Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell (45) celebrates with Jae Crowder (99) and Rudy Gobert (27) after the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, March 2, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Kim Raff)
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Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 42.93 DK - 42.75
The 76ers get a great matchup against a very weak Minnesota team that just got run off the court by the Grizzlies on Friday night. Simmons hasn’t been called on to play a ton of minutes the last few games with the Sixers taking part in three-straight blowouts. But a close game should have him pushing run in the mid-30s and he does have triple-double upside in this matchup. It’s been up and down for Simmons in the short-term without Embiid but this just represents too good a spot. He’s coming much too cheap on FanDuel at sub-$8K.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 32.17 DK - 34.18
It looks like Mike Conley is going to sit the second half of the back-to-back for the Jazz meaning we, once again, should see a lot of Jordan Clarkson. The last two times Conley sat out games, Clarkson averaged 26 points and seven rebounds. He’s going to still come off the bench in the sixth man role, but the usage and minutes have been there in the past for the guy when Conley has been out of the mix. The price is still low on enough on FanDuel though I will say it is getting steep on DraftKings.
If Bradley Beal is out then Russell Westbrook (FD 11000 DK 11100) would be a must-play once again.
There’s also a good chance that, with a lot of other value, we just run Luka Doncic (FD 10400 DK 10600) on Saturday.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 50.46 DK - 53.31
Like I said with Clarkson, Mike Conley is doubtful is for this game meaning Mitchell becomes close to a must-play because of the likely usage uptick he’ll see taking over more of the point guard duties. The last two games Conley sat out, Mitchell was amazing with an average of 39 points and seven rebounds. He jacked up 17 and 30 shots with the former being only that low because he played 28 minutes in a blowout. Against a weaker Chicago defense, this is, once again, this is a spot to jam Mitchell into lineups.
Similarly, Ingles should take over point guard and off guard duties with Conley out of the mix and will get the start if the latter were to sit. He, like Clarkson and Mitchell, is another huge beneficiary of the starting point guard sitting and sees a bit increase in usage and minutes with Conley off the court. He took 17 shots two games ago when Conley sat out and only got buzzed off minutes last time around because of the blowout.
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 38.45 DK - 39.71
Malcolm Brogdon was a late scratch on Friday night and Doymantas Sabonis left the game early with an ankle injury. We could be walking into this game with a very depleted Pacers’ starting lineup which would open things up for LeVert against the Spurs. He ended up leading the team in shots on Friday and would likely do so again if both the former guys sat this one out. Caris hasn’t been all that efficient since joining the Pacers, but the price would be too low for the opportunity if he were the primary scoring option on Saturday.
Small forward, especially on FanDuel is a bit tough to parse out even this early in the day. There are a lot of moving injury parts that could affect lineups when it’s all said and done. Let’s go through some of the things to look out for.
If Bradley Beal is out again then Rui Hachimura (FD 6000 DK 7000) becomes a pretty easy play once again. Before the last game which ended up a blowout, Rui had put up 24 and 25 shots respectively with Beal off the court good for a 28 point, six rebound average.
If the Bucks play at full strength or even decide to rest some guys, there’s a chance we see Khris Middleton (FD 7500 DK 8000) as the big fantasy winner. If Giannis sits the b2b, or really even if the Bucks are at full strength and can avoid the blowout then Middleton has a high floor in this matchup.
Jimmy Butler (FD 9100 DK 9000) is in play if there’s tons of other value on the slate and we need a pay-up at the spot. It’s a weaker position on FanDuel and Butler’s been excellent since returning, averaging almost 42 fantasy points per game despite playing lower minutes in two of those.
Justin Holiday (FD 4000 DK 4400) would be looking at a big usage and minutes increase if both Brogdon and Sabonis were to sit this game out.
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 59.74 DK - 61.88
Giannis is coming off a monster game on Friday as a chalk option, putting up a whopping 47 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks. It was a bounce-back game for the guy considering the fantasy output had been lower in the short term. But he crushed and could do so again against the worst defense in the league in the Kings. My only concern here is that Milwaukee once again empties the bench in favor of getting their big guys rest on the back-to-back. We’ve seen that before and it could happen here as well. If so, then his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo (FD 4200 DK 3200) would be the guy. But this is a wait-and-see affair.
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 41.63 DK - 41.79
Like Ben Simmons, Harris draws a great matchup on Saturday against the Timberwolves and has seen a definitive usage increase with Embiid out of the mix. He’s averaged about 17 shots per game over the last month and has scored 20 or more points in four of his last seven games. In close games, the minutes can trend towards the high-30s and the floor is very high in this matchup against a team that is just awful on the defensive side of the ball.
If Sabonis sat, Doug McDermott (FD 4300 DK 4000) could see the start at power forward for the Pacers.
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 36.01 DK - 33.4
We could be seeing the Pacers playing shorthanded in this game, especially in the frontcourt if Sabonis were to sit meaning the potential increased opportunity for Turner. He’s been a complete block machine this season and over the last month is averaging a crazy 3.7 swats per game. On FanDuel, that’s close to 12 fantasy points right out of the gate with the blocks. The usage and rebounding haven’t been there in big numbers but that would likely change if their starting power forward was out of the game.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 36.15 DK - 36.08
He got buzzed off minutes on Friday because the Thunder got completely waxed by the Suns, but Brown had been solid since joining the starting lineup before that. Over the previous four games, he was averaging 17 points and 14 rebounds per game. Some of that was lumpy because of the Boston game, but he’s still a double-double threat every night if the minutes are there.
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