Tonight’s contests will feature a slate of six games, with only the Toronto Raptors operating on a road back-to-back against both Los Angeles teams. The slate will contain some interesting games, though none top the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans game in terms of implied total.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel 
Point Guard
Dejounte Murray (PG – SAS): $6,700 vs. MEM
Murray is one of the most capable point guards in the league, particularly when we’re talking about the ability to stuff the entire stat sheet. Murray’s length and defensive ability allow him to scoop up points at a premium, even if his shot doesn’t fall. Luckily for Murray, the Memphis Grizzlies rank 25th in defensive rating and 6th in pace. Murray has been inconsistent lately, scoring over 42 FanDuel points twice and under 18 FanDuel points twice in his past four games.
Tonight’s contests will feature a slate of six games, with only the Toronto Raptors operating on a road back-to-back against both Los Angeles teams. The slate will contain some interesting games, though none top the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans game in terms of implied total.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
Dejounte Murray (PG – SAS): $6,700 vs. MEM
Murray is one of the most capable point guards in the league, particularly when we’re talking about the ability to stuff the entire stat sheet. Murray’s length and defensive ability allow him to scoop up points at a premium, even if his shot doesn’t fall. Luckily for Murray, the Memphis Grizzlies rank 25th in defensive rating and 6th in pace. Murray has been inconsistent lately, scoring over 42 FanDuel points twice and under 18 FanDuel points twice in his past four games.
Mike Conley (PG – UTH): $6,800 at GSW
Conley’s first season probably hasn’t gone as desired in Utah, but there’s a silver lining tonight, and that’s the Golden State Warriors being on the other end. The Warriors are the worst defense in the league in defensive rating and are ranked 15th in pace. Conley — although he’s struggled mightily shooting the ball — has an opportunity to score a good amount of points, even if the Jazz play an incredibly slow brand of basketball.
Shooting Guard
Fred VanVleet (SG – TOR): $6,900 at LAC
With Kyle Lowry sidelined for a few weeks, VanVleet becomes a premier target on all DFS platforms. VanVleet’s first game as a starter on Sunday went well as he scored 49.4 FanDuel points. VanVleet was asked to play 39 minutes, and the workload probably won’t lighten up much moving forward, even on tonight’s back-to-back.
James Harden (SG – HOU): $12,000 at NOR
Classic Harden has crept his way back into this season, as he’s managed to score over 67 FanDuel points in his past three contests. Harden gets a premier matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans tonight as the game leads the night in implied total by a wide margin. The Rockets are ranked 1st in pace, and the Pelicans rank 4th. The Pelicans are also ranked 29th in defensive rating. As if all of that wasn’t enticing enough, Harden is ranked 4th in the league in usage rate (he’s basically 1st as the three priors almost never play), even with the addition of Russell Westbrook.
Small Forward
Brandon Ingram (SF – NOR): $8,800 vs. HOU
Ingram has taken the step into superstardom with his new team in the Pelicans. Ingram’s ability to create his own shot and score is finally coming to light, and tonight’s contest against the Rockets presents a great opportunity for Ingram to continue to showcase his ever-improving skills. The Rockets rank 22nd in defensive rating and 1st in pace, and the Pelicans also love to move the ball quickly. This game has the potential to be an incredibly high scoring one, and Ingram will be at the forefront for the Lonzo Ball-less Pelicans.
Jarrett Culver (SF – MIN): $3,800 at DET
As long as Jeff Teague is sidelined with an illness, Culver remains a possible play. Culver was inserted into the starting lineup to replace Teague and has performed admirably, scoring over 26 FanDuel points twice in his past three contests. Culver has generally struggled shooting the ball, but his ability to stuff the stat sheet will help him reach value. The Detroit Pistons also rank 24th in defensive rating.
Power Forward
Trey Lyles (PF – SAS): $4,000 vs. MEM
Lyles’ ceiling is capped, which probably leads to him being a better cash play than GPP play, but I’d pay down at power forward tonight. With that in mind, Lyles has a good shot to hit value playing against the Grizzlies. Memphis is bad defensively, and they are one of the fastest teams in the league, and even though Lyles might only play 20 minutes, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to stuff the stat sheet against a fast-paced team such as the Grizzlies.
P.J. Tucker (PF – HOU): $5,400 at NOR
Exposure to this contest would be wise, and that comes in the form of Tucker for me at the four spot. Tucker may be the only player who can score four points yet still score 30 FanDuel points. The defensive savant has nearly no offensive game and will rely strictly on defensive prowess, which is a good thing against the Pelicans as they’re terrible on defense and move the ball at an incredibly high pace. The implied total on this contest should lead you to the well multiple times, and with no real stud options at power forward tonight, Tucker becomes an interesting selection.
Center
Chris Boucher (C – TOR): $4,100 at LAC
Boucher is a dart-throw at this spot, yet he proved he’s capable of playing — on Sunday night, he totaled 33.9 FanDuel points. The long and lanky big man has an unlimited shooting range and excellent ability as a rim-protector. The ability to collect points from anywhere on the court — as well as to stuff the stat sheet defensively — give Boucher a real chance to contribute in the wake of Serge Ibaka’s injury.
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Sosa Kremenjas is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Sosa, check out his archive and follow him @QBsMVP.
