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Hello, everyone! bathrobeDFS here with your daily basketball article. I will go over tonight’s slate as someone that plays on Draftkings. If you have any additional questions or want to see guaranteed updates in regards to breaking news- I provide additional updates, information, and stats on my twitter @bathrobeDFS. Feel free to throw me a follow cause it’s much easier and more timely to provide updates over that medium. I also have a Venmo and Patreon for those that wanna help Operation: Get Me A Laptop.
The Daily Slate:
A 7 game slate that could be a lot better. We’re gonna have to hunt and claw for some of these plays, so let’s get right into it.
Situations to take advantage of (in no particular order):
The Memphis Injured - With Conley DOUBTFUL, he would add to the list of sidelined Grizzlies with Bradley, JJJ, Kyle Anderson, CJ Miles, and Dillon Brooks. This leaves the Grizzlies with 11 healthy bodies. But is it really? Jevon Carter has had 1 good game all season. Washburn and Watanabe haven’t played in a game since February 7th. That leaves 8. Delon Wright (4900) will get the start and, even though Orlando is a terrible matchup, you have to like the usage and minutes he’s gonna get. Carter (3000) will get the backup minutes, presumably, and he’s a desperation punt at best. I would assume that Holiday (3800) gets the start at SG in a great matchup against Fournier, with Dorsey (3000) getting some backup minutes. He’s a less desperate, but still desperate, punt as well. SF should be Bruno (3600) with Parsons (3400)also getting heavy minutes when Bruno rotates to play backup PF for Rabb (3600). C will continue to be split between JoVal (6600) and Noah (5000). Noah gets the better matchup against Khem Birch, but both are hard plays here. Obviously everyone here is cheap enough you can give them a chance. I would say Delon and Holiday are the best plays, with Bruno and Parsons on a lower tier.
Vuc - I have pointed out on several occasions that, since getting rid of Gasol, the Grizzlies have been just awful against Centers time and time again. While I am seriously worried this game blows the hell out due to the fact Conley will be out and the Magic actually need to win, Vuc is going to be able to go absolutely nuts here. JoVal, Noah, and Rabb, together, wouldn’t be able to stop him. He has been awesome lately, when he needs to be, including his 50 DKP in 3 quarter game last time out. He can certainly do that again, and, if this stays close, go beyond 60 DKP for you.
I must also point out that MCW (3100) has taken over backup PG duties from Jerian Grant, so if you wanna take a random stab on the ORL backup PG do it with MCW, who may be able to do some real work against Jevon Carter.
Clippers - Against this awful Cavs team, almost everyone is in play. But who should be prioritized over who? Well, first you have to give serious consideration to the guards that will be lined up against Sexton and Clarkson all game, who are 2nd and 3rd worst PGs in the game defensively. That means SGA (5300) may have one of his rare 30-40 DKP games, and I wouldn’t be shocked at all. It also means that LouWill (6700) is laughably underpriced here. I mean talk about someone with 50 DKP upside in a fantastic matchup, you are looking at him right here.
I also have a lot of interest in Gallo (7000) and Montrezl (6800) and this interest would go up considerably were Kevin Love to wind up missing the game, though it appears he isn’t on the injury report for this game. Which means...
Kevin Love - The Clippers have been so bad against bigs this year and, if Love (7700) starts at PF instead of C, the matchup isn’t even FAIR. He will almost assuredly get you 45-50 DKP in the 32-34 minutes he’s gonna get, and, at his PPM and at that price, I don’t know how you wouldn’t also come to conclusion he is one of the best on the whole slate, running away.
I should also note that the Clippers have been just terrible against guards as well, so feel free to load up on both Clarkson (5000) and Sexton (6200), though Sexton is admittedly overpriced unless you are using him in cash.
Mason Plumlee - You know who is currently tied with the Warriors for first place in the West, and could be in 1st by the end of the night depending on if the Pacers can pull off an amazing win? If you said Mike Trout, you really need to stop guessing that. He’s not even a team. It’s the Nuggets. They are a really, really good team. You know who is the worst team in the NBA? Ah ha! This time the answer WAS Mike Trout! No, I’m just kidding, of course. The Knicks are so bad that they are a home team projected to lose by 11. If you follow Vegas lines as closely as I do, that is astounding. That would mean the Nuggets would be 17 point favorites at home, which is just asinine. So, if you are going to go anywhere here, go to Plumlee (4400), who will attack the Knicks where they are weakest, will get 20-25 minutes guaranteed, with the possibility to get to 30+ if this game is over by the half which, given how important it is for the Nuggets, it should be. I should also add that, for this reason I obviously love Monte Morris (4300) as well and will wind up with a ton of him. I would just prefer Plumlee if I had to choose one.
Kevin Knox - As much as it makes me throw up in my mouth to suggest this, the numbers don’t lie. With DSJ and Trier out, the Knicks are going to run Knox (4800) into the ground. If you weren’t paying attention, Knox played 47 minutes even though the game was a blow out. He got 44 DKP. I mean, I don’t care who you are- if you are getting 47 minutes and shooting the ball 17 times, while getting a handful of rebounds on top of it, and you only cost 4800, I am going to be ALL OVER you.
If Vonleh misses, I would also have interest in taking a punt on Hezonja (3900), though I would NOT play him in any single entry lineups. Again, though, if he’s gonna get you 35+ minutes and take a bunch of shots, how can you not have some interest, even if it’s wilting.
Thunder vs Raptors 2: Electric Boogaloo - Ahhh I love me a good rematch. Especially when everything is the exact same. Lowry is out again. So what happened last game in these exact circumstances? The game went into OT before the Raptors put a 13-4 whoopin on the PG13-less Thunder (he fouled out) in the 5 minute period. All in all, Siakam (7200) proved the star of the game, dropping 33p/13r/6a/1b/2s on his way to 63.75DKP. While you shouldn’t expect that kind of production again, all of the same situations present themselves, except now he’s at home. He still gets the 2nd best matchup on the team, and he still sees one of the biggest boosts with Lowry out. I had a lot of him a couple of days ago, which helped me win big, and I will do it again.
I also talked about how the Thunder CAN NOT stop SGs at all. They have been one of the worst teams in the NBA at stopping PGs. I told you to play Danny Green, especially with Lowry out. He was 3700 and put up 37.75 DKP. His price went up to 4100, but the same thing is true today- the Thunder CAN’T stop SG until they start doing things drastically different. Until then, I will keep pounding every SG I can against them and make a ton of money from it. You can join me if you want. I’m trying to get you to.
FVV (5300) was 4700 last game and got 40 minutes and put up 36 DKP. He’s someone else who should do the same exact thing tonight, and his price hasn’t come up enough to stop me from jumping all over him.
Of all the people on the Raptors that I have interest in playing (4), the one I have the least interest in is Kawhi (8900), who, as I said last time, will face the D of PG13 and will get you around 50 DKP which is all good and fine and well and all, but not the kind of score you need to win a GPP. Play him cash though 100/100 times.
On the Thunder side there is only one person I am really interested in - Russ (10800), who is still just far too cheap. 10300 was a joke last game, but this is just a slightly less funny version of the same joke (which I call a Mike Trout). He almost got 70 DKP which, admittedly, was slightly boosted by OT. But only slightly. Remember- the Thunder only got 4 points.
PG13 (9700) just doesn’t look right. He’s gonna keep going out there and giving it his all but I don’t want someone nursing a shoulder injury going against Kawhi. I will instead pivot down to Grant (5300), who will continue to be asked to do more (and has been lately), and Schroder (5300) who will have more to do as well.
D Lo - As you know if you read this article, I am not someone who goes down narrative street very often. Most of the time, all of that is, pardon my french, balivernes. But it’s not for D Lo. D Lo (8300) takes being given up on by the Lakers reallypersonally. And that’s exactly how he feels - like they gave up on him and tried to just dump him off cause they didn’t feel like he would amount to anything. Well, in a matchup against a pathetic Lakers team that has all but given up on the season, I expect D’Angelo to put the pedal to the metal and try to show the Lakers brass, in LA, just what a mistake they made. Plus, on top of all that, the Lakers have been worst against PG over the last month+. It’s just too perfect. If he is super chalky, and he very well might be, I would love to pivot down to Dinwiddie (5900) since only one of them can have a good game at once, and there’s no reason it can’t be Dinwiddie tonight.
JaVale McGee - Sometimes things are just so simple. Centers against the Nets. It’s simple and pure and sweet and beautiful. Like Mike Trout. With the Lakers basically showing us Chandler, even when available, won’t see the floor again, we are left with McGee (5200) getting 30 minutes or so against one of the worst teams in the NBA against centers. He has the ability to get you 10x here if they feed him the ball. He has the ability to get you value JUST FROM PUTBACKS. Don’t sleep on him today. After how amazing yesterday was for Centers, people might too hesitant to go down this far. And with how good a spot McGee is in, that would be a mistake.
For the same reason I love McGee, I also absolutely love Kuzma (6500). There’s a good possibility that both teams go small here, meaning Kuzma would be the “Center against the Nets”, at which point I would want all of him, especially at that price, and with LeBron still limited.
Situations to be careful of (in no particular order):
Spurs vs. Rockets - On a 7 game slate, you have to pick and choose your spots. I choose to not have too much of this spot. This is the 22nd and 24th fastest teams, who have given up the 28th and 27th least DKPPG over the last month. They are also pretty much above average against every position in that stretch, as can be expected when you give up so few points. So who do you take here?
Harden (11400) is matchup proof. He can drop 90 DKP against any opponent. Any defense. Any pace. Any type of D. They can play zone, man, triangle. They can try to double or triple-team him. He will have a chance for 90 DKP. If you single enter, I would consider him an ownership play - if he is super popular, I would fade him cause of the game environment. If he is drastically underowned, I would lock him in and hope for him to go Harden.
With CP3 and White lined up against each other’s stellar Ds, I will pass on both of them. My favorite play on the Spurs would be DeRozan (8000), who would see a lot of Gordon and House Defense, which he would annihilate.
If you want to take a chance on a punt House (4000), go ahead. I will just hope for better plays to open up.
Situations to monitor:
Heat vs Bucks Injury Report - Right now Justise is DOUBTFUL, McGruder is DOUBTFUL, Bam is QUESTIONABLE, Giannis, Hill, and Brown are PROBABLE, while Donte, Pau, Miro, and Brogdon remain OUT. As we await all this news, so does Vegas and they haven’t put out an O/U or a spread. I imagine that, given how these teams play, the O/U would be somewhere in the terrible 213 range with a spread of MIL -9 or so. Basically, not something we want to get near. If Justise and McGruder are out, if would cement Dragic (5800), Wade (5200), and Waiters (4400) into some serious minutes, but not in the best of matchups. Still, any of them are worth taking a chance on if you are playing a bunch of lineups, given their ceilings and their opportunity, but I would prioritize a bunch of other people if you’re going for one lineup or playing cash. If Bam misses, Whiteside (5000) would become the biggest trap play in the history of DFS sports. I bet he still gets 18 minutes and they let Olynyk (5400) play 30 at C. Given the matchup against BroLo (5900), another stretch 5, I wouldn’t be shocked at ALL if this is how they go. I would trust Kelly O way more than Hassan here. The last Heat player I would mention if everyone is out is Jones (3300) who could get 30+ minutes again. He’s not the best producer, especially lately, but he has shown us a 40 DKP ceiling this year. Especially if this game blows out and he gets run against the 3rd stringers, he could put up some serious numbers on that 3300.
On the Bucks side, Giannis (11300) is someone you can play every time he plays. It’s not the best matchup in terms of pace or D, but he’s matchup and pace proof. He also seems to be picking up more usage with Brogdon off the court, so more reason to consider him, especially when he is barely owned tomorrow. With PatCon seeing his price up to 4300, there’s not really a lot of other Bucks I would have interest in.
Alright! That is it for today. I got a call from my Doctor this evening telling me the MRI didn’t show any new issues so we are back to square one. I guess it’s somewhat a relief that I probably don’t have this specific condition, and I don’t need a massive and dangerous surgery. But the fact is they still don’t know what the problem is. So I just have to keep going through tests and hoping they’ll find a way to end all the pain.
Regardless, I just wanted to fill you in because of how amazing and kind and caring you all have been over the last few days and weeks and months. I really do love and appreciate all of you. More than I’d ever be able to express using these words of mine.