The first few days of the NBA season have passed and it marks the beginning of the new NBA season. Dwyane Wade hit four threes against the Celtics last night -- he hasn’t hit four threes in a game since 2013… Yeah, it’s officially the new season.
Point Guards
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After an embarrassing loss to the Spurs, the Warriors have a perfect bounce-back situation. While I love Tim Frazier more than anyone probably should, he’s going to get shredded by last year’s MVP. Stephen Curry can’t be happy about his opening night performance and this game should be one of the highest-pace games of the entire slate. The only obvious problem with this game is that the Warriors will be ahead by 30 come the 4th quarter. Curry should still get his.
Jeff Teague was on my radar for the opening night slate but I did not write him up or have any exposure to him. After dropping a 20-8-2 line on the Mavericks, I knew I’d be targeting against the lowly Brooklyn Nets. Jeremy Lin was destroyed by Isaiah Thomas and the same should be expected with Jeff Teague.
George Hill’s first game with Utah was basically a better statistical performance than any game he had with the Pacers. Obviously, Hill had a few good games in Indiana but overall, his DFS value was always held down by Paul George and co. With Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors out, someone has to produce and it happened to be Hill. A juicy matchup with the Lakers should not be avoided after a great first game for Hill especially after he logged 38 minutes in his first game.
Yes, again -- Russell Westbrook. Until he hits that dreaded $13k on DraftKings, he will continue to gain my attention. The Suns keep the pace high and give up plenty of fantasy points to PGs. Westy will be tough to fade in this one especially after they barely scraped past the Sixers, the blowout potential is smaller than most expect in this one.
Shooting Guards
Don’t yell at me. I feel like it’s obvious but I still have to write em’ up. James Harden faces the Mavericks who had their backcourt destroyed by Monta Ellis and Jeff Teague. We saw what Harden is capable of last game as the starting PG. You know the drill here.
I had zero exposure to Monta Ellis last night but the same won’t be the same for tonight. He’s coming off a great performance but he also played 44 minutes so that’s something to keep an eye on. I recommend pulling back the reigns a bit on the inevitable high expectations for Monta, but he should still be in for a solid outing.
With Victor Oladipo gone and Elfrid Payton continuing to be a liability as a scorer, Evan Fournier is left to produce. He’s now the starting shooting guard and is finally ready to have a steady role with the incapable Scott Skiles gone. He’s coming off a 20-4-4-2 line and it’s time for people to get used to this “new” Evan Fournier.
Small Forwards
Paul George is a DFS stud and at $8.4k on DK, he makes for a great play. He’s a full blown star and that price is insulting against a weak Nets team. As a disclaimer, Myles Turner will be making an appearance later on, but I would only play two Pacers players tonight. The Nets kept it relatively close with the Celtics so hopefully the Nets can hang in there for this one as well. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will have the tough task of guarding George and while he has all of the tools to be an elite defender but he has yet to put it all together.
Tobias Harris is one of the higher floor options of the slate and his price is always affordable because of his low ceiling. With Reggie Jackson out, Harris proved to be one of the go-to guys for the Piston offense. He’s a good bet for 30 fantasy points any time he touches the floor and I’m not expecting any less against the Orlando Magic tonight.
One of my favorite up and coming young players in the league is also one of my top value plays in DFS tonight. Justise Winslow showed massive improvements in his offensive game during the first game of the season. I typically hold back my reactions following the first game of the season but Winslow looked great at both ends of the floor. Though the CHA vs. MIA game should be one of the lower scoring, Winslow is proving he’s now capable of filling up the stat sheet.
After a disappointing first game, Devin Booker will unjustifiably lose some ownership. Sacramento is a much improved team with new head coach Dave Joerger in town. Booker and the Suns were blown out last game but a new OKC team proved they have plenty of work to do. He should lead the team in scoring and 6x value is to be expected.
Power Forwards
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LeBron James is eligible as a SF/PF on DK and that’s where I may opt to use him tonight if not the Forward position. He and Paul George are just too cheap to ignore as both are sub 9.5k on DraftKings. LBJ is coming off a triple-double against the Knicks and he’s a man on a mission. DeMarre Carroll is still less than 100 percent so LBJ should have his way with the Raptors. Kyle Lowry is a great defender so Kyrie Irving may struggle to produce in this one. LeBron is a top-five play here.
One of the greatest teams to target in any fantasy situation is the Houston Rockets. Now with Ryan Anderson in HOU, things won’t be getting better anytime soon. A loss to the Lakers should tell the whole story here. Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger but Ryan Anderson is far from a top defender. He’s going to get destroyed by the future HOF, Dirk is also very affordable.
As promised earlier, Myles Turner makes the list. I’ll be honest, I missed out on him on Wednesday. Part of DFS is to accept when you’ve made a mistake and fading Turner came back to bite me. I still had a very profitable night because of AD but it could’ve been a historic finish with Turner. Picking players after monster nights often proves to be a mad move because of inflated ownership and price so my Turner exposure should be limited as well. Brook Lopez will get a long look at the up and coming big man and no one should be afraid to play Turner here.
Derrick Favors did return to a full practice on Thursday but I’d be surprised if he suits up against the Lakers here. Boris Diaw was a step slow in his Jazz debut and provided just 5.5 fantasy points in 32 minutes. Disgusting. Trey Lyles should be in store for some heavier run here against Julius Randle. He’s cheap on all DFS platforms and is coming off a poor performance, a perfect formula for a value GPP play.
Centers
The center position is absolutely loaded tonight and this is where FanDuel can prove to be difficult. Rudy Gobert has a matchup with the incumbent Timofey Mozgov and the new improved Gobert should feast in what should be a close game. If it wasn’t obvious already, I’m on the Pacers and Jazz for some obvious reasons tonight. But Gobert and George will be on the majority of my lineups, the others will be sprinkled in. Gobert should destroy the Lakers.
The biggest issue for Andre Drummond is foul trouble. It always has been. Nikola Vucevic is not an intimidating defender but he has the tendency to force some fouls. Hassan Whiteside racked up two quick fouls last game but still had a productive finish to the game. Drummond is merely a GPP option tonight because of the foul issues, which he also faced in the beginning of last season. He should be very low owned but I will have some solid exposure to him tonight.
Roy Hibbert was easily the best value play last night after swatting five shots. He scored a crazy 39 DK points as the starting center. Cody Zeller was limited and Frank Kaminsky is currently nursing a foot injury. Frank "The Tank" may return so this would obviously kill any value that Hibbert has. Don’t expect another 39 fantasy points from Hibbert, but 25 points can be considered a fair projection if Kaminsky sits again.
Player News
Jaylen Brown lit up the Knicks with 20 points (8-of-23 FGs), six rebounds, one assist, two steals, two three-pointers and six turnovers in Game 2 on Wednesday.
It was a tale of two halves for Brown, who entered the break with 17 points. In the second half, the only stats he contributed were one three-pointer and four turnovers. He shot 1-of-7 in the second half, and the Celtics blew a 20-point lead for a second straight game. They’ve been outscored by a total of four points in this series, but they will head to New York down 0-2. Brown will need to repeat his first-half performance for Boston to get back on track.
Derrick White led the Celtics with 20 points (6-of-17 FGs), nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three three-pointers in Game 2 against the Knicks on Wednesday.
White had a strong night overall, though most of his work was done in the first half. He had 14 of his 20 points and all three of his three-pointers in the first half. White has shot a poor percentage through the first two games of this series, but he has been their best threat from beyond the arc. Boston will need White to be at his best in Game 3 on Saturday to avoid going down 0-3 in the series.
Jayson Tatum struggled with his shot and finished with 13 points (5-of-19 FGs), 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals, one block and one three-pointer in a 91-90 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 on Wednesday.
The positive outlook is that Tatum is averaging 15 rebounds per game in this series and contributing as a playmaker and a defender. The negative (and honest) outlook is that he hasn’t been the dominant scorer that Boston has needed him to be. Though he gave them a late lead with a dunk, he couldn’t get a shot off with a chance to win it on the final play. Now, his team is down 0-2 and will head to New York for Games 3 and 4. If Boston is going to repeat as champions, Tatum is going to have to step up his game.
Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench on Wednesday and finished with eight points (3-of-5 FGs), four rebounds and one three-pointer in Game 2 against the Knicks.
After exiting early from Game 1, Porzingis was made available for Game 2, but he only played a small role off the bench. Al Horford logged 29 minutes as a starter, while Luke Kornet played 18 minutes off the bench. Both bigs played more than Porzingis, who was only on the floor for 14 minutes. He’ll have a few days off before Game 3 on Saturday, which will hopefully be enough time for him to get back to full strength.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points (9-of-15 FGs), six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three three-pointers against the Celtics in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Hart’s role for the Knicks is simply to do whatever they need. In this game, they needed him to score more, and he did just that. In a low-scoring affair, Hart led both teams in scoring to help the Knicks go up 2-0 in this series, which will now shift back to New York. Hart played 43 minutes after logging 45 minutes in Game 1 and will continue to play the majority of each game for the rest of New York’s postseason run.
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a double-double on Wednesday with 21 points (9-of-16 FGs), 17 rebounds, one assist and one block in a 91-90 win over the Celtics in Game 2.
After a quiet performance in Game 1, Towns made a much larger impact on Wednesday to help the Knicks take a commanding 2-0 lead in this series, which will now shift to New York for Games 3 and 4. Head coach Tom Thibodeau utilized a two-center lineup with Towns and Mitchell Robinson for 12:43, and they outscored Boston by 14 points during that stretch. We’ll see if Thibs continues to utilize a taller lineup moving forward, especially if Kristaps Porzingis continues to battle this illness.