- Cash Plays
Jamal Murray ($4,400) – We’ve seen Murray get more minutes over the last 3 games, averaging 25 over his last 3. Though he’s still not starting, his bench production is hard to pass up given his price and his matchup. The Denver/Houston game will be ridiculously high scoring and Murray could reach value based off the points he scores in the game alone, not to mention the other stats he’ll fill the box score with. He only needs 22 to reach value and, given that he’s basically a lock for 25+ minutes now, I don’t see him having any trouble doing that.
James Harden ($11,800) – Tonight the Rockets/Nuggets game has a 240 o/u, which is the highest of the season. Basically, it would be a bad move to fade Harden given that he ‘s a lock for 60+ fantasy points. Denver is giving up the 2nd most fantasy points to both the point guard and shooting guard positions, along with giving up close to 111 point per game. There will be so many chances for Harden to get points tonight and he should have absolutely no issue getting 60-70 fantasy points and reach value for you cash game lineup.
Joe Johnson ($3,900) – Johnson has been seeing close to 30 minutes a game with Rodney Hood and Derrick Favors sidelined, which will be the case yet again tonight as the Jazz take on the Bulls in Chicago. At $3,900 Johnson is a safe cash game pick against a Chicago team that is in the bottom half of the league in total fantasy points given up to the small forward position (41.7 a game). Make sure to get the veteran into your lineups.
Nikola Jokic ($10,700) – Jokic is another guy that should greatly benefit from the large o/u of the Rockets/Nuggets game. With such a high scoring game there will be plenty of opportunites for Jokic to showcase his skills. Faried is back in the Nuggets rotation, but even last game when he saw some minutes it didn’t take away from the court time Jokic generally sees. He’s a lock for another 30+ minutes tonight against a tough Houston team, though they do struggle defensively, giving up the 4th most fantasy points (50.1 a game) to opposing centers (I know Jokic is a power forward but he should be starting at center tonight).
Mason Plumlee ($6,000) – Mason Plumlee is going to round out our stack of Denver players in our cash game lineup. For the same reason as his teammates, Plumlee should have no trouble scoring and grabbing boards tonight given how fast paced the game should be. Also, he will be getting plenty of minutes as he switches between the 4 and 5 positions for the Nuggets. As previously noted, the Rockets are awful against centers. At $6,000 he only needs 30 fantasy points to reach value, which the Rockets are basically going to give him with how bad their defense has been.
GPP Plays
George Hill ($6,000) – George Hill is so inconsistent that he’s a GPP play just about every night. The fact that he sees 30+ minutes just about every game and is only $6,000 is what makes him enticing, in my opinion. He only needs 30 to reach value but brings 40+ point fantasy upside anytime he takes the court. With a matchup against a Bulls team that is giving up by far the most fantasy points per game over their last 5 I don’t see him having any trouble reaching value. I strongly recommend considering Hill in GPP games.
Bradley Beal ($8,500) – Beal is extremely over-priced and hasn’t hit value in his last 4 games after an amazing performance against the Kings at Golden 1 Center. He’s still seeing well over 30 minutes a game of late, but just hasn’t been able to do much with it. Because he has been less than spectacular I expect many to pass on him tonight, which is great news considering he’ll be facing a Hornet’s team that is giving up the 4th most fantasy points to shooting guards over their last 5 games. Beal should actually be able to come close to his price tag tonight and still has the same upside he showcased against the Kings only 5 games ago.
Jimmy Butler ($8,700) – With so much value at the small forward position I don’t expect to many people to be reaching up for a high priced guy, let alone Jimmy Butler who has an awful matchup against a Utah Jazz team that is giving up the least fantasy points to the position. However, at under 9k I still really like Butler due to Wade’s recent season-ending injury, which has put the majority of the scoring load on Jimmy Butler. I don’t really expect his price to be this low for the rest of the season so I recommend taking advantage of the fact that he only needs a little over 40 to reach value.
Blake Griffin ($8,600) – I like Griffin for a lot of the same reasons I like Butler. His price is way down due to lack of recent production and he doesn’t have a good matchup tonight against a Cleveland Cavaliers team that is great at stopping power forwards. However, at $8,600 I think it’s safe to roll with a guy like Griffin who has serious 60+ fantasy point upside when he can get things going. The Clippers are going to need him to help keep them in the game and I think he’s a great call in tournaments tonight because of that.
Cody Zeller ($5,000) – I’m going to keep picking on the Washington Wizards and go with another center who will be playing against them tonight as my GPP pick, Cody Zeller. Lopez was able to go off for 40+ last night against them, keeping Washington’s bad streak against big men going. They’re usually pretty good at defending the center position, but have been exceptionally bad over their last 5 games, giving up an average of 54.7 a game to the position. For a guy that only needs 25 to reach value I think Zeller bring serious upside against such a lackluster defense and can easily keep Washington’s bad streak going. I would strongly consider Zeller in your GPP lineups.