Friday brings us a nice looking ten-game slate on DraftKings. At this point there is no real influential injury news, the significant names that are out tonight have been out for at least a couple of games already, so the prices around them have risen. There will almost surely be some news that changes a lot of things before lock, so keep your ear to the ground. For now, here are the best spots and plays I am seeing.

Check out today’s NBA Sharpshooter from DraftKings

Best Team Situations

Wizards vs. Hornets
Both of these teams find themselves in a plus matchup. The Wizards average Vegas implied total for the year is 112 points, and they currently sit at 120 tonight. The Hornets average implied total is 107, and tonight it is 114. Those are two substantial differences, so we can feel pretty confident about this game outputting some big-time fantasy scores.

Pistons (vs. Hawks)
The Pistons have an implied total tonight that is eight points higher than their average (116 to 108). The Hawks have allowed an above league average team fantasy points total in eight straight games, and have given up massive totals in their last three (304, 260, 257 to LAC, LAL, and MIL). For context, the league average is 227.

Guards

Luka Doncic (PG/SG – DAL): $11,400 vs. Cavaliers
We were given a DFS lesson about blowout risk from Doncic on Wednesday. The Mavericks were hosting the Warriors and were a massive 15 point favorite, Doncic projected to absolutely crush his price tag, but the blowout risk was a worry. What if the Mavericks were up by 25 at halftime and Doncic was not needed in the second half? How could he possibly pay off a near $10,000 salary in less than 30 minutes? Well, he scored 75 DraftKings points in 25 minutes, a 2.94 FPPM rate, the highest of the season thus far. The lesson to be learned here is if you think the price is too low on a stud, do not avoid them just because of the blowout risk – if the blowout materializes, it is likely because that player had a huge game in limited minutes. The same blowout risk is present tonight, but there is another factor as well – the price has ballooned to $11,400 (an alarming $1,600 increase). It is true that Luka is averaging 62 DK points on the year and 71 over his last four games, but this is not a home run play for me with that massive price increase.

Russell Westbrook (PG – HOU): $8,400 @ Clippers
It is true that Russ has been a frustrating player to own this year, check out his DK points game logs, from oldest to newest:
62 // 65 // 51 // 57 // 25 // 40 // 36 // 44 // 23 // 38 // 69 // 36
He has been all over the map, which is kind of what you would expect when you are usage-heavy player playing alongside James Harden. The price tag still makes this interesting in cash, just because he seems very likely to score 40, and has 60+ upside. The matchup is not the best, as the Clippers have shaved five DraftKings points off their opponent’s totals on average, but it is a game that these players should be “getting up for” – if you believe in that kind of stuff. We do not have a Vegas line for the game yet, but these two teams did play recently and that game was given a total of 235. Russ’s field goal attempts have bumped up in the last couple weeks, he has gone for 20+ shots in six straight games. If he shoots well, it will be hard for him to disappoint you at this price tag in a competitive, fun game to watch.

Jimmy Butler (SG/SF – MIA): $8,300 @ Bulls
I do not like to be the guy that just says “this guy is averaging __ points and only costs __” as a reason to play a guy, because this game is just not that simple. However… wait for it… Jimmy Butler is averaging 45 DraftKings points in games where he plays full minutes, which suggests he should be priced closer to $9,000 than $8,000. Going a step further analytically, if you played Butler in all ten of his games at this price, you would have been disappointed only three times (and one of those was his very first game of the year). He has a 25% usage rate, contributes in every category, and this matchup is awesome with the Bulls (they are adding nine fantasy points onto their opponent’s averages this year). Butler is a very strong play against his former team (had to sneak that revenge game hint in there).

Spencer Dinwiddie (PG/SG – BRK): $7,600 vs. Kings
The price has slowly and correctly been creeping up on Dinwiddie since the Kyrie Irving injury, but it is still not quite where it needs to be. In his last four games as the number one option offensively for the Nets, Dinwiddie has a 29% usage rate and is shooting 17 times per game. He is averaging 38 DraftKings points in those games with a low of 27 and a high of 51. He is not the lock-button player that he has been these last three games since the price is much closer to what it should be, but I still think Dinwiddie has a very good chance to beat this price tonight.

Devonte’ Graham (PG – CHA): $6,900 @ Wizards
 The Hornets might be the most attractive place to go for fantasy points when you consider the matchup and the fact that you can get a lot of their production for cheap price tags. They do not have a guy that really dominates the output, but Graham has been the closest thing to it. He has a 16.5% share of the Hornets fantasy points on the season, and if you look at just the last ten games, that comes up to 18%, and he leads them in minutes played by a good amount. In his last ten games, he has a 27% usage rate while averaging 36 fantasy points per game. The price is about right for him, but the matchup really heightens the ceiling enough to get me interested.

Isaiah Thomas (PG – WAS): $5,100 vs. Hornets
We want some Wizards exposure in this great spot for them, but Bradley Beal is tough to pull the trigger on at his price, so I will jump on IT2 here. If you had read my articles this year, you know I love jumping on guys after price drops, and Thomas has fallen $500 over his last two games. His minutes have fallen back off a touch, he has failed to reach 25 in two of his last three, but I feel pretty confident that he will be a 1+ fantasy point per minute guy tonight, so if he can get 25 minutes he should be fine, and if he pushes towards 30 and the shots fall, he will really crush this tag. I expect this game to be the highest-scoring game of the night, and you can get a fair amount of usage for just $5,100 here – I am into it.

Forwards / Centers

Joel Embiid (C – PHI): $9,300 vs. Spurs
The Spurs are no longer a defense to avoid, they have added five fantasy points onto their opponent’s averages this year. Embiid averages 56 Draftkings points per game when playing more than 30 minutes this year. This game is projected to be close, so if you feel good about Embiid playing full minutes, there is really no reason not to play him at this ridiculous price point. In four games where he has played 30+ minutes, he has averaged 20 shots, 14 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks. If he is in the starting lineup tonight, he will be the first guy I put in mine.

Andre Drummond (C – DET): $8,500 vs. Hawks
We’ve got an awesome matchup for the Pistons here, and I think the price is a smidge too low on Drummond even with Blake Griffin back in the lineup. He had a really bad shooting night on Wednesday (3/10 – he is a 51% shooter on the year), and that has kept his price in check for this pristine matchup. He is not going to get the same shot attempts he was seeing with Griffin present, but the rebounds and blocks give him a strong enough floor to justify playing him at this price and hoping for a few extra shots to fall to him.

Blake Griffin (PF – DET): $7,700 vs. Hawks
I was all over Griffin on Wednesday at $7,100, and he let me down. However it took an egregiously bad shooting night for that to happen, he made just four of his 15 shot attempts. He still managed 28 fantasy points in that game, which speaks to the floor he brings to the table. He has a 35% usage rate in three games, he is shooting 5 three-pointers a game, grabbing six rebounds, and also chips in blocks and steals. He is more like a $9,000 player, so take advantage of this price tag while you still can.

Paul George (SF/PF – LAC): $8,100 vs. Rockets
Houston has been playing some much better defense lately, but they are still a plus matchup with how fast they play the game. The Clippers project nicely as a whole here, and George gives you a really high percentage of their fantasy points at a price that is not quite where it should be yet. He finally played his first game with Kawhi Leonard last game, and still hoisted up 18 shot attempts with five rebounds and eight assists, good for 45 DraftKings points. A 50 is a real strong possibility tonight with the Rockets in town, so George is one of my best plays on the slate at this point.

Danilo Gallinari (SF/PF – OKC): $6,100 vs. Lakers
This is a brutal matchup for the Thunder here against the Lakers, but Gallinari’s price still keeps him in my player pool. He has averaged 12 shot attempts, 19 points, five rebounds, and 1.6 assists this year with a 1.0 FPPM rate. He does not carry a huge ceiling tonight, but he is a really consistent piece that offers one of the strongest bets a 5x return, which is quite useful with all these guys we want to play above him in price.

P.J. Tucker (SF/PF – HOU): $4,100 vs. Clippers
We have to find someone under $5,000 to recommend here – and at this point in the day my favorite guy that fits that bill is Tucker. Ten days ago this guy was $5,200, and I will always be interested in a guy who sees his price drop $1,100 while he minutes do not drop off. He has been pretty useless even at this price tag in three of his last six, but a 30 point game is easily in the range of outcomes for Tucker tonight against the Clippers, and I really like him at this price.

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Jon Anderson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @JonPgh.