Tonight’s slate hinges on the availability of James Harden who is officially Questionable with a foot injury. If he does not play, he opens up a ton more shots, assists, and ball-handling for a variety of 76ers players and Joel Embiid becomes a lock in our MVP spot. Also, watch the injury report for the Kings who could potentially rest some guys on the second night of a back-to-back. Here are the NBA DFS top plays we can invest in for our lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings!

 

Philadelphia 76ers Injuries

James Harden - QUESTIONABLE

Sacramento Kings Injuries

NONE

NBA DFS MVP/CAPTAIN

Domantas Sabonis (C)

At this rate, Sabonis is a lock for an All-NBA team and a top-six MVP finish assuming he avoids more injuries the rest of the season. He has simply been one of the most dominant all-around players in the NBA this year and he is almost to the point where he has almost caught up to the most elite players in salary. It’s well-deserved as he has scored under 52 fantasy points just once in the last three weeks and scored 43 fantasy points in his only other meeting with Philadelphia this year. Sabonis is coming off an incredible 18-13-14 triple-double last night against Oklahoma City and he is the clear focal point of this offense. 

De’Aaron Fox (PG)

The 76ers have been really good against point guards this year (best in the NBA), so Fox’s hot streak is going to be put to the test. For a substantially lower salary, Fox offers just as high a ceiling as Sabonis in this nice matchup, and he has only scored less than 34 fantasy points once in the last two weeks. He averages 41.4 fantasy points per game at home this year, and if he doesn’t have to worry about James Harden tonight, he has the potential to reach that number for much less than it will cost you to get Sabonis or Embiid. 

Joel Embiid (C)

I’m approaching this game as if James Harden is not playing tonight since he is Questionable with a foot injury and did not participate in the morning shootaround on Saturday. That means Embiid is about to feast. When Harden is out, Embiid has almost a 40% usage rate and scores 1.64 fantasy points per minute. To make things even better for Embiid’s situation, there is only one team in the entire league in the bottom seven of defensive rating and top seven in pace. The Sacramento Kings. They allow around 60 fantasy points per game to centers in their last 15 games and Embiid already scored 46 fantasy points in just 30 minutes on the court the last time these teams played. 

NBA DFS UTILITY 

Keegan Murray (PF)

Murray had the best game of his young career last night, torching the Thunder for 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 51 fantasy points in 37 minutes. We love the production, of course, but the minutes are now at 34+ in back-to-back games and three of his last five. This is a player who is evolving into a star alongside great players like Sabonis and Fox and the 76ers have allowed the third-most fantasy points to power forwards in the last 15 games. 

Tyrese Maxey (SG/SF)

Maxey is often the forgotten man among the 76ers star hierarchy, but he will need to play a big role if Harden is out and has a very reasonable price tag in the mid-$7,000s. He is over 26 fantasy points per game in the last 10 days but more importantly, is playing 30-38 minutes every game now when he was slightly limited earlier in the season. Maxey, with his ability in assists, rebounds, and steals, is a player who will benefit greatly from the pace bump tonight. Philadelphia ranks 25th in pace while the Kings are sixth. When Harden is out, Maxey also gets a usage bump into elite territory (31.8%). 

Tobias Harris (SF/PF)

Behind Embiid and Maxey, the player with the highest usage when Harden is missing is Tobias Harris. His 23% usage and 1.06 fantasy points per minute in those scenarios will be quite valuable tonight against a Kings team that has allowed the most fantasy points to power forwards over the last seven games (53.7). The Kings also rank 28th overall this season in opponents’ field goal percentage (49%) so it’s going to be bombs away all night for Harris in this one. 

NBA DFS DART THROWS

Shake Milton (PG)

When Harden isn’t on the court this season, it’s Shake Milton who has the most minutes on the floor in his absence. Milton’s 740 minutes on the floor are 160 more than any other teammate and he sees a usage bump up to 20%. He would immediately slide into the starting lineup and be looking at 30+ minutes in this game. The Kings are a bottom-10 team against point guards in their last 30 games. For that kind of court time, we are also looking at 0.90 fantasy points per minute at a salary that assumes he will be a limited player off the bench. 

Trey Lyles (PF)

We of course like Lyles a lot more when Sabonis or Keegan Murray are out, but he has solidified his place as the top backup to both the power forward and center positions for the Kings. He has played more than 14 minutes in his last six games and has scored double-digit fantasy points in seven games in a row. The $4,200 salary is very reasonable on DK and we know he will be out there for 14-20 minutes in this game on a Kings team that has a very tight eight-man rotation when all of their players are healthy. 

 

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