Big Wednesday is here with an eight-game slate and there are plenty of good games to target as we close out January. The Cavaliers, Magic, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Knicks both played last night, with tonight also being Cleveland’s third game in four nights. The Sixers and Suns are playing their third game in four nights as well, but each had last night off. The remaining teams have all had at least one day of rest. There are plenty of injury situations to beware of as well and there’s always the chance more news comes down as the day unfolds. As always, be sure to monitor this news as injury situations could alter this analysis quite a bit. Let’s take a look at a tournament lineup for FanDuel.
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Point Guard
Damian Lillard (POR): $9,400 vs. CHI
Lillard is the top projected play at the position tonight as he finds himself in a good matchup against a subpar defensive squad. Lillard is rolling right now, having scored 25-plus points in seven straight games. His fantasy output has mostly followed suit, as he’s scored at least 44 FDP in five out of those seven outings. He’s a good bet to continue that trend tonight at home and he makes for a solid building block as a result.
Big Wednesday is here with an eight-game slate and there are plenty of good games to target as we close out January. The Cavaliers, Magic, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Knicks both played last night, with tonight also being Cleveland’s third game in four nights. The Sixers and Suns are playing their third game in four nights as well, but each had last night off. The remaining teams have all had at least one day of rest. There are plenty of injury situations to beware of as well and there’s always the chance more news comes down as the day unfolds. As always, be sure to monitor this news as injury situations could alter this analysis quite a bit. Let’s take a look at a tournament lineup for FanDuel.
Check out today’s NBA Clutch Shot Encore from FanDuel
Point Guard
Damian Lillard (POR): $9,400 vs. CHI
Lillard is the top projected play at the position tonight as he finds himself in a good matchup against a subpar defensive squad. Lillard is rolling right now, having scored 25-plus points in seven straight games. His fantasy output has mostly followed suit, as he’s scored at least 44 FDP in five out of those seven outings. He’s a good bet to continue that trend tonight at home and he makes for a solid building block as a result.
Kemba Walker (CHA): $8,500 @ ATL
Walker finds himself in a plus matchup on the road against the Hawks and I love him for tournaments as a result. Walker’s ability to light up the scoreboard on any given night gives him great upside for GPP contests and tonight is no exception. Point guard lacks any compelling cheaper options tonight, so it makes sense to focus on the top tier.
Other Notables
Shooting Guard
Tyreke Evans (MEM): $8,400 @ IND
This game isn’t an overly exciting one for fantasy purposes, but I don’t mind taking a flier in tournaments on Evans tonight. He returned from a two-game absence to score 36.2 FDP in just 26 minutes on Monday night, with 27 actual points helping to boost his fantasy output. With Mike Conley officially out for the remainder of the season, Evans should continue to be one of the primary playmakers on this team.
Nik Stauskas (BKN): $4,000 vs. PHI
Stauskas won’t blow you away with any performances, but he provides nice value tonight against his old team. He should continue to see extended run with Caris LeVert out and D’Angelo Russell struggling, and he doesn’t need to do a ton to pay off his modest value threshold of 21 FDP this evening.
Other Notables
Small Forward
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,700 vs. NY
Brown is pretty reliant on scoring for his fantasy value and while that can introduce risk, I think that risk is worth embracing tonight. He’s a solid bet for minutes in the mid-30s and he finds himself likely to see a few extra opportunities with Marcus Smart on the shelf.
Josh Jackson (PHO): $4,900 vs. DAL
Jackson has scored at least 18 points in three out of his last four games, with the rookie logging at least 22 minutes in every game during that span. This is a downgrade in terms of pace against the Mavericks, but Jackson possesses fantasy upside of six times his current salary this evening.
Other Notables
Power Forward
Bobby Portis (CHI): $4,500 @ POR
The Bulls are already set to be without Lauri Markkanen tonight and they could also wind up without Nikola Mirotic as well. Regardless of Mirotic’s status, Portis is a great source of salary relief this evening. He’s averaging 1.09 FDP/min on the season and he’s got 40 FDP upside on any given night. The downside risks are there too, but it’s usually more about getting enough playing time rather than efficiency.
Frank Kaminsky (CHA): $4,000 @ ATL
Marvin Williams has already been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Hawks, which should open the door for Kaminsky to see some added playing time. Kaminsky hasn’t been incredibly efficient on a per minute basis this season (0.78 FDP/min), but the extra run should help him to easily eclipse his modest value threshold of 21 FDP.
Other Notables
Center
Joel Embiid (PHI): $10,500 @ BKN
Embiid draws an elite matchup on the road against the Nets and he should be targeted across all formats as a result. The big man got his first bout of rest in over a month on Monday evening, so he should be ready to roll tonight. The Sixers also don’t play tomorrow, so I expect all cylinders to be firing this evening.
Other Notables
My Lineup
PG – Damian Lillard (POR): $9,400 vs. CHI
PG – Kemba Walker (CHA): $8,500 @ ATL
SG – Tyreke Evans (MEM): $8,400 @ IND
SG – Nik Stauskas (BKN): $4,000 vs. PHI
SF – Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,700 vs. NY
SF – Josh Jackson (PHO): $4,900 vs. DAL
PF – Bobby Portis (CHI): $4,500 @ POR
PF – Frank Kaminsky (CHA): $4,000 @ ATL
C – Joel Embiid (PHI): $10,500 @ BKN
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Adam Sutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, follow him @BGFS_Adam. You can find more of Adam’s work at Bigguyfantasysports.com