With the NBA regular season in the final stretch, a lot of star players are resting and a lot of guys you didn’t know about a week ago are playing big-time minutes. We’re going to try and navigate the best value options of the day to help you win!
I’m not sure many people had Talen Horton-Tucker scoring 40 actual points the last time out on their bingo cards. THT is playing without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook in this game – and Carmelo Anthony, too. There’s no reason to think he’s not going to take all the shot attempts he wants and play as many minutes as he can here. Not to mention OKC is a bottom-five defense since the All-Star break.
With Mitchell Robinson out, we should see Jericho Sims starting once again and playing all the center minutes. He looked great earlier this week against Brooklyn as he notched a double-double across 34 minutes while also putting up 38 DKP. The Wizards have been just below league average in rebounding since the All-Star break, but it’s still very possible we see Sims notching 10+ rebounds once again with Kristaps Porzingis ruled out for Washington.
The hook shot machine that is Zavier Simpson is playing SO many minutes and he’s not stopping. He’s played 39 and 44 in his first two games and expects much of the same here. Simpson hasn’t shot the ball particularly well but has still managed 26+ DKP in each of the two games he’s played. It’s encouraging to see him shoot 10+ times in both games as well.
With the Wizards ruling Kristaps Porzingis out and officially waving the white flag, Daniel Gafford should see a big bump in playing time. With Porzingis, Bradley Beal, and Kyle Kuzma off the floor this year, Gafford averages north of one FP/min – which would be elite if he were given 30+ minutes. We just saw two games ago what Gafford can do when he’s extended, playing 31 minutes against Minnesota and scoring 24 points with 12 rebounds. He may not have even shown his real upside either, considering he only had one block and we know he can block shots with the best of them.
Welcome to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where you sign from the clouds and show up and get 30 minutes, Georgios Kalaitzakis! The former Buck has shown up on the scene and has looked pretty good, shooting 44% or better in two straight games for the Thunder. He’s also topped 29 minutes in each game and there’s no reason to think he won’t continue on that path as the season winds down. The Lakers are resting everyone and, with the same lineup on Thursday, they gave up 128 points.
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