This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are five games on tap for Thursday, a bit above average for this night of the week. Few enough options that there will be lots of overlap, but enough that there will be multiple avenues to success. Some of the friendliest defenses in the NBA are on display on Thursday night, so there could be some big scores put up on the night.
Point Guard
Patty Mills, SA at PHO ($3500): With Tony Parker out injured, Mills should be running the show for the Spurs. And he has excellent timing, as the Suns are the worst team in the NBA at defending opposing point guards.
Jrue Holiday, NO vs DET ($6600):Eric Gordon is out for the next month recovering from injury, so Holiday will move into the starting shooting guard slot on Thursday. He has already been playing great ball, averaging 35.0 fantasy points over his last three games in only 27.7 minutes per game, and now he should be in for a larger role with more minutes and more production.
Shooting Guard
Manu Ginobili, SA at PHO ($4600): Ginobili is a ball-handling wing, and with Tony Parker injured the Spurs may look to Ginobili to take on more responsibility. Ginobili is good for 25+ fantasy points in just about any game he plays more than 25 minutes, which may very well be the case on Thursday.
Kent Bazemore, ATL at SAC ($5000): Bazemore was playing excellent ball up through early-mid January, but has been a bit off for his last few games. He has a great chance to bounce back on Thursday, though, against a Kings defense that is last in the NBA at defending opposing shooting guards and that will be on the second half of a back-to-back and thus not as crisp.
Small Forward
Danilo Gallinari, DEN vs MEM ($7100): Gallinari has been on a tear since returning form injury to start the new year, scoring at least 20 points in eight of nine games. He is coming off of a 27-point outing in a 1-on-1 match-up with Kevin Durant on Tuesday, and will be facing a Grizzlies defense that is 20th in the NBA at defending opposing small forwards.
Power Forward
LaMarcus Aldridge, SA at PHO ($7200): There aren't any power forward match-ups on Thursday that really blow me away. Aldridge may be the best combo of elite upside, reasonable price, and average level defensive competition. Aldirdge has scored at least 34.9 FPts in three of his last four games, and has a match-up that could lead to a fourth such game on Thursday.
Center
Andre Drummond, DET at NO ($8800): The Pelicans are one of the worst teams in the league at defending opposing centers, ranking 28th in production allowed. Drummond is too physical for any Pelicans center, and looks like a lock to grab double-digit boards for the ninth time in 10 games on Thursday. He's scored in double-digits in each of those games, and also has 25 combined steals/blocks in his last 10 outings.
