Cash Plays
Chris Paul ($9,800) – Both Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan did not make the trip to Denver with the team, so both are inactive tonight. Paul had an awful game yesterday but the usage he will get tonight against the Nuggets makes it hard to fade him. Denver is also one of the worst defensive teams in the league, so there will be plenty of fantasy points for Paul to get tonight at the Pepsi Center.
Will Barton ($5,300) – Both Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari have been ruled out of the game tonight, meaning Barton will see a lot of extra minutes against the Clippers. Los Angeles is a good at defending shooting guards, but considering Barton is only $5,300 I don’t think he’ll have any trouble reaching value, especially if he gets the 30+ minutes I think he will.
Carmelo Anthony ($8,400) – Carmelo and the Knicks lost to the Nets just 2 games ago in Brooklyn. Tonight, however, they get a home matchup against the same Nets team and I don’t necessarily think Carmelo wants to lose to them twice in one season. Brooklyn give up the most fantasy points to opposing small forwards (47.5 per game), and I don’t think playing Anthony is going to help improve that statistic. I expect him to easily get the 42 fantasy points he needs to reach value and even offers more upside tonight.
Nikola Jokic ($10,600) – Though I do like Will Barton with all of the Nuggets players sititng out, I like Nikola Jokic even more. He’ll be going up against a Clippers team that has great numbers when it comes to defending the power forward position, however, as previously stated, Los Angeles will be without DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, their two best big men. Don’t let Jokic’s price scare you away from him tonight. He should have an easy road to 50+ fantasy points and you’re going to want to have him in your lineups.
Nikola Vucevic ($7,700) – There aren’t a whole lot of options tonight at the center position. People are probably going to go a variety of different ways, but I’m going to focus on the highest price guy on the slate: Nikola Vucevic. After sitting out due to injury for much of last week Vucevic has come back strong in his last 2 games, posting 39.2 and 45.8 fantasy points in those 2 contests. He gets a matchup I always like for centers as he faces the Golden State Warriors tonight, a team that is giving up over 50 fantasy points a game to centers in their last 5 games. I think Vuc will score upwards of 40 fantasy points and is a great call in cash games today.
GPP Plays
Jamal Murray ($4,000) – Mike Malone finally gave Murray 30+ minutes in their last game and he didn’t disappoint, putting up 30.9 fantasy points. The Nuggets stated that they wanted to get Murray more minutes to end the year, but this was really the first instance in which we’ve seen them follow through with the statement. At $4,000 he only needs 20 FP to reach value tonight against the Clippers. If he sees anywhere close to 30 minutes again he is complete highway robbery at this price. He’s definitely a guy I’m going to plug into my GPP lineups tonight with his high reward potential.
Tony Allen ($4,100) – Tony Allen is always one of the riskiest picks when he’s on the slate. A guy mainly known for his defense, he generally doesn’t offer a whole lot of value from a fantasy perspective. However, he has strung together some great game this year and definitely gets the minutes to produce on a day-to-day basis. He’ll be facing an Atlanta Hawks team tonight that have been giving up the 4th most fantasy points to shooting guards over their last 5 games (46.7).
Joe Ingles ($4,000) – Rodney Hood has already been ruled out tonight. When Hood has sat out this year Joe Ingles has filled in quite nicely and generally is a great GPP punt play. He should be getting the start tonight at shooting guard and only needs 20 fantasy points to reach value, which he has exceeded in his last 2 games. The Jazz will be taking on Cleveland today, a team that is actually one of the worst in the league when it comes to containing small forwards.
Juancho Hernangomez ($3,600) – I’m not exactly sure where Juancho’s own % will fall tonight with a lot of Denver players sidelined, though I do think most people’s attention will be on Jokic and Barton, making Hernangomez a sneaky GPP play. He’s just about as cheap as you can get and he’s not as risky considering it looks like he may draw a start. It depends on how much Mike Malone plays him, but the last time the Nuggets were super limited Juancho went off for 43 fantasy points. I think he has the chance to do that again tonight.
Tristan Thompson ($5,500) – I’m choosing Thompson as my GPP center because most will not be starting him considering he has a matchup against the Utah Jazz. However, his price keeps dropping even though he is playing at a relatively consistent level. He only needs a little over 25 to reach value tonight and I think with his physicality he can easily do that against a good Jazz team. If you’re looking for a middle-priced tournament center I think Thompson is your guy.