Tonight’s slate features ten games over on FanDuel. With Lebron James and James Harden set to square off for the first time as Western Conference rivals, there should be a lot of attention and ownership directed towards that game. While it certainly is an attractive option, there are great plays across the board so over-exposing rosters to the Rockets and Lakers game is a risky proposition.
Here are a few plays at each position that I will be targeting on tonight’s slate, along with a sample roster build.
Note: This may be obvious, but all fantasy point totals referenced below are from the Fanduel scoring system.
Create FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Point Guard
Jamal Murray (DEN): $6,000 vs. PHX
Opening night was a disappoint for Murray, who only put up 30.2 fantasy points against the Clippers on Wednesday. This could lead to a quick pass for game log watchers who don’t have much sample data. However, what’s important to note is that Murray is playing against a Suns team that has been historically bad defensively over the past few seasons. While a coaching change should help them this year, I’m still confident that Murray should bounce back tonight and improve on his 3-12 shooting performance from game one.
Tonight’s slate features ten games over on FanDuel. With Lebron James and James Harden set to square off for the first time as Western Conference rivals, there should be a lot of attention and ownership directed towards that game. While it certainly is an attractive option, there are great plays across the board so over-exposing rosters to the Rockets and Lakers game is a risky proposition.
Here are a few plays at each position that I will be targeting on tonight’s slate, along with a sample roster build.
Note: This may be obvious, but all fantasy point totals referenced below are from the Fanduel scoring system.
Create FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Point Guard
Jamal Murray (DEN): $6,000 vs. PHX
Opening night was a disappoint for Murray, who only put up 30.2 fantasy points against the Clippers on Wednesday. This could lead to a quick pass for game log watchers who don’t have much sample data. However, what’s important to note is that Murray is playing against a Suns team that has been historically bad defensively over the past few seasons. While a coaching change should help them this year, I’m still confident that Murray should bounce back tonight and improve on his 3-12 shooting performance from game one.
Cameron Payne (CHI): $3,900 vs. DET
Payne busted as a chalk play on Thursday night, but I will be going right back to the well with Kris Dunn (personal) already ruled out for tonight’s game. There isn’t much to look at and takeaway from a statistical perspective from his first game and he will likely be passed on across the industry. Across the ball from him, Reggie Jackson finished the 2017-2018 season with a negative DRPM ranking of -0.31. With Fanduel’s new “drop-a-score” format, Payne makes for a great dart throw in tournaments if he remains in the starting lineup.
Shooting Guard
Devin Booker (PHX): $8,700 at DEN
On the other side of the Nuggets-Suns game, Booker makes for a great play on tonight’s slate. Booker is going to dominate the ball this season and that showed in game one where he sported a 35.8% usage rate and scored 47.3 fantasy points. This is a bit tougher of a matchup for Booker compared to the Mavericks, but his usage should garner a lot of opportunities to produce fantasy points in tonight’s fast pace game environment. With a lot of ownership likely going to players from the Rockets-Lakers game, this feels like an opportunity to get Booker at a slightly depressed ownership in a game with a 224.0 total.
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,300 at NYK
With an average of 17.9 fantasy points, Brown hasn’t exactly excelled in the first two games of the season. However, he opened with two difficult matchups against the Sixers and Raptors. Tonight’s game should be much easier to navigate, as the Knicks allowed Caris LeVert to score 38.7 fantasy points last night. The Knicks have been competitive across two games, but they are by no means a good team. If you’re looking to pivot off someone like Eric Gordon, Brown should be able to drive to the lane at will in the game and he should rebound from a few tough matchups in this game.
Small Forward
Lebron James (LAL): $11,700 vs. HOU
Despite the inflated price tag, James enters tonight’s game as my favorite play on the slate. He only went for 46.4 fantasy points in the season opener, but we can expect James to thrive in his first home game as a Los Angeles Laker in a fun matchup against the Rockets that has the highest total on the slate. James sported a 27.6% usage rate on Thursday night and he should improve on his one steal, zero block performance. The Rockets should throw a mixture of James Ennis and P.J. Tucker at James, but it’s a safe bet to say that neither should slow him down in tonight’s game.
Bojan Bogdanovic (IND): $4,500 vs. BKN
After an abysmal performance last night (8.0 fantasy points), Bogdanovic is sure to be a player that gets overlooked on tonight’s slate. He is an unexciting player for sure, but he has proven to be a valuable piece of the Pacers’ roster time and time again. With great plays available at other positions and my sights set on Lebron James, Bogdanovic feels like a strong salary saver in the second small forward spot tonight. The Nets are a weaker opponent and Bogdanovic should be able to get open looks in this matchup.
Power Forward
Dario Saric (PHI): $5,700 vs. ORL
Saric has been hot and cold through two games to start the season, but a plus matchup against the Magic should be a great spot to target him. Heading into the season, usage was a fair concern to have with Saric in a loaded Sixers’ offense, but through two games he has proven that he will still get his chances with a respectable 21.8% usage rate so far. Embiid and Simmons will likely garner the most ownership from the Sixers, and rightfully so, but Saric is a strong value option to target against a weak Magic team.
Domantas Sabonis (IND): $5,800 vs. BKN
Remaining on the value train at power forward, Sabonis should be in line for another strong performance against the Nets tonight. He is averaging 31.3 fantasy points through two games and although it’s an extremely small sample size, it’s hard to discount how good Sabonis has looked off the bench for the Pacers. Assuming he sees around 25 minutes in tonight’s matchup against the Nets, Sabonis should be a double-double candidate for a third straight game.
Center
Hassan Whiteside (MIA): $7,800 vs. CHA
As we’ve come to expect, Hassan Whiteside has been extremely volatile to start the season with 41.6 and 22.0 fantasy points in two games. While the Hornets were able to dismantle the Magic last night, Vucevic was able to get whatever he wanted in the paint before the game turned into a blowout. That trend should continue tonight, as Cody Zeller will likely have an incredibly difficult time handling Whiteside down low. His minutes can always be a concern but for tournaments, this makes him a great option to take a chance on.
Sample Fanduel Roster Build
PG: Jamal Murray $6,000
PG: Cameron Payne $3,900
SG: Devin Booker $8,700
SG: Eric Gordon $5,700 (Jaylen Brown is a pivot for this spot)
SF: Lebron James $11,700
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic $4,500
PF: Dario Saric $5,700
PF: Bobby Portis $5,900 (Domantas Sabonis is a pivot for this spot)
C: Hassan Whiteside $7,800
Remaining Salary: $100
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Jay Brancato is an NBA fantasy contributor for FantasyPros. You can follow him on Twitter @jay_brancato.
