This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
The NBA has 14 games Friday, with almost every team playing the night before Christmas Eve. Therefore, pretty much everyone is in play. The DFS scores will likely be high, and values will be more of a premium. Here are some players who have either been playing very well, have a great matchup or both Friday:
GUARDS
Goran Dragic, MIA at NO ($36): Dragic is on the second night of a back-to-back, but he is facing a Pelicans defense that is on an island with the Hawks as by FAR the worst defenses against point guards over the past 10 games. Dragic has been playing very well, averaging 22.6 points, 7.4 assists, 4.4 boards and 1.9 treys per game over his last seven.
Gary Harris, DEN vs. ATL ($19): Harris is coming off of a dud in a blowout loss to the Clippers, but in the three games before that he was averaging 19.3 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 boards and 2.3 treys in 32 minutes per game. On Friday, he faces a Hawks defense that is struggling guarding backcourts, ranking 28th against shooting guards over the past 10 games.
Guard to Avoid
Chris Paul, LAC vs. DAL ($46): Paul tweaked his left hamstring Thursday night against the Spurs and is questionable to play Friday. But even if he does give it a go, he will be on the second half of a back-to-back against a Mavericks defense that allows the fewest-fantasy points per game to point guards this season.
FORWARDS
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, BKN at CLE ($10): Hollis-Jefferson has been on my radar all week after I watched the Nets' Sunday game against the 76ers and heard their announcer talking about how happy the Nets' staff was with how Hollis-Jefferson had played in the previous three games. Since then he has averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 treys in consecutive games. Not bad for a minimum-priced player.
Serge Ibaka, ORL vs. LAL ($29): Ibaka is on the second night of a back-to-back, but he's been playing very good ball of late, averaging 18.6 points, 6.9 boards, 2.1 treys, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 assists per game over his last seven. Meanwhile, the Lakers are the worst defense in the NBA against power forwards over the last 10 games and could be without both of their two top power forwards (Julius Randle, personal, and Larry Nance Jr., injury).
Forward to Avoid
LeBron James, CLE vs. BKN ($54): The Nets were supposed to get blown out at home by the Warriors on Thursday night, but they didn't. They kept it competitive right until the end, which means that all of their players played full minutes. On Friday, on the second half of that back-to-back, they go to play the defending champions on the road. Seems like another strong blowout possibility, which means that James could be resting by the fourth quarter and not living up to his max salary.
CENTERS
Karl-Anthony Towns, MIN vs. SAC ($41): Towns has been a monster of late, averaging 23.9 points, 14.2 boards, 2.5 assists, 1.6 blocks and 0.8 treys per game over his last 11. Meanwhile, the Kings have struggled defensively against both big man slots, ranking 26th in the NBA against power forwards over the last 10 games and 24th against centers over the last five.
Nikola Jokic, DEN vs. ATL ($26): Jokic is coming off a clunker against the Clippers, but in the seven games prior to that he averaged 17.4 points, 9.6 boards, 4.7 assists and 1.0 combined steals/blocks per game. The Hawks will be without Dwight Howard on Friday, making them especially vulnerable to a big as talented as Jokic.
Center to Avoid
Jonas Valanciunas, TOR at UTA ($20): Valanciunas has played solid basketball of late, with five double-doubles in his last seven games. However, he is now on the road against Rudy Gobert and a Jazz frontline that is the second-stingiest unit to centers over the last 10 games.
