Phoenix Suns vs. Denver Nuggets

Spread: DEN -1.0

Total: 233.0

 

Injuries:

Phoenix

Denver

 

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MVP/Captain

 

 

Only one “down” game for Nikola Jokic, but now he is right back on track. His 43 DK points on Sunday against Boston were a major disappointment, considering he averages over 60 on the season, so then he goes and puts up 67.5 against the Clippers on Tuesday. Jokic already has one game of 51 fantasy points against the Suns this year, but he had his lowest assist total of the year. Assuming that’s back to normal tonight (Suns allow the seventh-most assists to centers this year), this should be a standard 60-point fantasy game for Jokic tonight.

 

 

 

Chris Paul was a surprise “Probable” on the injury report today for the Suns, so we get to reap the rewards of a salary that's $3,000 less than Devin Booker and $8,000 less than Jokic in the MVP slot. We have no idea how many minutes Paul will play yet or if he will be on any kind of restriction, but he did score more than 40 DK points in five of six games before the injury and averages 35 per game against Denver this year. 

 

 

 

Denver has been Devin Booker’s nemesis this year, as he only averages 29.8 fantasy points against them in two games. But he shot a combined 37% against them while his seasonal average is 46% – so that likely corrects tonight. Will Barton has been a thorn in the side of all shooting guards this year, but with Paul back to draw away defense, I still expect Booker to carry the lion’s share of the offensive load. In his last six games, he averages 48 fantasy points per night. 

 

Utility

 

 

Apparently, Bones Hyland is going to score more than 24 fantasy points per game every time out right now. He has been getting the run and producing every night, including 24 points in just 18 minutes on Tuesday. In his last five games before that, Hyland was over 26 minutes per game and averaged an astounding 31.7 DK points per night. He also got an $800 salary drop since Tuesday, which will be helpful if we want two studs tonight. Until Murray comes back to the Denver lineup, Hyland looks like he will play major minutes down the stretch. 

 

 

 

Beyond Jokic and Hyland, it gets a little dicey for Denver's fantasy options. Will Barton, at least, is producing almost 30 DK points per game this season and got a $1,000 salary drop two days after putting up 20 points on only nine shots against the Clippers. He will be all over Booker tonight in what will be a fascinating one-on-one matchup. 

 

 

 

With Cameron Johnson once again ruled out, we need to keep going right back to Mikal Bridges. In his last six games, he averages 34.4 fantasy points per night and is over 25 points per game against the Nuggets this year. The best part about Bridges with Johnson out is he continues to play huge minutes. He's at an amazing 41.4 minutes per night in the last five games (one double-OT game included).

 

Value Tier

DeMarcus Cousins, C, Denver Nuggets

Even with Jokic carrying such a heavy load as he tries to drag his team to the playoffs, DeMarcus Cousins has come in and been a solid backup at the center spot. He's averaging only 16 minutes in the last five games but has a strong 22 fantasy points per game. He also got a salary discount against the Suns tonight, so 5x-6x his salary tonight ($4,000) is well within the realm of possibility.

 

 

 

With Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson both missing time recently, Torrey Craig has been the big winner since the trade over from the Bucks. In his last six games, Craig averages 28 minutes, 28 fantasy points, 11 actual points, and almost eight rebounds per game. He is shooting an incredible 66% over that span, which won’t continue, but he can certainly expect him to continue taking 7-8 shots every time out.  

 


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