Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, in Denver. The Warriors won 125-101. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Welcome to the news and updates article for Saturday's NBA slate. We've got all the latest news updated for the main slate, and at the end of the piece I'll spotlight our systems top plays on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Any questions can be left in the comments section below, or pop on into the members chat. Let's get to it.
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Durant will miss a second straight game with a calf injury that held him back on Thursday night in Houston. Andre Iguodala will likely start in KD's place. Iggy came out of Thursday's game with knee soreness but it doesn't seem to be anything to be concerned about. The same applies to Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Omri Casspi, who all experienced soreness following Thursday's game but all are available and will suit up for today's game in Los Angeles.
Teodosic was playing through foot pain on Thursday night against the Thunder, and given his history with the issue, (he missed 22 games earlier this season with a foot issue), the Clippers will choose to exercise caution leading to expanded opportunities for Jawun Evans, who will start in Teodosic's place, as well as Lou Williams, C.J. Williams, and Wes Johnson.
Carroll played through rib pain on Wednesday which clearly limited him against Minnesota, having had two days of rest in between games, he will likely wait to test the ribs out prior to game time before a final decision is made. LeVert meanwhile sat out Wednesday with a groin strain and seems likely to sit out once more as the Nets host the Celtics today. Spencer Dinwiddie, Allen Crabbe, and Joe Harris will all see increased run with LeVert out once again.
Hill's wife is expected to give birth in the next few days and though no official word has come from the team on his status, it seems unlikely that he will join them for tonight's game with the Nuggets. With Frank Mason still out this could mean more time for De'Aaron Fox who was pretty impressive in 32 minutes during his first game back on Tuesday.
Victor O. will make his return tonight after missing four straight games with a knee injury. This will send Lance Stephenson back to the bench, while Damien Wilkins will come off the bench and join the Indiana starting rotation in place of Bojan Bogdanovic who will miss tonight's game with an ankle sprain.
Love struggled in Boston with ankle pain that kept him severely limited on the court in just 21 minutes. Love was a full participant in practice on Friday and seems to be good to go for tonight's game with the Magic.
Simmons logged only 15 minutes against the Rockets on Wednesday, sitting out the second half with back spasms. Though still listed as a GTD it seems to still be causing discomfort and he will likely not be able to suit up for tonight's game against the Cavaliers. Mario Hezonja, Arron Afflalo, and Shelvin Mack will all be in line to see extra run in his absence.
Porter strained his hip late in last night's game against the Grizzlies and left after 27 minutes. The Wizards may keep him out of tonight's tail end of a back to back set as they host the Bucks tonight, more word should come on his status following shoot-around.
Drummond returned from a one game absence with bruised ribs last night against the Sixers and struggled through 28 minutes in the blowout loss. This could send Boban Marjanovic back into the starting squad once again, making him an exciting play after he posted an impressive 7X PPD outing against the Heat on Wednesday.
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 37 DK - 37.8
Opponent - CLE
Proj Pts FD - 41.36 DK - 41.79
I'm going to break the every lineup plays down by site. On FanDuel, no single player is showing up in 100% of our top 25 lineups being put out by the optimizer, but these two guys appear in 24 out of 25 so that's got to be worth something right? Khris Middleton is a cash game staple, who sees a ton of minutes and pays 5X PPD on the regular. We're getting him on the downswing in pricing as just over a week ago he was commanding $8K in salary, which helps add to his appeal against a strong Washington defense allowing the sixth fewest fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards. This game has a nice 214 projected total from Vegas with a mere 3.5 point spread which means Middleton should have plenty of time to get the 35 FP we need for 5X value. Then there's Aaron Gordon, Gordon was the only play we looked at from this game in the picks article, and is a very appealing option at the four where we don't want to drop over $11K on Anthony Davis, so as the next most expensive option, Gordon is the best way for paying up at the four. This game has the highest projection of the day at 222 points though it does come with some minor blowout concern. Gordon should see 30 minutes at least against a Cavaliers team that is none too threatening on paper at the position, and potentially more if Orlando can keep it close. While these guys are appearing in the top FD lineups, they're priced well within consideration on DK as well.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 55.29 DK - 55.37
The play on DK that's impossible to ignore however is Anthony Davis. As I mentioned just above, I won't touch him on FD but on DK, I will have total exposure as his price is just too good to be true. Davis is an absolute stud, and for him to be priced well below $10K is nothing short of nonsense and has to be taken advantage of. The system is placing Davis in all of the top 25 lineups, and I'm sure if it was set to give us 50 lineups, he'd appear in each of those as well. This is another game with a high projection and low spread, so minutes are of no concern, as long as Davis stays healthy he will crush value at this price. The Timberwolves may be a top three defense against power forwards, but for this price, it doesn't matter. Lock and load AD on DraftKings.
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