This is the final slate before the All-Star break. It’s fun to grind NBA DFS every day, but taking a week off is good for everyone. It’s a great time to recharge your batteries and examine what mistakes you made through the opening months of the season. My biggest weakness has been my approach to lineup construction. I’ve traditionally gone for a stars-and-scrubs build, but a more balanced lineup would have done me some good in a few contests. That’s funny because this is the sort of slate where you have to go stars-and-scrubs because we only have three games to talk about.
And let’s take a look at our other best bets for Thursday:
View 5-star bets and historical prop performance by players with our Prop Bet Analyzer 
This is the final slate before the All-Star break. It’s fun to grind NBA DFS every day, but taking a week off is good for everyone. It’s a great time to recharge your batteries and examine what mistakes you made through the opening months of the season. My biggest weakness has been my approach to lineup construction. I’ve traditionally gone for a stars-and-scrubs build, but a more balanced lineup would have done me some good in a few contests. That’s funny because this is the sort of slate where you have to go stars-and-scrubs because we only have three games to talk about.
And let’s take a look at our other best bets for Thursday:
View 5-star bets and historical prop performance by players with our Prop Bet Analyzer
Today’s NBA DFS Lineup Advice
Schedule and Odds
- MIL at CHI (MIL -7)
- WAS at MIN (MIN -3.5)
- LAC at PHX (LAC -1)
Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros
Injury Report
Core Plays
Kristaps Porzingis (PF/C – WAS): $9,200 DraftKings, $9,100FanDuel
This Latvian is not getting enough credit for what he’s doing right now. Porzingis is averaging 43 DraftKings points per game this season, despite struggling through the opening month. That’s on display when you see his 48-point average over the last two weeks, doing that damage with a full roster. Getting to face Minnesota is marvelous, with the T’Wolves ranked fourth in pace while surrendering the third-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards.
Anthony Edwards (SG – MIN): $9,000 DraftKings, $9,400 FanDuel
ANT has taken over this offense since Karl-Anthony Towns went down. That’s led to Edwards averaging 47 DraftKings points per game since KAT got injured, and his role has increased exponentially since D’Angelo Russell was traded. That’s a great total from a $9K player, but it’s no surprise since he’s playing 35-40 minutes and taking 20 shots a night. The matchup with Washington is wonderful, too, owning a 27th OPRK against opposing wings this year.
Cash Game Considerations
Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF/C – MIL): $12,700 DraftKings, $12,500 FanDuel
This guy is amazing. It’ll be impossible to fade Giannis on a short three-game card because the MVP candidate is averaging nearly 60 DraftKings points per game. He’s also scored at least 51 DK points in all 11 games since his return from injury, generating a 63-point average in that span. We don’t expect Chicago to slow him down, with Giannis posting a 72-point average against them in their two matchups this year.
Nikola Vucevic (C – CHI): $9,300 DraftKings, $8,800 FanDuel
Vooch has been one of the best cash game targets for a month now, and he should only get better with DeMar DeRozan expected to miss this game. Vucevic has scored at least 41 DraftKings points in 19 of his last 21 games, generating a 46-point average in that span. We expect that to be his floor with DeRozan out, especially since Vooch dropped 47 fantasy points in his most recent matchup with Milwaukee.
GPP Targets
Brook Lopez (C – MIL): $6,100 DraftKings, $7,200 FanDuel
Bro-Lo has had a renaissance season in Milwaukee, but a midseason slump has forced him into this GPP section. The big man is still averaging over 30 DK points per game this season, scoring at least 30 fantasy points in seven of his last nine games. We have to assume one of those upside games is in play here, with Brook scoring at least 33 DK points in his two matchups with the Bulls this year.
Terance Mann (SG/SF – LAC): $4,600 DraftKings, $5,100 FanDuel
The Clippers have handed Mann quite the workload, parting ways with Reggie Jackson and John Wall at the deadline. That should force Mann into a 30-minute role, with the guard averaging 31 DK points per game in the 16 outings he’s played at least 30 minutes. We’ve seen most of those games recently, making it hard to understand why Mann remains so affordable. He also went nuts in his last matchup with the Suns, dropping a season-high 47 DK points!
Value Plays
Mike Conley (PG – MIN): $5,200 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel
Conley is one of those consummate veterans that continues to be undervalued from a DFS perspective. If you take out his Minnesota debut, Conley has scored 28 or more DraftKings points in 11 straight games. That’s an unbeatable floor from such a cheap player, and it looks even more bizarre since he has a 34-point average in that span. Washington is far from a worrisome matchup, ranked 19th in defensive efficiency ratings.
Monte Morris (PG/SG – WAS): $4,800 DraftKings, $5,300 FanDuel
Let’s use Conley’s counterpart as the other value play. Morris has taken over starting point guard duties in Washington, scoring at least 21 DK points in 17 of his last 21 games. Monte has also maintained a 27-point average in that span, which is all you can hope for from a $5K player. This terrible T’Wolves defense won’t deter him from reaching that average, surrendering the third-most fantasy points to opposing point guards this year.
Advantageous Pricing
- Brook Lopez (C – MIL): $6,100 DraftKings, $7,200 FanDuel
- Mike Conley (PG – MIN): $5,200 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel
- Alex Caruso (PG/SG – CHI): $3,400 DraftKings, $4,700 FanDuel
- Bradley Beal (SG – WAS): $7,700 DraftKings, $9,300 FanDuel
- Rudy Gobert (C – MIN): $6,200 DraftKings, $7,600 FanDuel
- Daniel Gafford (C – WAS): $5,000 DraftKings, $6,000 FanDuel
- Jaylen Nowell (SG – MIN): $3,600 DraftKings, $5,300 FanDuel
- Kendrick Nunn (PG/SG – WAS): $3,300 DraftKings, $5,000 FanDuel
- Kawhi Leonard (SF – LAC): $9,100 DraftKings, $10,200 FanDuel
- Torrey Craig (SF – PHX): $4,500 DraftKings, $5,700 FanDuel
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
