Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) brings the ball up court in the first half during an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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Opponent - UTA
Proj Pts FD - 54.04 DK - 55.27
The Thunder and Jazz play in the game with the highest total on the slate and we are going to want exposure to both sides of this thing. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes for one of the best pay-up options on Thursday, coming in with the prospect of a high minutes expectation and likely significant usage. The Jazz play the fourth-worst defense and run a top-10 pace and SGA has been good for about 19+ shots a game over the last couple of months. He doesn’t take many threes but he seems to get literally whatever he wants near the basket and gets to the foul line a ton too. He could be a popular play here considering the baseline and the matchup.
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 53.72 DK - 59.03
Lillard is another interesting case here considering the state of the Blazers. Anfernee Simons is going to miss some time here. Dame put up 30 shots in his final game before the All-Star break and he’s scored 33+ in four of his last five games. Rest assured, he’s going to put up a ton of shots in the short-term and gets a great matchup against the Kings and their top-10 pace with bottom-third defense.
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 35.18 DK - 39.47
The Jazz traded away Mike Conley and now are going to be without Collin Sexton for this game against the Thunder. That should line up well for Jordan Clarkson in the usage department with 20+ shots and minutes in the mid-30s most-definitely on the table. Clarkson has scored 20+ points in five of the last six games and done just enough in the rebounding and assist categories to keep the floor on the higher side. With the Jazz roster issues, I think he’s a popular play on this slate.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 37.08 DK - 38.57
Fultz has come on very strong of late in both the real-life basketball and fantasy basketball department. He’s finally playing major minutes for the Magic, averaging more than 33 over the last month or so. In the time, he’s putting up 16.5 points, five rebounds, 4.6 assists, and about 1.8 steals+blocks. It’s all added up to a guy who is coming way too cheap against the Pistons, one of the best fantasy matchups around. Detroit has the second-worst defensive efficiency in the league this season and I think Fultz’s current minutes floor is high enough to pay these prices.
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 35.95 DK - 37.97
Talen Horton-Tucker is likely to draw the start for the Jazz with Collin Sexton out of the lineup and the price doesn’t come anywhere close to reflecting his opportunity in this matchup. We’ve seen THT keep a high fantasy floor when the minutes are there, and on the season he is averaging 14 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per 30 minutes. He should have run in the mid-30s at least considering how light the Jazz are on guards and he is trending towards being one of the more popular plays on the Thursday slate.
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 33.97 DK - 36.27
Jerami Grant is going to be back in the lineup for the Blazers on Thursday and could be headed for a strong showing. He gets a usage bump (23% to 24.4%) with Anfernee Simons off the court this season and I think we should see the minutes stick in the mid-to-high 30s against the Kings. This, combined with Nurkic still being out of the mix and small forward being a weaker position make Grant a play coming out of the All-Star break.
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 43.78 DK - 47.62
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 39.77 DK - 39.09
Like Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker, the Jazz are in a good fantasy spot for the remaining players. Markkanen is one of the true breakout stars from this season and when Sexton and Conley have been out of the mix, he has a 25% usage rate in this offense. The price is a bit steep on DraftKings, but on FanDuel it’s completely reasonable to play him here at a weaker power forward position. Stacking Jazz on this slate makes sense even with so many games because of the down chain opportunity with their guard situation a bit of a mess.
And where Walker Kessler is concerned, there is a lot to like as well. The Thunder allow the most opponent rebounds on the season and get blocked the fourth-most in the league. Those two things line up perfectly with Kessler’s skill set. He’s averaging a double-double over his last ten games as a starter and is also putting up a whopping 2.8 blocks per game in that stretch. He makes for a very high floor option if the minutes are going to be up and over 30.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 34.7 DK - 37.7
Zach Collins is way too cheap on DraftKings for a guy who should still be in the starting lineup. The risk here is that the Spurs get completely crushed by the Mavericks and the starters lose minutes. Over the last four games, he’s averaging 16 points and eight rebounds though admittedly some of that is boosted by the great game against the Pistons a couple of weeks ago. Still, I think on DraftKings it’s a pretty easy play with the context around his starting role.
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