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7 game slate tonight in the NBA, with three of those games sporting an O/U greater than 220. We should see plenty of high scores in DFS tonight, and due to some recent injuries there is a ton of value on the slate. We’ll take a look at each position and highlight spots to target with your lineups.
Point Guard
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With the season only 5-6 games in, I would advise not to lean too heavily on the defense vs positions stats. The numbers are still heavily biased by early season matchups. That said, there are favorable spots where the numbers match what we saw in previous seasons. Here are my favorite PG plays tonight
Steph Curry vs Washington
Shaun Livingston will be missing tonight’s game, and should increase Curry’s floor in the event the game is blowout - the spread currently sits at 11.5 points. This should be a competitive game, and is the highest O/U on the slate at 231. Curry should get all the minutes he can handle tonight and Washington has struggled thus far against PGs.
Spencer Dinwiddie vs New York
D’Angelo Russell is out again for Brooklyn, which means Dinwiddie should see another 30 minutes of action tonight. This Knicks/Nets game will be a shootout and Brooklyn is thin at Guard with Russell out and Lin lost for the season. Dinwiddie can contribute across the board and is not dependent on scoring to accumulate fantasy points, but it is worth noting he put up 13 shots (8 3-pointers) in the first game of Russell’s absence.
D.J. Augustin vs San Antonio
Elfrid Payton is out again and Augustin is the main beneficiary. The Spurs are awesome against PGs (and all other positions), but Augustin has a safe floor given the amount of minutes he’ll see. He’s had back-to-back games of 34 and 36 points with Payton out and could come close to that again tonight against San Antonio.
Shooting Guard
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Eric Gordon vs Charlotte
Trevor Ariza has already been ruled out tonight and Gordon should see a ton of minutes again tonight. Gordon blew up for 29 points on Wednesday night in 39 minutes of play. He threw up 16 3-pointers in the game, and will get similar shot volumes against Charlotte.
Gary Harris vs Atlanta
Atlanta is a disaster after losing to Chicago last night, and Harris has been the most consistent of the Denver guards. He has a safe floor of 20ish points and could erupt for a big night against a terrible defense.
Kyle Anderson vs Orlando
The matchup looks tough against Orlando according to our chart above, but Anderson plays mostly as a SF, where the Magic’s numbers are far worse. Anderson hasn’t seen fewer than 27 minutes in his 4 games this year, and is averaging 10 points and 8 boards per game. Love the floor here with Leonard, Parker, and Lauvergne all out for San Antonio tonight. I love him at a thin SG spot tonight.
Small Forward
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DeMarre Carroll vs New York
The biggest benefactor of D’Angelo Russell’s injury is Carroll who will have plenty of shots to go along with his excellent secondary stats. He led the team with 16 shots in Russell’s first game out, and should get even more in a high-scoring matchup with the Knicks.
Kent Bazemore vs Denver
Someone has to score against Denver with Schroeder and Ilyasova out tonight for the Hawks. Bazemore is a volatile play, but will have plenty of opportunity to put up monster points tonight. He led Atlanta with 19 shots last night against Chicago, and I expect a similar number of opportunities tonight.
Power Forward
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LaMarcus Aldridge vs Orlando
Aldridge has been a beast with Leonard out to start the season. Magic have been struggling against forwards thanks to Aaron Gordon’s suspect defense. Aldridge will have a field day.
Pascal Siakam vs Los Angeles Lakers
Min priced and coming off a 20-point performance as a starter, Siakam is the best value play on the slate. Poeltl also performed well, and is listed under Center plays, but Siakam is my preferred play tonight due to price.
Kristaps Porzingis vs Brooklyn Nets
The best player in a game where defense will be non-existant. Porzingis will go off tonight against the Nets.
Center
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Clint Capela
Nene is ruled out, Trevor Ariza is out, and Tarik Black is questionable. Capela is going to get an easy 30+ minutes tonight. Charlotte is a tough matchup with Dwight Howard at C, but this is a volume play with Capela.
Jakob Poeltl vs Los Angeles Lakers
Jonas Valunciunas is out, and Lucas Nogueira is questionable as of this writing. There’s room for both Poeltl and Siakam to have big nights against the Lakers.
Please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@BrianCreagh) if you have any other questions prior to lock. I’m also available via email bcreagh119@gmail.com for longer questions.