Phoenix Suns vs. Golden State Warriors

Spread: PHX -5.0

Total: 221.0

Injuries:

Phoenix

Cam Johnson DOUBTFUL

Frank Kaminsky OUT

JaVale McGee OUT

Dario Saric OUT

Golden State

Steph Curry OUT

James Wiseman OUT

 

 

 

MVP/Captain

 

Devin Booker, PG/SG – Booker is getting some serious heat for a dark-horse MVP award. And while he won’t win this year, his play has been outstanding for over six weeks. Booker has over 40 fantasy points in 15 of his last 16 games and even though the Suns have nothing to play for, he is still out there for 35 minutes per night in the last four games. This game is projected to be competitive, which means we could see a ceiling game such as when he recently played Denver (78 fantasy points) or Sacramento (49 points) recently.

 

 

Chris Paul, PG – I’ll just go ahead and tell you right now. For an MVP salary of just $12,900 (about $2,500 less than Booker) and no Curry to worry about, I am going to be heavy on Chris Paul tonight. In his three games against the Warriors this season, he averages 39.4 DK points per game and he’s averaged 48 per game in his two games since he returned from injury. Locking Paul in still allows you to get Booker and Poole in your lineups with $6,000 per player to spend on the last three slots.  

 

 

Jordan Poole, PG – It’s clear Poole has been the primary beneficiary of Steph Curry being out, even with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green back in the lineup. Without Curry, Poole’s usage jumps up to 30.9% (+5.2%) and his assist rate is 26.8% as well. No one on the team sees a higher fantasy point per game bump and he is averaging 12 fantasy points per game over his season average in his last six. Even with a tough matchup against Chris Paul, feel good about locking in Poole. 

Utility

 

Klay Thompson, SG – The handcuffs are officially off Thompson this season. In his last four games, he averages 36.6 minutes per night and over 38 DK points per game. He even touched 40 minutes once and 38 minutes in another game, as the Warriors will look to feature him more with Curry out. He is also getting his shooting stroke back, averaging over 38% on three-pointers in three of his last four games. 

 

 

Draymond Green, PF/C – The best number from Green’s box scores the past week has been his minutes per night. In three games from March 14-20, he averaged 20 minutes per night and just over 20 fantasy points. In his last three games, he averages 26.3 minutes and is back to contributing in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. In what are becoming must-win games for the Warriors, we might see Green get 28-30 minutes tonight since he was one of the players who rested on Monday.  

 

 

Deandre Ayton, C – Ayton is a perfect candidate for these tournament-style Showdown slates. He averages a solid 35 DK points per night, but every once in a while, he pops off for a 60-pointer as he did one week ago against Minnesota. You have a solid floor and a high ceiling with Ayton, especially since he averages 38.7 fantasy points per game in his three against the Warriors this year. 

 

 

 

Value Tier

 

Otto Porter Jr., SF/PF – Porter’s last 10 games have seen him have a much bigger role on the offense and defense as well as move from 21 minutes per game to over 25 minutes per game. In that span, he averages 32 DK points per night as he plays the lion’s share of the minutes at power forward. A lot of the recent spike has come from his rebounding and the Suns allow the eighth-most rebounds to power forwards this season. 

 

 

Jae Crowder, SF/PF – Crowder gives us a solid floor, high minutes, and a very reasonable salary tonight. Crowder looks to be the cheapest starter on this slate, and his 23.5 fantasy points per game against the Warriors this year easily gives us 4x his salary. He has been over that number against Denver and Philadelphia the last two games and he won’t be tied down on defense when he is matched up with Jon Kuminga.

 

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