FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Wednesday 8/12/20

As the bubble and the regular season draw to a close, we’ve entered deep and dark DFS times with how these teams are playing out the final few games. At least on Tuesday, there were three teams with legitimate things to play for. That isn’t the case on Wednesday with none of the eight teams playing for anything but seeding at the most. Instead of going position-by-position, let’s just look at each game and what some of the injury news pieces and considerations are going in.



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Indiana Pacers at Houston Rockets

With James Harden (FD $10800 DK $11100) out on Tuesday, it sure seemed like Russell Westbrook (FD $9400 DK $10400) was up for a monster game. But a blowout loss to the Spurs meant the Rockets took their foot off the gas by the fourth quarter. Harden should be back for this game, though I suppose Westbrook could sit on the second game of the back-to-back. If that were the case then Harden would probably be the cash play even at reduced minutes.

The secondary pieces for the Rockets are somewhat interesting with Danuel House sitting. Jeff Green (FD $4000 DK $4400) got the start with Austin Rivers (FD $5500 DK $4800) continuing to come off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Pacers are signaling that they are going to be in full punt mode for this game. TJ Warren has already been ruled out and Malcolm Brogdon and Victor Oladpio are listed questionable That strikes me as the team leaning toward just sitting everyone. If that were the case then Justin Holiday (FD $3500 DK $3600) and Aaron Holiday (FD $4000 DK $4600) would be interesting plays. If everyone sits then T.J. McConnell (FD $3600 DK $3500) might run all the guard minutes.

Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers

With Ben Simmons already on the shelf, and Joel Embiid dealing with an injury, the Sixers decided to punt Tuesday’s game against the Suns. They sat out Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris and Al Horford. If all three return in this game because Philly is trying to fight it out for the fifth seed, then I think all three are in play from a DFS perspective.

If they sit again (unlikely) then we could see more big games from Alec Burks (FD $4200 DK $4900) who was a chalkier play on Tuesday and put up 23 points and four assists. It would also mean another run for Kyle O'Quinn (FD $3500 DK $3000) who was the min-price play of the slate in the spot start. He played 32 minutes and put up a near-triple-double with nine points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Raptors are really tough to trust here. They have nothing at all the play for being locked into the second seed and will get Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet back. This is a tough team to get behind even on the short slate because it could just be a minutes maintenance game for everyone.

Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder

The Heat appear locked into either the 4th or 5th seed so there’s really no reason to go all-out in this game. They blew out the Pacers on Monday and all of the starters played around 30 minutes. Goran Dragic (FD $5500 DK $5300) entered the starting lineup for Kendrick Nunn and should be there again as Nunn works to clear quarantine after leaving the bubble. He makes for something of a value after getting up a team-high 16 shots though he ran bad from the field hitting only five shots and going 1-6 from three.

Jimmy Butler (FD $7900 DK $7800) returned from a two-game absence and made his presence felt with 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals. He is one of the better “big money” plays on this slate because he should still be in conditioning mode and 29-30 minutes is reasonable.

The Thunder went with Chris Paul (FD $7700 DK $8200) and backups on Monday with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting out along with Adams and Schroder who left the bubble. I suspect we see moderate minutes from the starters though there’s still (maybe) reason to believe in Darius Bazley (FD $4800 DK $4800) who put up a chalk-beating performance last time out.

Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets

Technically there’s some seeding at stake here with Denver still having an outside chance of getting into the two seed. It’s unclear though whether they are even motivated to do so staring down a matchup with the Mavericks. Patrick Beverley has already been ruled out for this game along with Landry Shamet. Even if minutes are an issue, I still think Reggie Jackson (FD $3800 DK $5100) plays enough to hit value on FanDuel.

Kawhi Leonard (FD $8700 DK $9500) and Paul George (FD $7500 DK $8400) are simply raw points plays considering what’s going on here. Clippers aren’t full strength, but they are close and that’s something of a “problem” on this slate because we can’t count on a particular scenario.

The Nuggets didn’t seem all that concerned with winning down the stretch in the bubble the other night against the Lakers. They closed with Bol Bol, Monte Morris, Keita Bates-Diop, PJ Dozier and Mason Plumlee. That doesn’t scream to me a team that really wants to care going down the stretch. From that standpoint, I don’t think we can trust much with Denver here.

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