Cash Plays

Ish Smith ($4,500) – I missed the memo on Reggie Jackson being out last night, so in turn I also didn’t have the chance to get Ish Smith into my lineup. Things will be different tonight, however, as it once again looks Smith will be the starting guard while Jackson sits. Technically, Jackson is a game time decision, though he is very unlikely to play tonight and could potentially be shut down for the remainder of the season as he deals with right knee tendinitis. The Pistons will be squaring off with the Heat, a team that does guard point guards well from a DFS perspective. However, Ish should see at least another 35 minutes tonight and will be heavily owned. He’s only $4.5k and should put up 25 fantasy points, which would have him reach value with ease.

James Harden ($12,500) – There’s so much value on tonight’s slate that I would find it hard to believe people couldn’t fit Harden into their lineups. He’s in a perfect spot as he goes up against the Warriors in a game that has a 234 team total. I’m going to want to have some decent exposure to this game, and that’s going to start with plugging James Harden in as one of my cash game shooting guards. In Harden’s 2 games against the Warriors this year he’s averaging a triple-double (23 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 12 APG), and I expect him to continue this success tonight at home against them.

Taurean Prince ($3,800) – I expect Prince to be the highest owned player on the slate with Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore, and Thabo Sefolosha still out with injuries. He logged 38 minutes and 32.7 fantasy points last game with the three of them sidelined, and I expect him to have the same success tonight as the Hawks go up against a tanking Suns team. Phoenix has given up a lot of points this year, and their recent youth movement hasn’t helped that number. They are now sitting 2^nd worst in the league giving up 113 points per game, and over their last 5 games they are also giving up an average of 45.8 fantasy points to the small forward position, which is tied for 4^th worst in the league during that stretch. Moral of the story, Prince is in a fantastic spot tonight and will be heavily owned because of it, so make sure to get him into your lineups.

Ersan Ilyasova ($4,800) – Ersan Ilysaova is another guy I’m looking to target from the Suns/Hawks matchup. As previously noted, Paul Millsap is still out. Ersan has been the main beneficiary of making up Millsap’s minutes, and that will continue tonight in Atlanta. He’s seen 30+ minutes in his last 2 games and hasn’t scored less than 20 fantasy points in his last 5. At under $5k I’m going to make sure to get him into my lineup as he eats up a majority of the minutes at the Hawk’s power forward position. It also doesn’t hurt that he’ll have a great matchup as he goes up against the Suns, who are giving up the 2^nd most fantasy points to PF’s in their last 10 games (51.4).

Jusuf Nurkic ($6,700) – There’s a revenge game on the slate tonight as the Portland Trail Blazers and Jusuf Nukic welcome his former team to town: the Denver Nuggets. Nurkic was traded from Denver in February and has had huge success as a Blazer (averaging 14 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.4 APG). He’s consistently putting up 30+ fantasy points, and for a guy still priced in the $6k range that’s all you need from him in cash games. I think he has some insane upside as he goes up against his old team, and I’m looking forward to see what he can do against them tonight.

GPP Plays

Stephen Curry ($9,900) – Curry is a great call tonight in tournaments for quite a few reasons. For one thing, he’s still shouldering the scoring load while Kevin Durant is out with a knee injury. Considering there will be a lot of scoring in the game that has the highest team total for the day (234), I think it’s safe to say Curry has the potential to put up an insane amount of fantasy points. His matchup with a great individual defender in Pat Beverley is also likely to bring his own % down. However, as a team the Rockets aren’t great at containing point guards, as they have given up an average of 52.8 FP a game to the position over their last 5 contests. He’s also still priced under $10k on Fanduel, so he doesn’t even need 50 fantasy points to reach value. All in all, Curry is a great play tonight in my opinion and is one of the stars I’m building my GPP lineup around.

Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,300) – Out of all the star players on tonight’s slate I expect Giannis to be the least owned in all formats. He’s been too streaky lately to be a viable cash game play, but his obvious upside still has him in tournament talk nightly. He’ll be facing a Hornets team tonight that hasn’t been very good against guards this year. Combined, they’re giving up an average of 45.4 fantasy points to each position, which is good for 9^th worst in the NBA. Antetokounmpo is coming off a rather low-scoring game against the Bulls on Sunday, so he could be in store for a big bounce back game tonight as the Bucks head to Charlotte.

Sam Dekker ($3,500) – A minimum priced option I like tonight is Sam Dekker of the Houston Rockets. When Ryan Anderson has sat out this year (he’s out again tonight) Dekker has seen a large enough usage increase for us to at least consider him as a tournament play. With Anderson out last game, Dekker saw 24 minutes of court time, though he was only able to put up 15.5 fantasy points. He plays with such high intensity and is all over the court that an up-tempo contest like tonight should bring out the best in his game. He doesn’t bring too much risk considering his price point, so he’s a guy I’m looking to roll the dice on as the Rockets take on the Warriors at the Toyota Center.

Dario Saric ($7,300) – Saric disappointed quite a few people with his performance on Sunday, myself included. The game was really an outlier, though, considering how consistent he’s been since taking on an increased minutes roll. He shot awful from the field (3-15) a few nights ago, which I don’t expect to be a problem tonight as he goes up against Brooklyn, a team that has given up the 2^nd most fantasy points to the power forward position this year (47.9). Saric seems to be another guy that is in a great position for a bounce back game, and he will definitely be one of my power forwards in tournament play tonight.

Andre Drummond ($7,600) – Drummond is my favorite GPP play of the night as he goes up against Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat at The Palace. For one thing, his matchup with Whiteside will allow him to grab some extra boards, which is definitely an upside in his fantasy game. Not only this, but he has great numbers against the Heat. In the 3 games against them this year Drummond has put up 20 PPG and 18 RPG, while also averaging 32.5 minutes on the court. He’s put up 50+ fantasy points in each contest as well, so of course he has some insane upside as he squares off with them again tonight.