This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
There are a number of intriguing matchups during Friday's nine-game slate, including Orlando at Philadelphia, Sacramento at Boston, Minnesota at New York and Houston at Denver, as all have the right recipes for plenty of fantasy points. The Timberwolves-Knicks game is a rematch from earlier this week between the top-two second-year players in the league, Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis, who put on a show when they locked heads Wednesday. Houston at Denver should be interesting as well, with the Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back after going to double-overtime to beat the Warriors on Thursday then having to go face a feisty Nuggets team at altitude.
GUARDS
Derrick Rose, NY vs MIN ($25): Rose had been playing very well going into Wednesday's game against the Wolves, averaging 24.0 points, 7.5 boards, 6.0 assists, one steal and one block per game in the previous two. He had a klunker against the Wolves when coach Jeff Hornacek played Brandon Jennings over him in the fourth quarter. Look for Rose to bounce back on Friday, against a Timberwolves defense that ranks at the bottom of the NBA against point guards (Jennings makes a good value play Friday as well).
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, DET at ATL ($21): Caldwell-Pope has been streaky this year, and he seems to be in the midst of a run of high-level play. KCP averaged 21.3 points, 4.7 assists, 3.0 treys, 2.3 boards and 1.3 steals per game for three straight games last week, then had an off night against the Thunder, then followed that up this week with back-to-back games in which he averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 boards, 5.5 assists, 3.0 treys, one steal and one block per outing.
Guard to Avoid
DeMar DeRozan, TOR vs LAL ($43): DeRozan has been elite all season, which has driven his price up into that area. However, he's scored fewer than his fantasy-point-per-game average of 42.0 in three straight games, averaging just 35.2 over that span. Still solid numbers, but at his price he needs to be pushing the envelope of greatness, not just contributing solidly. The Lakers also allow the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to shooting guards this season.
FORWARDS
Wilson Chandler, DEN vs HOU ($23): Chandler was borderline elite for an eight-game stretch when he averaged 21.8 points, 8.6 boards, 2.4 assists, 1.8 treys and 1.3 combined blocks and steals per game. He moved back to the bench last game with the return of Danilo Gallinari, but he still had 17 points, seven boards, a trey and an assist in 29 minutes, which indicates that he's still getting plenty of run and should be very productive even in his newly reprised sixth-man role.
Kristaps Porzingis, NY vs Min ($35): Porzingis has been absolutely elite of late, averaging 24.0 points, 8.0 boards, 2.6 treys, 1.7 assists and 2.6 combined steals and blocks per game over his last nine The last time he faced the Timberwolves, he hit them for 29 points, eight boards, four assists, three treys and two blocks.
Forward to Avoid
Carmelo Anthony, NY vs MIN ($37): Anthony's production seems to be negatively correlated with Porzingis' rise. Over his last three games, Anthony's is averaging 16.7 points, 6.7 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.6 combined steals/blocks and 1.0 treys per game.
CENTERS
Karl-Anthony Towns, MIN at NY ($39): Towns has been playing well for awhile, but he went nuts Wednesday the last time he saw the Knicks to the tune of 47 points, 18 boards, three blocks, two assists and a steal.
Joel Embiid, PHI vs ORL ($26): Embiid is a per-minute monster, which allows him to still be very productive even in limited minutes. He is also more rested than usual, as he was rested Monday then had his Wednesday game postponed due to issues at the arena. Over his last four outings, Embiid has averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 boards, 2.8 blocks, 2.3 assists, 2.0 treys and 0.5 steals in only 23.8 minutes per game.
Center to Avoid
Andre Drummond, DET at ATL ($32): There's no obvious center to avoid Friday, but Drummond has a tough matchup against Dwight Howard and a Hawks defense that has allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game to centers this season.
