Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, left, is tied up by Denver Nuggets forward Joffrey Lauvergne, of France, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Welcome to the daily updates and injury news article. We'll try and update it right up to line-up locks with as much information as comes across our desks. Let's get to it!
Last night's picks can be found here, so you can wrap your mind around what you need to be looking at before lineups lock tonight.
By the way - we keep our projection system updated with all of the changes as they occur throughout the day right up until lineup lock. Every day. If you want access to that system so you can cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below!
The Phoenix Suns are in full "tank" mode and have no incentive to win at this point in the season. They have decided to shut down Brandon Knight for the season due to the sports hernia he is dealing with. With only 5 games left in the season, this will open up some opportunity for Ronnie Price. Price has picked up 33 and 32 minutes in the previous 2 games Knight missed and will be the starting point guard from here on out. Tonight's match-up with the Hawks is a tough one as the Hawks are 6th in the league against point guards. However, Price is very cheap around the industry and is a fine value option in cash games and tournaments.
George Karl and the Kings have already shown us they don't mind letting guys rest with nothing to play for this late in the season. Casspi is a big part of the offense and plays the key role of 6th man. This news doesn't really put me onto anyone in this lineup but certainly secures the minutes for guys like Seth Curry and Ben McLemore.
Those 30 minutes have to come from somewhere, and this likely means we'll see a little less Robert Covington and Jerami Grant.
Gibson is listed as doubtful for tonight's contest, which means we might get the opportunity to tear our hair out rooting for Mirotic today. The Bulls' big man has been fantastic in 3 of the 4 days that Gibson's been out, but he was truly awful in one day. Hard to call it a safe play, but there's big boom potential for sure.
D-Wade and the heat are locked into the playoffs and are playing for seeding at this point. Wade and Spo are far mare worried about health heading into the playoffs than whether they will be facing the Celtics, Hornets or Hawks. That being said, if Wade is able to play, he will. This is not a match-up I love for Wade as he will see KCP for most of the game.
Nicolas Batum left the game against Cleveland with a left knee strain and is questionable tonight against the Raptors. The Hornets have a ton to play for as they could finish the season anywhere from the 3 seed to the 8 seed. Batum is a huge part of this team and will need him out there if they want to finish the season off strong. I expect Batum to push himself into this game if at all possible. The Raptors will have a tough time matching up with Batum due to Derozan being undersized and Terrence Ross lacking defensive mechanics. I prefer Batum in tournaments as the injury puts some volatility in his minutes.
Khris Middleton was a late scratch against the Bulls with a thigh strain and is questionable heading into tonight's game with the Cavs. The Bucks are a team that is not playing for much and have no reason to force anyone back at this point. This injury certainly has the potential to worsen which leads me to believe Middleton sits this one out. If Middleton does indeed miss the game, Tyler Ennis and Rashad Vaughn become very interesting plays. Ennis played 31 minutes and Vaughn 29 last game without Middleton. I am comfortable using either of those guys against a Cavs team that can give it up to guards.
Kyrie Irving sat last game with an ankle injury he suffered a week ago. The Cavs have the 1 seed virtually locked up and have no reason to push anyone out that is less than 100% healthy. I expect Kyrie to sit out once again and would not be surprised to see someone else take a seat as well. Matthew Dellavedova becomes a great value play if Kyrie sits out. I would look at Iman Shumpert if Lebron sits and Tristan Thompson if Kevin Love sits.
The oh so great 76ers are considering shutting down Nerlens Noel for the season, as they should. The 76ers have a total of 9 wins on the season and are not attempting to win at this point. I expect Noel to sit which will open up some minutes for Jerami grant and Carl Landry. If Noel happens to play, I am taking Grant and Landry out of consideration.
Derrick Rose is back at it again with the lingering injuries and iffy status updates. The Bulls still have an outside chance of getting to the 8 seed and if Rose can play, he will. This match-up against the match-up against the Memphis Grizzlies is a good one as Tony Allen will be on Jimmy Butler which leaves guys like Jordan Farmar and Xavier Munford to cover Rose.
Norris Cole has missed 13 straight games and it looked like he was going to miss the rest of the season. Contrary to popular opinion, Alvin Gentry said he would like Cole to test out his back before the end of the season. Cole is currently questionable for tonight and it looks like he may finally return. There is no better match-up to come back to in the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers are bottom 5 in the league against point guards and struggle more against penetrating point guards. I expect Cole to play around 25 minutes if he comes back and will be a great contrarian option.
This would take a bite out of Tyson Chandler and Mirza Teletovic's minutes, but likely wouldn't make Leuer a play. If he's out, though, both Chandler and Teletovic are solid upside plays.
Opponent - GSW
FD Proj. Pts - 41.73 DK Proj. Pts - 42.48
Karl-Anthony Towns is such a talented young player and looks to finish off his rookie of the year season strong. The Timberwolves would love nothing more than spoiling the historic Warriors year and there is only one way that can happen. His name is Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns will need to be heavily involved in this one and you can expect him to shoot at least 20 times. Towns has played over 32 minutes in 5 of his last 6 games and will certainly see over that here. Towns is by far my favorite center of the day and will be a lock in my lineups.
Opponent - PHI
FD Proj. Pts - 28.28 DK Proj. Pts - 29.58
Opponent - PHI
FD Proj. Pts - 26.26 DK Proj. Pts - 27.47
Both of these guys are in similar situations as they are going to play around 32 minutes against a horrible fast paced team in the 76ers. You can expect both of these guys to hit value with ease as they are extremely cheap and are being forced into a very high usage.
Opponent - LAC
FD Proj. Pts - 28.94 DK Proj. Pts - 30.30
How do you not play Kobe Bryant here? Bryant is facing the Clippers for the second to last time of his career and the game is obviously in the Staples Center. Bryant wants to end his career with some high point totals and can do that in this match up. Kobe may shoot 300 times tonight and all we need is for him to make about 10 to smash value. I am fine with Bryant in both cash games and tournaments tonight. Are you gonna hop on the narrative train with me? Let me know in the comments below!
These are players that show up in each of the top 10 lineups as produced by our lineup optimizer. This doesn't necessarily mean that they're "safe," it just means that their projected weighted-mean point total is a solid building block for a great lineup foundation today.
Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial below of our lineup optimizer, on us!
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View Comments
I picked all four of those in lineups before I even checked out page !! Only one player scare me (Hamilton) that's because when guys that payday, they tend to tone it down!! Let's hope that doesn't happen with Hamilton!!
Very good point. I think it is a bit different here as he is still trying to prove his worth in the league. That is always great news when an article backs up your own thought process!
Im on whatever train the DFSR team is on!! lol on FIRE!! Question tho... the optimal lineup doesn't have KAT in it when he is an "every lineup guy" thats very confusing... haha Let me know if KAT should be in my lineups! or follow the projections! thanks!
KAT is showing up in one optimizer. I advise using him today.
Things get shuffled around throughout the day and that changes things. KAT is not an "every lineup" guy at the moment, and he's a solid (if risky) play against GSW regardless.
Optimizer seems to LOVE Millsap and Hamilton today. Every edit I made still had those two popping up. who am I to question the Optimizer?
Really need optimizer to bail me out. Late slot mlb was short by almost 25points!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$BOOM$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
You guys are the bomb!
It feels like you need to ride parker and giannis if middleton sits cause they will probably do every single thing without the presence of their shooter.
We need someone to write about FantasyAces for the New Yorkers! I sent a message volunteering if anyone else is interesting in reading about Aces...
Did you email doug@dailyfantasysportsrankings.com? We would probably be interested if we could figure out the details.
Early optimal L/U for FantasyAces
G D.Lillard 40.66 6,100.00
G J.Butler 39.01 5,800.00
G T.Frazier 13.50 3,800.00
F A.Aminu 20.82 3,950.00
F G.Antetokounmpo 39.78 6,350.00
F J.Hamilton 24.95 3,650.00
C P.Gasol 40.87 6,000.00
Util R.Gobert 29.04 5,250.00
Util T.Chandler 23.07 4,100.00
I think this is assuming Leuer sits for Phoenix. Obviously would be even better if Middleton sat again for the Bucks and put more of the offensive load on GF.
Kobe is a every lineup guy! These are his finals days in the NBA. I'm riding with him all the way to the end!
He got me 1st place a couple night ago!
You guys ALWAYS recommend ish and then when he plays his old team no love? I'm feeling a big game out of him. Would really like to match him and Frazier up at pg and g on draftkings
I think with so many better options at PG tonight there isn't the need to ride the Ish uncertainty wagon. There's definitely GPP upside...just better plays available.
Ish is definitely an option in tournaments. Tough to touch him in cash games with the safer options in every price range.
Lots of PG options, and the optimizer is spooked by the fact that his drives per game (his bread and butter) have been way down in the last few games. I'm a little concerned that he might be battling a little injury thing again. That said, huge upside play for sure.