Nuggets v Spurs 

Vegas Favorite – Spurs (-4.0), O/U – 216.0

The number one team in the Western Conference, the 21-10 Denver Nuggets, will be traveling tonight to take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are 18-16 so far this season which places them 4.5 games behind the Nuggets, but they have been a very good team at home this season with a 13-5 home record compared to a road record of 5-11. While the Nuggets have an overall winning record while on the road this season, they have shown some signs of faltering recently with their last three road games ending in losses. Given that the Spurs have the highest 3 point percentage out of the entire league this season with 40.3% of attempts made, the Nuggets will need to continue their trend of holding their opponent to just 32.4% of shots beyond the three. For San Antonio to come out ahead, the Spurs need to attempt to step up their points in the paint. So far this year they have scored the 5th fewest points in the paint throughout the entire league while the Nuggets are the polar opposite with the 5th highest paint points per game. The Nuggets will have to avoid a slow start similar to the one they had in their last loss, continue their strong defensive performance and play hard and fast through all 4 quarters if they want their road losing streak to end tonight. 

Players to Watch 

Jamal Murray (DEN) – ($7,800/32.18 FPPG)

Season Averages – 17.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG 

Jamal Murray has been on a hot streak lately, shooting above 50% in four of his last five games. His recent performances also included a career high 15 assists, along with 7 rebounds and 22 points for a total of 53.9 fantasy points while playing for 39 minutes in Denver’s recent victory over the Mavericks. Throughout this month, with one 13.7 FP exception, Murray has had a decent fantasy showing with an average 35.9 FP across the 9 games the Nuggets have played in December. Tonight against the Spurs, fantasy players will be hoping for him to continue his high shooting accuracy as well as picking up assists and rebounds to help out their lineups. 

DeMar DeRozan (SAN) – ($8,700/40.93 FPPG)

Season Averages – 23.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6.3 APG 

Despite scoring only 12 points in last week’s victory against the Timberwolves, DeRozan rebounded in a big way in San Antonio’s loss to the Rockets on Saturday where he scored 28 points and put up 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. This game mirrored his overall performance this December with him averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists across 12 games so far this month. Due to his efforts he has been a great asset for the most part to fantasy players recently, scoring above 40 FP in almost half of San Antonio’s matchups this month including two games above 50 FP and one above 60 FP. As DeRozan looks to continues on this trend tonight against the Nuggets, fantasy players will be wise to consider him for their rosters. 

Tonight’s Christmas night NBA slate features two matchups between Western Conference teams. Both the game between the top tier Golden State Warriors defending their home court against the visiting Lakers and the matchup featuring the Jazz looking for their second win in a row against Portland will have plenty of fantasy potential for players looking to create a winning Christmas night lineup. 

Coming off a 42 point game against the Clippers, Steph Curry ($9,700/45.19 FPPG) will be looking to stay hot tonight against the Lakers. He has put up above 20 points per game in 10 out of the 11 games the Warriors have played so far in December and has also averaged 5.4 rebounds per game across that same period. If he can keep up his performance up, fantasy players can expect him to put up a high amount of fantasy points. With the exception of a disappointing showing against the Raptors earlier this month, Curry has put up above 35 FP in every other game played this month, making him an expensive but consistent and worthwhile pick to add to fantasy lineups tonight.

On the Lakers side of this matchup, Lebron James should have some of the pressure taken off him tonight because of Brandon Ingram’s ($6,000/25.51 FPPG) return to the team two games ago after missing 7 games with an ankle injury. While it may be a little early to say for sure how much he will continue to add to the team, since his return he has appeared to quickly rebound back to his pre-injury performance, having scored 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists against the Pelicans and 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assist against the Grizzlies in Sunday’s game. While his fantasy point production was inconsistent and at some times disappointing in parts of the season before his injury, in his return he put up 30.4 FP and 27.3 FP. If he can keep his shooting in line and continue to add rebounds and assists for the Lakers he will definitely continue to have great fantasy potential and be a solid choice to add to fantasy rosters. 

In the last contest of the night, the Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard ($9,300/43.67 FPPG) will be a excellent choice for fantasy players especially considering his recent production. In Sunday’s game against the Mavericks, Lillard put up team high points (33) and assists (7) which shows his value to both the Portland team and fantasy players. This month he has excelled at shooting with 47.2 percent shooting overall and 47.4 percent from beyond the three for an average 28.2 points per game. This has had a great impact on his fantasy point production as well, with him scoring above 40 FP in 63.6% of the contests in December. He will be looking to keep this hot streak alive tonight against the Jazz and fantasy players wanting to take advantage will be wise to add him to their lineups tonight. 

Joe Ingles ($6,000/27.15 FPPG) will offer fantasy players a value pick that has good upside despite his lower scoring potential. Ingles scores above double digits in Utah’s last three games for the first time since the beginning of December. Despite his low scoring he still offers decent fantasy point potential due to his skills with rebounds and assists, having averaged 3.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists across the 11 games played so far in December. Due to these stats keeping him well rounded, he has put up above 30 FP in 54.5% of the matchups this month, including a 33.5 FP showing in Friday’s game against the same team the Jazz will face tonight, offering fantasy players good potential for a lower price. And because FanDuel drops the lowest scoring pick in a lineup there isn’t much downside in the event that Ingles doesn’t perform well.

With the Lakers looking for a win against a tough Golden State team to help them avoid their 4th loss in five games and the Trailblazers looking for revenge after their loss at home to the Utah Jazz last Friday, both teams will be working hard in these Christmas night games. The picks listed here are just a few of the players with great potential in these matchups and should offer fantasy players some nice gifts as they leave it all on the court tonight.