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 - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 54.21 DK - 60
Damian Lillard was a chalk option on Monday for good reason and he could that again here on Monday against the Wizards. Dame started slow, but finished strong against the Lakers, scoring 40 points in the win. He took 23 shots, his most since January 25th against the Jazz. The usage saw an uptick with Jerami Grant out of the lineup though the latter is questionable for this game. While he’s really up there in price now, Portland has the highest implied total on the slate and are in a great spot against Washington.
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 39.78 DK - 42
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 34.29 DK - 37.79
It looks like Jayson Tatum is going to sit out this game with an illness and Jaylen Brown is already out of the mix with a facial fracture. Oh, and Marcus Smart has been out injured for some time now. The Celtics are really thin going into this game and for starters, we should see a lot of minutes and usage out of Derrick White.
White has played 37 or more minutes in each of the last four games, and over the last six, he’s averaged 22 points, six assists, and six rebounds. The price has come up in the short-term, but not enough for the current opportunity with Boston missing so many guys in the backcourt and on the wing.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Brogdon isn’t likely to start, but he should be called on for an uptick in minutes in this game considering the state of the Celtics’ injury issues. He only played 18 minutes against the Hornets, and also sat out last game. But here he could push 30+ minutes off the bench mostly because Boston will need his offense.
Opponent - BOS
Proj Pts FD - 61.93 DK - 66.74
While we typically don’t want to run guys into the Celtics on a DFS slate, this situation is a bit different seeing as how Boston is missing so many players. That makes it a bit more palatable to play Giannis Antetokounmpo here. He’s very expensive of course, but there might be enough ways to save to get in his salary when it’s all said and done. In close games, Giannis is good for about 36 minutes and his recent run has really been something even for him. Over his last eight games he’s averaging an unreal 39 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in fewer than 33 minutes per game. These are video game stats through and through.
In terms of some middle-tier plays on this slate, Donte DiVincenzo (FD 5400 DK 5100) and Josh Okogie (FD 5100 DK 4600) both stand out considering they should be starting for the Warriors and the Suns respectively. DiVincenzo is likely running for Klay Thompson with the latter sitting on the back-to-back and Okogie has been getting the nod with the Suns while they wait for Kevin Durant to get cleared to play.
Both of these guys likely don’t have all that high of a ceiling seeing as they will share the court with high-usage guys in their respective offenses. But it’s hard to argue with projected minutes if things line up correctly.
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 28.2 DK - 30.95
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 36.56 DK - 38.21
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 27.89 DK - 31.36
Again, as we said with Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon, the Celtics are really shorthanded here without Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. That should lead to more minutes and opportunity for at least Grant Williams and Sam Hauser here. Hauser has played 30+ minutes in three of the last four games, averaging 15 points and 4.25 rebounds in that stretch. But he was oddly iced in basically everything but scoring last game. That seems like an outlier and I think he’s a good value on both sites in this situation.
Meanwhile, for Grant Williams, the scoring can really come and go, but he’s fairly reliable on a per-minute basis with the rebounding. And he can, at times, get after it on the defensive end. I do think the usage ticks up some considering who the Celtics are missing in this game, but there’s probably a limited ceiling on the fantasy production. The DraftKings price is low enough that it’s not all that big of a risk.
Finally, Robert Williams has 15+ rebounds in each of the last three games and we know that he can pile on blocks in the right situation. This is a tough matchup against Giannis and the Bucks, but the minutes should be there considering how much Boston will need him on the defensive end.
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 32.39 DK - 33.91
Jakob Poeltl is an interesting price on DraftKings at $5400. He started his first game in Toronto and ended up playing 25 minutes. Sure, he only took five shots, but he finished with three steals and two blocks to make up for it. The Raptors desperately needed an interior defender to compliment their wings on that end and Poeltl could be the answer. Foul trouble bit into his minutes and I think the plan is to play him closer to 30 here.
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