This article aims to highlight some of the best plays at each position for today’s showdown NBA slate. Keep in mind that the following player write-ups were constructed earlier in the day, and sometimes injury/rest situations can alter the fantasy landscape. Monitoring our NBA News & Headlines Feed throughout the day will keep you in the loop. Today’s showdown slate on FanDuel and DraftKings features Memphis at Portland at 2:30 ET.
Portland is a six-point favorite and the game carries a 233.5 over/under. We can hope, and I expect, as good a play-in game today as we had from Portland Thursday night. Memphis plays at a slightly faster pace than the Trail Blazers, but Portland currently ranks second in the league in offensive efficiency. Memphis has been the better defensive team, but neither team cracks the Top 10 in defensive efficiency. Today’s solo game should be great for fantasy as Portland and Memphis rank eighth and ninth in overall fantasy points allowed to opponents and are about equally generous to all five positions.
DraftKings format uses six players with one captain earning 1.5X fantasy points (and costing 1.5X salary). FanDuel format uses five players with MVP (2.0X fantasy points), Star (1.5X), Pro (1.2X) and two utility. Yahoo does not have NBA DFS today.
Top Priorities
Damian Lillard - Portland (vs. Memphis) – DK $18,000 (Capt)/$12,000, FD: $16,500
Lillard is hands-down the bubble MVP, and it will be awfully hard to justify not using him in the max points captain or MVP slots today. DraftKings makes it nearly impossible to love the rest of your team, but you should be scared to go any other way at captain in cash games. Lillard looks like a man on a mission if there ever was one, draining half-court threes and willing his team to the necessary wins. They only need one to advance. Lillard ranks fifth in the league in Player Efficiency with a 31.3 percent usage rate, and the only point guard with a better true shooting percent in George Hill, who has far lower volume and minutes. The inclusion of Lillard in your lineups basically prevents the rostering of C.J. McCollum or Jusef Nurkic, both of whom are coming off good games. McCollum is someone I can’t trust today, and though I’m fine with using Nurkic in all lineups today, he’s difficult to afford given my top priorities. Consider him a large-field GPP Pivot play today.
Ja Morant – Memphis (at Portland) – DK $14,700 (Capt)/$9800, FD: $14,700
Morant is actually pretty reasonable, salary-wise. He’s coming off a triple-double and that versatility makes him a hot DFS option today. Use him in any of the bonus slots on FanDuel, and try to slot him into one of the regular DK slots too. Alternatively, you could make him (or Jonas Valanciunas, below) your captain to diversify from the field in the large GPPs. This is a gritty and talented Memphis team, and although Vegas (and I) think Portland walks away victorious, the Grizzlies should keep it close. With a total of 233.5 points, there is going to be plenty of action for Morant to reach value.
Jonas Valanciunas – Memphis (at Portland) – DK: $12,900 (Capt)/$8600, FD: $12,500
Valanciunas is a capable multi-category contributor, averaging about two assists and one block per game this season, but he is coming off the best game of his career and his first triple-double. It’s silly to expect a repeat of those Thursday numbers, but Portland is no defensive powerhouse, and I do expect a 15/15-ish double-double from the big man tonight. He occupies the Pro spot in my FanDuel lineups tonight, and like I said above, using him in the DK captain spot is a risky, but potentially nice way to differentiate yourself from the field today.
[[ad:athena]]
Bargains
Brandon Clarke – Memphis (at Portland) – DK: $5800, FD: $11,000
There are only so many ways to play this showdown slate, but Clarke is priced for all them on DraftKings. Clarke is averaging 40 fantasy points per game against Portland this season, and 24 fantasy points per game in the bubble. He’s been reliably posting double-digit points and 6-9 rebounds. A block or steal boosts his ultimate output most nights.
Hassan Whiteside – Portland (vs. Memphis) – DK: $5400, FD: $9000
Whiteside is another cheap option that it’s hard to overlook. Portland needs to field a true big in this matchup, and Nurkic is playing about 30 MPG. John Collins hasn’t been impactful at all, so Whiteside has been able to play about 17 MPG. That’s not a lot, so Whiteside is a little risky, but he can be very efficient with little time. He has come pretty close to a double-double in three of the last four games.
Dillon Brooks – Memphis (at Portland) – DK: $6600, FD: $10,500
Brooks is only a borderline value, but is worth it if you can fit him in. He’s scoring in bunches, including 31 points in the last game, but at least 14 points per game in the bubble. His peripherals could be better, but the occasional multi-steal, multi-rebound effort has kept him around 30 fantasy points per game.
Carmelo Anthony – Portland (vs. Memphis) – DK: $7200, FD: $10,000
I like Melo in GPPs tonight as I think his awful last game will keep his ownership low. If it doesn’t, his salary might. He’s definitely overpriced for any reasonable projection, but if he bounces back like he should tonight, he could be the difference maker in big tournaments. For Anthony to account for only nine of the Trail Blazers’ 137 points in 37 minutes Thursday night is ridiculous. He had 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals against the Grizzlies to open the bubble action two weeks ago. That’s a more typical performance and what I hope to see from him today.
