This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Team Analysis
Defense to avoid: Memphis Grizzlies, vs LAL: The Lakers are on the second night of a back-to-back, on the road. The Grizzlies rank 6th in the league at limiting production to opposing point guards, 3rd against small forwards, 7th against power forwards and 9th against centers, according to DraftKings. They struggle against shooting guards, which leaves an opening for someone like Louis Williams to be a good play, but otherwise the Lakers offense are not good odds-plays.
Offense to Use: Utah Jazz, vs DEN: The Nuggets are on the second night of a back-to-back, on the road, and are a weak defense at the best of times. The Nuggets are 19th in the league at limiting production to opposing point guards, 30th against shooting guards, and 25th against centers, according to DraftKings. The Nuggets do a bit better against opposing forwards, but with the way Gordon Hayward is playing the Nuggets will be hard-pressed to stop him.
Teams on Back-to-Backs:
First game: none
Second game: Hawks, Celtics, Bulls, Nuggets, Lakers, Timberwolves, 76ers, Raptors
C.J. McCollum, POR vs MIA ($7,000): McCollum is in the midst of a big week within a breakout year. Over his last three games he is averaging 23.7 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 boards, 2.0 steals and 3.3 treys to outproduce his price tag.
Dennis Schroder, ATL at TOR ($6,000): Schroder has been a streaky player, but he's in the midst of a hot streak with averages of 24 points, 8.7 assists, 2.3 boards and 1.3 treys over his last three games. On Saturday he faces a Raptors team on the second half of a B2B that ranks 26th against opposing point guards.
Wayne Ellington, MIA at POR ($4,000): Ellington has stepped into a great opportunity with Dion Waiters (groin), Josh Richardson (ankle) and Justise Winslow (wrist) all missing games due to injury. In his three games in a Heat uniform, Ellington has averaged 16 points, 1.7 steals, 1.3 boards, 1.3 assists and 3.0 treys per game.
Kevin Durant, GS vs PHO ($10,700): Durant is in the midst of a season that could very well net him regard as both a real MVP and a fantasy MVP for the year. He has scored more than 50 fantasy points in eight of his last two games, and even his two "poor" games in that stretch averaged 47 fantasy points.
Wilson Chandler, DEN at UTA ($6,100): Chandler was borderline-elite for an eight-game stretch in which he averaged 21.8 points, 8.6 boards, 2.4 assists, 1.8 treys and 1.3 combined blocks and steals. He moved back to the bench two games ago with the return of Danilo Gallinari, but he has still averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 boards, 2.0 treys, a steal and an assist in 29 minutes over those two games.
Brandon Ingram, LAL at MEM ($4,300): Ingram moved into the starting lineup at shooting guard with Nick Young hurt, and he's responded with two solid games with averages of 12.5 points, 4.5 boards, 2.5 assists and 1.5 combined steals/blocks in 38 minutes per. The minutes are key, because he's the only player on the team that gets mega minutes even in a blowout like Friday night (35 minutes in a 33-point loss).
Al Horford, BOS at PHI ($6,500): Horford is the first of the moderately priced centers with a great match-up. Horford had a monster game Friday night with 26 points, eight boards, six blocks, three assists, four treys and two steals against DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings. On Saturday, he'll face a 76ers defense sans Joel Embiid, who is sitting out to rest.
Rudy Gobert, UTA vs DEN ($6,300): Gobert is coming off a slightly down game against the Heat, but in the four games leading up to that one he averaed 15.3 points, 13.5 boards and 3.3 blocks per game. He faced Denver 10 days ago and produced 19 points, 13 boards and two blocked shots.
Mason Plumlee, POR vs MIA ($6,000): Plumlee is starting to approach a nightly triple-double watch. In his last four games he is averaging 14.5 points, 8.8 boards, 6.0 assists and 1.1 combined steals/blocks per game.
