The schedule for Saturday contains seven games, six of which are on the main slate which tips-off at 7:00 p.m. EST and one that tips-off on the all-day slate at 5:00 p.m. EST. The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, and Milwaukee Bucks are all operating on a back-to-back.
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Guards
Bruce Brown (PG – DET): $5,800 vs. CHI
Make sure to keep an eye out for the injury report tonight, but Brown is expected to go as he’s currently listed as probable. If he plays, Brown is one of the healthy options for the Detroit Pistons, a team that lacks health at this point in this season. With a handful of starters expected to miss the game (Blake Griffin, Luke Kennard, etc), Brown becomes an intriguing play, even at his elevated price. Brown’s coming off a strong 46.5-point performance, though it came in increased minutes (38). The matchup with the Bulls isn’t a great one as they rank 9th in defensive rating and 13th in pace.
The schedule for Saturday contains seven games, six of which are on the main slate which tips-off at 7:00 p.m. EST and one that tips-off on the all-day slate at 5:00 p.m. EST. The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, and Milwaukee Bucks are all operating on a back-to-back.
Check out today’s NBA Sharpshooter from DraftKings
Guards
Bruce Brown (PG – DET): $5,800 vs. CHI
Make sure to keep an eye out for the injury report tonight, but Brown is expected to go as he’s currently listed as probable. If he plays, Brown is one of the healthy options for the Detroit Pistons, a team that lacks health at this point in this season. With a handful of starters expected to miss the game (Blake Griffin, Luke Kennard, etc), Brown becomes an intriguing play, even at his elevated price. Brown’s coming off a strong 46.5-point performance, though it came in increased minutes (38). The matchup with the Bulls isn’t a great one as they rank 9th in defensive rating and 13th in pace.
Josh Hart (SG – NO): $4,800 @ BOS
As long as SG Jrue Holiday remains sidelined, Hart will continue to draw starts. With that expected to be the case tonight, Hart becomes a playable DFS option. In his first game as a Holiday replacement, Hart totaled 32.5 DraftKings points against the New York Knicks. This matchup is considerably harder – one of the toughest, but Hart offers a solid chance to return value if you’re looking to pay-down at the two-spot.
Kemba Walker (PG – BOS): $7,600 vs. NO
Walker’s struggled in his two most recent contests, but could very well be one of the best plays of the night on tonight’s slate. The matchup is a great one as the Pelicans rank 25th in defensive rating and 7th in pace. The one issue is that the Celtics are healthy and expect everyone to go tonight, which does complicate things for Walker a bit, but he’s still a great play against a weak defense without their best perimeter defender in Holiday.
Zach LaVine (SG – CHI): $8,300 @ DET
Coming in as one of the hottest players in all of DFS, LaVine has been on a tear recently, scoring over 42+ DraftKings points in all of his last five contests, with three games in the 50+ range. The Bulls remain banged up as C Wendell Carter is out for an extended period of time and PF Lauri Markkanen is battling a nagging injury, which will lead to even more usage and reliability for LaVine.
Forwards
Jerami Grant (PF – DEN): $4,900 vs. CLE
Grant is expected to draw his second straight start with PF Paul Millsap being ruled out for tonight’s contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that contest, Grant performed admirably, totaling 34.0 DraftKings points. Tonight’s matchup is a decent one as the Cavs rank only 29th in defensive rating, but also play incredibly slow as they rank 26th in pace. This matchup is arguably the slowest of the night, so limit your exposure between these two teams.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (SF – MIL): $11,500 @ POR
Even though he hardly gets to finish games any longer, Giannis is my choice of stud tonight as the clear-cut favorite to dominate. The matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers is a good one as they rank 23rd in defensive rating and 12th in pace. Not only that, but Giannis still remains 3rd in the league in usage rate and the Trail Blazers can score points, meaning this could be a matchup that actually forces Giannis to play to the end and not leave early due to a massive blowout.
Thaddeus Young (PF – CHI): $6,000 @ DET
With Carter on the sidelines and Markkanen battling injury, Young’s relevance continues. Young isn’t expected to start any longer – which does cap his upside – but he should still see a fair number of minutes and has been productive in his last four games. The Pistons are not great defensively, which increases the intrigue in Young and his teammates.
Centers
Al Horford (C – PHI): $6,700 @ DAL
The injury theme of tonight continues with the Philadelphia 76ers, and that is why Horford has suddenly become relevant again. With C Joel Embiid sidelined due to a gross finger injury, Horford immediately regained his form, scoring 42.0 DraftKings points in his first contest sans Embiid. Tonight’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks is decent, with the Mavs ranking 18th in defensive rating and 17th in pace.
Jaxson Hayes (C – NO): $3,800 @ BOS
If you’re looking to pay down at the center spot tonight, Hayes is likely your best option with Derrick Favors potentially sidelined. Hayes is coming off incredible back-to-back performances, totaling 38.5 and 39 DraftKings points in those contests. Hayes’ price has remained so low that he should be able to reach value relatively easily, so long as he can stay out of foul trouble.
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Sosa Kremenjas is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Sosa, check out his archive and follow him @QBsMVP.