKC vs ATL): $8,400
I eluded to this one earlier in that Atlanta has been downright terrible at defending small forwards this season. George’s usage rate is down for obvious reasons this year, but the 42 points he needs to hit value is well within reach this evening and his upside is 7x value.
PJ Tucker (HOU vs LAC): $4,600
This will likely end up being the chalk play of the night as Tucker has been getting it done each of the past three games while averaging 35 minutes. Those type of minutes are not a guarantee tonight, but with a blowout a near certainty, he should see more than enough opportunity to hit value in this 121 over/under game.
Power Forward
Anthony Davis (NO @ ORL): $11,300
You can make a case for starting Davis any night, but when he gets a matchup like Orlando, who has struggled against bigs all year, you’ve almost got to begin your lineup with The Brow and build around him. We need 56.5 FanDuel points for him to hit value tonight, and seeing that he has averaged 54.7 over his last four games, it seems like a safe bet considering the matchup. If you add in 7x upside and you’ve got to be licking your chops.
Marvin Williams (CHA @ MIL): $3,800
Williams will see high ownership tonight because he is all set to see near 30 minutes against the Bucks this evening. He doesn’t always hit the 19 FanDuel points we need to reach value, but his floor is high enough to off-set the risk-rate for this price, plus we have seen him snag 8x and even 9x value at times this season.
Center
Marcin Gortat (WAS @ BKN): $4,500
There is much to love tonight at the center position with DeMarcus Cousins, Nikola Jokic, Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan all having cake matchups, but Gortat may have the best matchup of them all. He is also coming off an 8x game and has hit the 22.5 value-mark in 7 out of his past 9 games so he seems like a lock to do it against Brooklyn this evening.