It is Thursday and we get a TNT double-header in the Association tonight featuring the Joel Embiid led Sixers traveling into Milwaukee to square-off against the Bucks, and the LeBron James led Lakers taking on the Phoenix Suns in their home opener in the late-night hammer!

Damian Lillard makes his NBA regular season debut today with his new team in the Milwaukee Bucks along side star-studded All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo! This should be an amazing show in Milwaukee and MUST SEE TV!

Make sure to check out today's NBA DFS projections and NBA DFS ownership projections before finalizing your lineups today.

P.S. Here's the link to our discord to get ALL of your questions answered throughout the day: https://discord.gg/AjSfwD2k 

Tune into today's NBA DFS Preview Show!

Philadelphia 76ers @ Milwaukee Bucks

Total: 225.5

Spread: MIL -6.5

NBA Injury Report

Sixers

Bucks

  • NONE

76ers vs Bucks NBA DFS Breakdown

Happy Thursday, everyone! The Sixers will travel into Milwaukee tonight to take on their Eastern Conference foe in the Bucks for their season-opening game. This game opened with a total of 227.5, which is now down two points to 225.5 with the announcement yesterday that James Harden will miss the first couple of games of the season due to being away from the team and needing to regain his conditioning in order to play. Harden continues his drive to force a trade, however, the Clippers, who Harden was rumored to be traded to, has now pulled out of all trade talks for the foreseeable future. The spread on this game opened at -4.5 in favor of the Bucks, but also quickly moved up two points with the Harden news. Let's talk about the game, shall we!

Damian Lillard will make his season debut tonight in his new threads as a Milwaukee Buck after being traded to the Bucks earlier this offseason in a block-buster three-team trade involving both the Suns and Blazers as trade partners that consisted of nine different players and picks! Giannis has finally gotten another All-Star alongside he, Khris Middleton, and veteran center Brooke Lopez! As mentioned earlier, their opponents tonight in the Sixers are without All-Star point guard James Harden, but definitely do not lack in talent as they still bolster a very talented roster including Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris! The Sixers also brought in a couple of new faces in the offseason in Kelly Oubre Jr. and defensive stalwart Patrick Beverly. 

76ers vs Bucks Tidbits:

*These two teams met for a total of four times in the ‘22-’23 regular season. These four games were split in terms of win/loss for both teams here with both teams winning out-right two games a piece. The total has gone UNDER (at the current posted number) in the last three games and in three out of the four games head-to-head with the average total falling at 218.5 points for the set.

*The Bucks ranked 10th (101.4) in terms of PACE (average amount of possessions measured per team over 48 minutes or full game) for the ‘22-’23 season, while the Sixers were 4th from last, or slowest in the league, in this category at a rank of 27th overall (97.4).

*Some ‘22-’23 Season DvP (defense vs position) Numbers (FanDuel scoring) to Keep in Mind: 

  • Both Teams ranked T-11 in FEWEST fantasy points allowed to the PG spot (PHI 2nd - 21.4 FPPG average), (MIL 11th - 23.5 FPPG average).
  • Both Teams were middle of the pack ranking 13th (PHI - 23.8), and 14th (MIL -23.7) in terms of average fantasy points per game allowed to the SG spot.
  • Both Teams came in T-15 in allowing fantasy points on average to the SF spot - PHI 11th (21.02), and MIL 15th (21.35).
  • MIL was one of the stingier spots for PFs, allowing just the 9th fewest fantasy points per game on average last season at 21.14, while the Sixers allowed the 12th MOST at an average of 22.16.
  • The Sixers were great against opposing Cs mostly due to Embiid's excellent defense. They allowed just the 3rd fewest average fantasy points to the spot at 19.87 per game. The Bucks on the other hand, allowed the 9th MOST to the spot at a whopping 23.31.

*Some Top Performers H2H Last Season (4 Games):

76ERS:

Top Plays: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris.

Secondary Plays: Kelly Oubre Jr., De'Anthony Melton, Patrick Beverly.

Darts (GPP/Tournaments ONLY): Paul Reed.

BUCKS:

Top Plays: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard.

Secondary Plays: Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton (ON MINUTES LIMIT), Malik Beasley (listed as starting SG), Bobby Portis, Cam Payne.

Darts (GPP/Tournaments ONLY): Pat Connaughton, Jae Crowder.

 

Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers

Total: 225.5

Spread: LAL -5.5

NBA Injury Report

Suns

Lakers

Suns @ Lakers NBA DFS Breakdown

The biggest news of the slate resides once again in Phoenix as both Bradley Beal AND Devin Booker are “doubtful” to play tonight in Los Angeles with their respective injuries/soreness. This could easily turn into the Kevin Durant show, and that is exactly what we should expect here if both of these stars do end up sitting out this game. This game opened up at the books as Lakers -2 favorites at home, seeing as this is their home opener as stated above, but with the news of Booker/Beal, this one shot up quickly in favor of the Lakers. Just as the spread did, the total here opened at 230 points, but dropped to 225.5 with the reports of those two sitting, as well.

This game should be an interesting one as the Lakers are fresh off a decent drumming at the hands of last season's champs in the Denver Nuggets on the road with a final tally of 119-107, while the Suns traveled into the bay area and stole a convincing win over the Golden State Warriors with a final of 108-104 to log their first win of the season. The Suns will likely force an up-hill battle here if Booker and Beal do happen to sit, as the Lakers will be hungry in front of their home crowd to gain their first win. Let's talk about this game!

Suns vs Lakers Tidbits:

*These two teams faced off for a total of four times last season, with both teams securing two wins a piece. An interesting one here to note - the HOME team won all four meetings. The home team won by an average margin of ~15 points! The home team won every game by at LEAST 10 points. The last three, as well as three of the four head-to-head games saw the OVER hit with an average of total of 228.75 PPG! The last three all hitting the OVER saw an average total of 231.6.

*Looking at PACE here for these two teams - the Lakers ranked 4th in terms of PACE at 101.92, while the Suns finished ranked 22nd at 98.83. Much like the Sixers/Bucks game, this will be a pace up spot for one team. In the first game for Lakers, they currently rank tied for last (1 game sample here, so don't think too much into it) with a PACE of just 95.50, while the Suns are tied for 11th at 101.5. I do think this game sees a median PACE and we should see points.

*Let's Talk DvP (FanDuel scoring) for the ‘22-’23 Season for Lakers/Suns:

  •  Both Teams were hammered a bit by the PG spot - Lakers allowed the 2nd MOST fantasy points per game on average to the spot at 27.4, while the Suns were not far behind at 7th MOST at 25.33. Obviously, we know Chris Paul is no longer with the Suns, but the Suns are also decimated in their backcourt by injury currently. The Lakers got a bit better with starting Austin Reaves, but D'Angelo Russell is not a great defender.
  • Mentioning Austin Reaves - the Lakers allowed just the 7th FEWEST average fantasy points per game to opposing SGs last season at a meager 22.27. The Suns allowed the 9th most at 24.28.
  • The Suns came in as the TOP SF defending team last season, allowing just an average of 19.26 fantasy points per game to the spot. Obviously, this was bigly in part to Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig, and Cam Johnson, who are all vacated from the team now. The Lakers were also good against this spot, allowing just the 8th fewest fantasy points on average at 20.87.
  • Again, the Suns were great defensively at the 3-4 positions and allowed just the 2nd FEWEST fantasy points per game on average to the PF spot last season. The Lakers landed mid-pack allowing 21.96 on average per game.
  • The Lakers were good vs Cs last season (not named Jokic), allowing the 5th fewest to the spot at an average of 21.38 fantasy points. The Suns were right outside the T-15 fewest allowed at 22.46.

SUNS:

Top Play(s): Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkic. 

Secondary Play(s): Josh Okogie, Eric Gordon, Jordan Goodwin (he likely starts at PG), Drew Eubanks.

Darts (GPP ONLY): Yuta Watanabe, Saben Lee (We could easily see this turn into a blow out)

LAKERS:

Top Plays: Anthony Davis, LeBron James.

Secondary Plays: D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Taurean Prince.

Darts (GPP ONLY): Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent.

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