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)
After a full day of NBA action that saw about 12 straight hours of NBA action, things start to settle down some for Tuesday with a four-game slate. We've got plenty of ways to save salary plus some interesting matchups from a DFS perspective. Let's break it all down.
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Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 31.35 DK - 30.66
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 24.61 DK - 25.01
The Clippers really shook up their starting lineup on Sunday, slotting in Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell in the win over the Spurs. Beverley played 42 minutes and was everywhere on the stat sheet, going for 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals. It was a GPP-winning line and you almost have to run him back out there at these prices as long as he remains in the starting lineup. With Danilo Gallinari already ruled out and Lou Williams questionable, I think we see Beverley in this spot again. He figures to be a popular play on both sites.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again played a ton of minutes, but really struggled from a fantasy perspective. He shot 3-15 from the field and tallied only four rebounds and three assists despite 38 minutes of court time. It’s actually the thing keeping his price relatively in check and I have no problem rostering him again on this slate.
Opponent - LAC
Proj Pts FD - 22.2 DK - 23.22
Brunson got the surprise start for the Mavericks on Monday against the Bucks and was effective in 30 minutes, scoring 16 points to go with five assists and three rebounds. Dallas has moved this position around a bunch with Dennis Smith Jr. out of the lineup, sometimes going with Kleber but here opting a smaller lineup with Brunson. They might go the same route against the Clippers who basically started three guards last game (see above). We might not get the starting lineup in time for main slate lock, but I feel fairly confident Brunson draws the start again on Tuesday.
Because there is so much potential value at point guard, it will likely make sense to take the savings. But that being said, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard are both very good options lining up against each other.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 39.1 DK - 41.41
Booker struggled against the Timberwolves on Sunday, going only 1-6 from three and finishing with 18 points. Foul trouble dusted off some of his minutes (33) even though the game was a close one. I think we see Booker bounce back to mid-to-high 30’s minutes with his typical higher usage rates. The price at sub-$8K on FanDuel looks great for cash games on FanDuel, especially where the position is rather weak. Because the above point guards all qualify at SG on DraftKings, I don’t think you need to force Booker there.
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 30.65 DK - 31
Wiggins remains something of an enigma both from a real-life basketball standpoint and a fantasy play as well. He can pour in points with volume shooting and then other games totally disappear into the background as the rest of the Timberwolves get theirs. It’s nuts. I do like him as a play in the home and home matchup against the Suns. He played 40 minutes in their game on Sunday and ran bad from the field, shooing 3-14 and even struggled from the line going 3-7. Moderate regression on these numbers would put him in the value play zone if the minutes remained this high.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 46.18 DK - 47.11
I don’t think George is necessarily a great points per dollar play on this slate, but there is so much savings at other positions that spending up at small forward could be the play. PG is coming off back-to-back 31 point games and the usage has maintained as he and Russ have figured out a way to create the two-man offense for the Thunder. The Blazers defend this position reasonably well and are a good defensive team in general so this isn’t a crazy value play. But again, we are in a spot where nearly every position on the slate has some value to speak of and we’re going to need to find a spot to *pay up*. George has a high floor in that respect.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 35.9 DK - 35.78
Warren had no issue realizing his minutes on Sunday against the Timberwolves, playing 38 in the loss. He basically needs to score in order to hit value considering the assists are non-existent and he rebounds the position only moderately well. He will chuck in a steal or two which does help raise his floor, but the scoring is key. He’s become a much better three-point shooter this season, taking more than four threes per game (less than two last season) and knocking them down at a 43% clip. That’s as big of an improvement as you’ll ever see from a player season-over-season and it doesn’t appear a fluke. He’s cheap enough to roster at the projected minutes and will likely be a rather popular play on DraftKings.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 40.49 DK - 41.72
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 41.13 DK - 39.41
Harrell started at center on Sunday for the Clippers as they chose to finally abandon the Gortat/Boban mini rotation they’d worked with for much of the season. It’s unclear if this is the plan going forward with Los Angeles or was strictly because Danilo Gallinari was out with injury. Harrell had some foul trouble against the Spurs and finished only playing 28 minutes with an 18 point, four rebound line. This sure seems like the floor on his production if he’s going to run with the starters. I’m much more interested in the DraftKings price than FanDuel and the latter has some possible *great* ways to punt on Tuesday at a tough position.
Meanwhile, Harris played nearly the whole game against San Antonio, running 43 minutes without Gallo and finishing with a team-high 27 points on 12-20 shooting. Expect the usage to stick around as he remains their top scoring option (especially if Lou Williams is out again). Harris also added nine rebounds and nine assists. The story is, of course, the minutes, considering few players project to ever play this much. But I think it should be the case again on Tuesday.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 18.04 DK - 18.72
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 16.29 DK - 15.59
Bender drew the start for DeAndre Ayton on Sunday and considering how bad he is at real basketball, was more than effective from a fantasy perspective. He double-doubled with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes while also (somehow) staying out of foul trouble against Karl-Anthony Towns. It was an encouraging performance from a guy still coming very cheap on both sites. If he’s in the starting lineup again, then he likely becomes another chalk play. There are a lot of ways to save on this slate so I wouldn’t call him a must, but if Holmes is out then Bender is a solid cash play again.
Meanwhile, Acy came off the bench and after a season of basically doing absolutely nothing but foul the hell out of everyone and anyone in his limited minutes did manage to scratch out eight points, four assists and three steals in 19 minutes. I much prefer Bender here but could see folks talking themselves into Acy.
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 54.96 DK - 56
Towns put in work against the Suns on Sunday, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds and four steals against the DeAndre Ayton-less Suns frontcourt. It looks like Phoenix will be without both Ayton and Richaun Holmes on Tuesday, leaving KAT as the clear, big money payoff for this slate. Even with Ayton on the court, Phoenix is giving up about 11% more scoring and 9% more rebounding than league average to opposing centers. Without him, they are ridiculously undersized and have a terrible defense regardless. I suspect we see Towns as the chalk play on both sites, correctly so.
Opponent - LAC
Proj Pts FD - 34.18 DK - 35.63
I think Towns is the very easy play at center on Tuesday, but there’s some case to pivot onto DeAndre Jordan in GPPs. He’ll likely face either Marcin Gortat OR Montrezl Harrell for the Clippers. He’s coming off back-to-back double-double games with 15 point and 15.5 rebound averages in those two. He can get his minutes cutie crunch time if the Mavs are playing from behind or want to avoid him going to the foul line. But that’s also what keeps the price in check on both sites. On DraftKings where you can play two centers, he’s for sure in contention to roster with KAT.
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