This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
The NBA has nine games on tap Friday night, a slightly smaller slate than usual for a Friday. There are plenty of solid matchups and not a whole lot of terrible ones, so there is a good potential for high scores.
GUARD
Emmanuel Mudiay, DEN at LAL ($22) - After a quiet game against a stout Cavaliers defense Monday, Mudiay bounced back with a huge 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists against the 76ers on Wednesday. Point guards tend to have big games against the 76ers, and they also tend to do well against the porous Lakers defense that is Mudiay's opponent on Friday night.
Devin Booker, PHO at SAC ($23) - Booker is coming off of a 28 points and seven assists against the Lakers on Wednesday and gets another great matchup against a Kings defense that is 26th in the NBA vs. shooting guards.
Guards to Avoid:
Jeff Teague, ATL vs MIL ($22) - Teague was held to less than 27 fantasy points in two of his last three games, despite having three consecutive matchups against poor defenses. He is once again splitting some time with Dennis Shroder, and he has a tough matchup Friday against a Bucks defense that is fourth in the NBA against point guards.
Victor Oladipo, ORL at MIA ($32) - Oladipo had some monster games over the last couple weeks while getting some time at point guard, but with Elfrid Payton back and posting triple-doubles, Oladipo is spending more time off the ball. Plus, Friday he has a tough matchup against a Heat defense that is third in the NBA against shooting guards.
FORWARD
Wesley Matthews, DAL at GS ($15) - Matthews has stepped up in the absence of Chandler Parsons, who is out with a knee injury, averaging 18.5 points, 5.5 treys and 5.0 rebounds over his last two games. On Friday he faces a Warriors team that has struggled against opposing wings, ranking 30th and 22nd against shooting guards and small forwards, respectively.
Julius Randle, LAL vs DEN ($22) - Randle has been on fire lately, notching at least 33.7 fantasy points in three of his last four games. On Friday he has another good matchup against a weak Nuggets frontcourt defense.
Forwards to Avoid:
Will Barton, DEN at LAL ($21) - Barton has been less than thrilling lately. Don't be fooled by his 35.3 fantasy points explosion Monday, as he followed that with a 6.3 fantasy points clunker against the 76ers. Overall, Monday's is the only game of his last six when he has scored more than 24 fantasy points, and two of those six games resulted in single-digit fantasy production.
Aaron Gordon, ORL at MIA ($24) - Gordon is in this slot for the second Friday in a row. While he had a solid outing Wednesday against the Pistons with 33.2 fantasy points, he had only averaged 17 fantasy points over the four games before that. And he has a tough matchup Friday against Heat defense that is first in the NBA against power forwards.
CENTER
Jon Leuer, PHO at SAC ($10) - Leuer moved into the starting lineup for the injured Tyson Chandler on Wednesday, and responded with 22 points and 14 boards in more than 41 minutes. This came a day after he scored 13 points with 13 boards in almost 32 minutes against the Grizzlies. Leuer has shown all year that he can produce when called upon, and the Suns have no impetus to rush Chandler back since they have nothing to play for except the lottery.
Center to Avoid
Zaza Pachulia, DAL at GS ($13) - Pachulia was a solid value player for much of the season, but he lost his starting job and has no three games with single-digit fantasy production and no games with more than 19 fantasy points in his last five outings. In addition, his Friday opponent, the Warriors, is No. 1 in the NBA vs. centers and held Pachulia to 3.2 fantasy points just last Friday.
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