Here we are folks, the last Friday of the NBA regular season. That also means the last NBA article of the season for me. It was a blast, as always. I had a profitable NBA season and I hope you guys picked up on something in one of these articles that helped get you a big payday at some point this season. This time of year is tricky, so we are going to need to be on our toes for all the news. I am giving you these picks based on the information I have early in the day. This is subject to change drastically before tip-off. Stay up with all the news through the RotoGrinders twitter feed and the push notifications from the RotoGrinders app. It’s been fun boys. Good luck and Godspeed. Now for the final time of the 2018/19 NBA regular season, let’s dig in and EAT!
Let’s get into some of my top plays of the night on FanDuel and DraftKings.
If you’re interested in trying your hand at some sports betting for tonight, be sure to check out both the DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook.
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Point Guard
Damian Lillard (vs. Denver)
One thing we can always look for this time of year is a game where both teams are fully engaged in trying to win for playoff purposes. We have that in Denver tonight. In fact, there is only one other game that fits this criteria tonight. Boston at Indiana is a jockey for playoff position, but Denver versus Portland, in the late-night hammer, is even better. Portland is fighting for that 3rd seed, to avoid Golden State in the 2nd round, and Denver is desperately trying to hang on to the 2nd seed, so they can have home court in the 2nd round. Although Damian has disappointed lately, this Portland team is still down their 2nd and 3rd options on offense (McCollum and Nurkic) and it’s only a matter of time before Lillard explodes. After being above $10K for the better part of a month on both sites, Lillard is now $9,500 on DK and $9,400 on FanDuel. Good price, great player and a must win matchup. This is a fantastic spot for Dame tonight and I’m on the train.
Others to Consider: Goran Dragic, Rajon Rondo
Shooting Guard
Delon Wright (vs. Dallas)
I will be using Delon Wright to occupy one of my 2 SG spots on FanDuel and he will be the first SG I put in on DK also. We already know Jonas Valanciunas is out, and Mike Conley is highly doubtful. Wright had already jumped from 18.3 minutes and 6.9 points per game with the Raptors all the way to 29.4 minutes and 11 points per game with the Grizzlies. Now we factor in the injured players and the usage rate is going to skyrocket for Wright tonight. Throw in a solid matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, and I think Wright exceeds expectation in this game.
Others to Consider: Lou Williams, Buddy Hield
Small Forward
Danilo Gallinari (vs. Los Angeles Lakers)
Small forward is interesting tonight. Here are the elites: Paul George as the clear cut highest priced guy, yet he has struggled with a shoulder injury and hasn’t topped 50 FanDuel points since March 18th. Kawhi Leonard, whose team is just kind of going through the motions right now and is not expending the energy of its superstar, something reflecting in his stats. Kevin Durant is on a team that was up by 30+ points in the first half last night, thus cutting his minutes down for the 3rd straight game due to blowout and, by the way, another 16-point spread at home against a terrible team tonight. No thanks on those options. The next option is Danilo Gallinari for a significant price savings. His team still needs to win games and he has been the best option on this team this season. For the season, he has a stat line of 19.8 points/6.2 rebounds/2.5 assists per game. That line has jumped to 22.5/8/3 over the last two weeks. It’s a great matchup versus a Lakers team that just doesn’t play defense anymore. Gallinari is my favorite way to spend money at Small Forward tonight.
Others to Consider: Troy Brown Jr. Mikal Bridges
Power Forward
Josh Jackson (vs. New Orleans)
We have some injuries in Phoenix that are going to open things up for someone. My best guess is that “someone” is going to be Josh Jackson. Two games ago he dropped 55 FD, 52 DK on Cleveland. He’s had two other occasions this season where he dropped 50+ fantasy points. That shows me that when the situation is right, he has massive upside. The matchup was already good, as New Orleans allows 16.9 percent more production than the league average to players like Jackson, and now we get a Pelicans team that is tanking with full effort, which means a severe lack of defense. This is a plug and play for me tonight.
Others to Consider: Julius Randle, John Collins
Center
Nikola Jokic (vs. Portland)
Simply put, we are going to have plenty of money tonight for a few studs and I love the price drop for Jokic on Fanduel. The last game he was $10,500. He has been above $10K since March 18th. Now we get him at a discount, down to $9,800. This is one of the few games on the board where both teams still need to win and will push starters. Also, Jokic gets the enviable task of seeing most minutes versus the putrid defense of Enes Kanter. Center is a spot I don’t like to punt away on Fanduel and Jokic is the cream of the crop, in my opinion.
Others to Consider: Nikola Vucevic, JaVale McGee
