Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) drives around Utah Jazz guard Raul Neto, left, in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 56.28 DK - 59.35
With CJ McCollum out with the injury, this has fully become Damian Lillard’s team on offense. I mean, it basically was anyway, but with CJ out of the mix, the usage ticks up even more. Over the last five, Dame is averaging about 20 shots per game and has put up 33 points per game that stretch. You won’t often see runs like that and the price hasn’t come close to reflecting the output, at least not on FanDuel. He’s basically a must-play in cash on that site. It’s a little closer on DraftKings where he’s one of the most expensive plays on the slate. But I think you can do it there as well considering he’s playing Chicago who ranks 26th in team defense this season.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 38.96 DK - 41.96
The Suns are still without Devin Booker in the lineup on Saturday with him trying to recover from the hamstring injury. The Suns have missed Booker, losing two of their last three games. Paul has stepped up his usage in the short term, even before the Booker injury. Over the last six games, he’s getting up 21 shots per game and averaging 25 points per game. Where it’s dropped off for him some is in the assist department. He’s only averaging 3.5 dimes per game in that stretch including a game against the Wizards in which he had zero. That’s mildly concerning but it’s also keeping his price in a completely fair range.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 47.59 DK - 49.92
Lavine will take on the Blazers who’ve been decimated by injuries in the short-term losing McCollum, Nurkic, and now Derrick Jones from their starting lineup. They already ranked 28th in defensive efficiency and it’s hard to imagine them making gains in the short-term. Lavine is having the best scoring season of his career, putting up 27 points per game thanks to shooting close to 40% from three on almost nine attempts per game. He’s also sporting career-high assists and rebound numbers as well. This one feels like a pretty easy call on both sites.
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 34.59 DK - 36.76
We are still waiting on the status of Jimmy Butler for this game, but even if he came back I still think we can run Herro out in cash here. The Heat are dealing with all kinds of issues from health protocols to actual injuries and have had to play with weird lineups for a while now. Hero came back against the Clippers after a seven-game absence and looked no worse for wear. He dropped 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in 32 minutes. The run should increase here as he gets the conditioning back and the Kings are the worst defense in the league.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 33.71 DK - 33.39
Carmelo Anthony has had to step up for the Blazers in the wake of their rash of injuries and that should be the case again on Saturday in a game we are going to want to stack against the Bulls. He’s started the last two games, played 35 and 38 minutes respectively, and averaged 18 shots. The last one was a disaster, going 3-15 from the field and scoring only six points. But that has to be viewed as an outlier. The run should continue to be there and the mid-tier pricing makes this a pretty easy call in cash games.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 42.53 DK - 44.6
The Pelicans will host the Rockets at home on Saturday which should be a super-fun game to tune into. It’s worth noting that while I like Ingram as a cash play in this game on DraftKings, Houston has greatly improved their defensive efficiency this season. They rank 4th overall which is kind of astounding. But the game still has one of the higher totals on the slate and Ingram is a near-lock for mid-30’s minutes or more. He’s averaging 30 points a game over his last three though the other stats have come and gone. This isn’t a lock play, but the position is on the weaker side.
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 29.56 DK - 27.92
Jonas Valanciunas is going to sit this game out which should give Tillman another crack at starting at center for the Grizzlies. In the last two games, before Memphis went on its little hiatus, Tillman played 27 and 28 minutes with an average line of 13 points, five rebounds, and 2.3 steals. That more than gets the job done at these prices and I expect him to be among the highest-owned plays on the slate. The DraftKings price is especially a joke and he could be 90%+ owned in cash games there.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 44.07 DK - 44.7
Like I said with Ingram, the Rockets aren’t rollovers on defense this season and this isn’t some cake matchup. But Zion is coming at reasonable prices and is just too cheap on DraftKings. He’s coming on the back-to-back after the win against Milwaukee on Friday, and it’s worth noting that he hasn’t played a b2b yet this season. But I do think the minutes, if he plays, still stick in the mid-30s for this game. He’s averaging 24 points and seven rebounds on the season with some assists and the occasional defensive stat thrown in as well.
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 31.12 DK - 31.86
Cody Zeller is back in the starting lineup for the Hornets after returning from injury a few games ago. He’s been solid in that stretch, playing high 20s minutes per game, averaging 11 points and 12 rebounds per game in the last two. This is a high-floor, low-ceiling play against the Bucks. But the center position is on the weaker side and Zeller isn’t expensive enough to imagine him really killing you based on the short-term production.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 29.32 DK - 29.41
You can consider going up in price a little to Steven Adams who’s been solid of late for the Pelicans. He’s averaging 31 minutes per game through the month of January and in that stretch is putting up nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists. He needs every minute to get there on these prices considering how the Pelicans use him. But center is pretty thin on this slate so you’ll want to stay in the mid-tier and below.
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