We close out tonight’s slate of NBA games with the Minnesota Timberwolves traveling to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. From a superstar perspective, it is all about Damian Lillard against Anthony Edwards for the NBA DFS Showdown Slate, but let us take a look at some other options that can also help you finish the night in the green. 

Minnesota Timberwolves Injuries

Karl-Anthony Towns – Out

Taurean Prince - Out

Portland Trail Blazers Injuries

Josh Hart – Probable (ankle)

Justise Winslow – Probable (groin)

Nassir Little – Out

Drew Eubanks – Probable (hip)

 

MVP/Captain

Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers

Lillard continues to score at a high level this season, and tonight he gets one of the worse defenses in the league from a DFS perspective against opposing point guards. In three of his last five games, Lillard has double-digit assists and is coming off a 40-point, 12 assist performance against the Nuggets on Thursday. For the season, Lillard is at 26.9 points and 7.3 assists per game and he is actually priced pretty reasonably for a player with 60 to 70 DFS point upside. 

Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

The top scoring threat for Minnesota should be quite motivated tonight as he looks to bounce back from a three of 14-shooting performance on Friday. It was a far cry from the previous six games in which Edwards finished with between 25 and 29 points as he continues to step up with Towns sidelined. 

Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves

It is no longer a timeshare in the post for Minnesota as Gobert is the only show in town for the next few weeks. Overall, Gobert is averaging a double-double for the season (13.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game) but it is last two efforts that have really caught our attention. In those games, Gobert went for 16 points and 21 rebounds before following that up with 22 points and 13 rebounds. That performance at Gobert’s price helps with the remainder of your roster construction. 

Utility

D’Angelo Russell, Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell can go hot and cold at times offensively, but stepping up in the absence of Towns does seem to have benefited him as of late as he is averaging 25 points in his last four games. What is also notable, is the fact that he is shooting 56% from the field in that stretch compared to 45.5% overall on the season. We should not have to worry about volume tonight, around 15 to 18 shot attempts and that should help to at least get him over 20 points to along with the 6.4 assists he is averaging per game. 

Kyle Anderson, Minnesota Timberwolves

When Anderson gets the playing time, the forward is generally able to compile a fair amount of production. That was the case last night as in 35 minutes of action, Anderson scored 15 points but he also combined that with seven rebounds and 12 assists. We should be aware that Anderson’s success was in part due to his seven of nine shooting from the free throw line, but as long as he remains in the starting lineup, we have a solid baseline of around 5x with room for more. 

Jerami Grant, Portland Trail Blazers

Grant had an off night on Thursday as he only scored 18 points thanks to a lackluster shooting performance of six of 15 shots from the field. While it is possible Grant sees a slight reduction in his offensive volume now that Lillard is back, the forward is still averaging 22.8 points per game this year and he will continue to be a strong option for Portland while chipping in with a few rebounds and assists per game.

Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers

With only Gobert to contend with the post, things might be a little easier for Nurkic tonight as he continues to have success operating on the periphery of Portland’s offense. If everything goes right, as it did last night, Nurkic can easily pick up 21 points again although he did it in part by shooting nine of 10 from the field. With 14.8 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, the baseline is pretty strong here from Nurkic. 

Dart Throws

Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves

Reid moves up in the pecking order with Towns out, but it still seems like his role is limited to around 15 minutes of action. Game flow will ultimately dictate how involved Reid gets offensively but he is averaging 8.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season and can do more when given then chance. 

Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers

Sharpe took eight shots in 14 minutes of action on Thursday and he is averaging eight points per game this season so we know that there is some offensive upside there. Too often, Sharpe has not shown it though, but he is shooting 46.4% from the field overall this season. 

 

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