With the holiday on Friday (yes, the Groundhog saw his shadow, six more long weeks of winter, I guess) and the anticipation around the Super Bowl on Sunday, Saturday’s eight-game NBA slate is the perfect thing to get your mind off winter, groundhogs and the relentless Super Bowl coverage. The slate includes a marquee matchup between the Rockets and Cavaliers along with numerous other games that should be close and entertaining. Get your popcorn ready!

Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom DvP calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.

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One Stud

James Harden (PG/SG – HOU): $11,600 @ CLE
My stud on Saturday night will come from the Rockets/Cavaliers matchup as James Harden and LeBron James are the top two options on the slate. Given a choice, I prefer Harden with both Chris Paul and Eric Gordon not 100% even if they both play. Harden lit up the Cavaliers for a triple-double earlier this season with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are struggling and have nobody to stop Harden as they have given up the 10th most DraftKings points to opposing SGs this season.

Core Plays

Nikola Jokic (C – DEN): $8,700 vs GS
Nikola Jokic is coming off a triple-double against the Thunder and has two triple-doubles in his last four games while averaging 19.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists in those games. His matchup on Saturday against the Warriors should be a track meet up and down the court with a Vegas total around 230 points. The two teams have met three times already this season with Jokic averaging 16.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game for 42.2 DK points including a triple-double in their last matchup.

Victor Oladipo (PG/SG – IND): $8,400 vs PHI
Victor Oladipo put up 35 points on Friday night against the Hornets and will look to keep rolling into the weekend with a tussle against the Sixers on Saturday night. Oladipo scored 31 points with five rebounds and seven assists in an earlier meeting with the Sixers this season. Despite both teams playing the second game of a back-to-back and third game in their last four days, look for Oladipo to still have gas in the tank as he has averaged 27.9 points and 46.6 DK points per game when playing on zero days rest this season through nine occurrences which exceed his season averages.

Elfrid Payton (PG – ORL): $6,600 vs WAS
Rostering Elfrid Payton is a risky proposition as he is capable of a dud or a DFS winning performance any given night. For that reason, I’d prefer to only roster him in GPPs and Saturday might be the time to make sure you do that. Payton has destroyed the Wizards in two previous meeting this season averaging 28.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game on his way to 53.8 DK points. He appears to have their number and now without John Wall defending him, it might even be possible for him to exceed those lofty numbers. Or he could put up a complete dud and ruin your lineup. Think GPP.

Will Barton (SG/SF – DEN): $5,800 vs GS
The Nuggets duo of Will Barton and Gary Harris ($5,700) are both viable options in a fast-paced high-scoring game against the Warriors. If you want a Cash game rock then give Harris the nod but if you want a player with more GPP upside then roster Barton. The Warriors have allowed the third most DK points per game to opposing SGs this season and will be playing the second game of a back-to-back in the high altitude of Denver.

Value Plays

Nikola Mirotic (PF – NO): $5,100 @ MIN
The second attempt to trade Nikola Mirotic to the Pelicans stuck and he is expected to make his debut on Saturday in Minnesota. I expect Mirotic to jump right into the starting lineup and play significant minutes. His salary somehow dropped about $1,000 in the trade which now makes him a value option for a high-scoring team at the moment. Some might shy away from Mirotic with uncertainty about his role with the new team but they will likely just be missing out.

Rajon Rondo (PG – NO): $4,600 @ MIN
Rajon Rondo is a lot like Elfrid Payton who I mentioned earlier. He is not safe for Cash games but you want to make sure you have him in a GPP lineup or two most nights just in case he goes off like he did on Friday with seven points, seven rebounds, 13 assists and four steals on his way to 42.25 DK points. His salary has remained at $4,600 and he looks to post another big stat line against the Timberwolves who have allowed an increase in opposing PGs assist rate by 15.6% which fit right into Rondo’s game. Could a 20-assist night be coming? I wouldn’t rule it out of his range of outcomes.

Channing Frye (PF/C – CLE): $4,100 vs HOU
Maybe the one player that has benefited the most from the Kevin Love injury so far has been Channing Frye. Frye has seen an increase in minutes to 21 in each of his last three games and has produced averaging 18.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the last two games Love has missed. The Cavaliers will need Frye’s scoring in an up-tempo game against the Rockets and with a low $4,100 salary, he should be able to cook up a game with at least 5x his salary.

Bam Adebayo (MIA – PF/C): $3,800 @ DET
This pick is contingent on the availability of Hassan Whiteside for Saturday’s matchup with the Pistons. Whiteside left the game on Friday with an illness and Bam Adebayo responded to the increased playing time with 15 points and 13 rebounds against the Sixers. If Whiteside is out, look for Adebayo to play at least 25 minutes. When he has played at least 25 minutes in a game this season he is averaging 10.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Kick your lineup up a notch, Bam!

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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.