This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Team Analysis
Defense to avoid: Toronto Raptors, vs SAC. The Raptors have the seventh-best team defensive rating in the NBA, and they also are a strong enough team that they have a legitimate chance to blow out a team like the Kings on the second half of a back-to-back.
Offense to Use: Milwaukee Bucs at DAL. The Mavericks have the fifth-worst team defensive rating in the NBA, and the teams are evenly enough matched that this has a legitimate chance to be a very competitive game that goes down to the wire.
Teams on Back-to-Backs:
First game: Jazz
Second game: Nuggets, Bucks, Kings
Guard (premium)
DeMar DeRozan, TOR vs SAC ($8300): DeRozan continues to hang out at the top of the league in scoring, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan to score more than 30 points in the first five games of a season. He faces a Kings defense weak enough that a risk worth considering is that the Raptors might blow them out and have DeRozan sitting down the stretch. Giannis Antetokounmpo is another great option, but his price is significantly higher than DeRozan's and he's on the second half of a B2B. In the early games, Damian Lillard would be another option here.
Guard (moderate)
Avery Bradley, BOS vs DEN ($6000): Bradley has been consistenly putting up big numbers, which is why his price is consistently climbing. And the Nuggets stink on defense, particularly against perimeter players. Early-game honorable mention to Derrick Rose, coming
Team Analysis
Defense to avoid: Toronto Raptors, vs SAC. The Raptors have the seventh-best team defensive rating in the NBA, and they also are a strong enough team that they have a legitimate chance to blow out a team like the Kings on the second half of a back-to-back.
Offense to Use: Milwaukee Bucs at DAL. The Mavericks have the fifth-worst team defensive rating in the NBA, and the teams are evenly enough matched that this has a legitimate chance to be a very competitive game that goes down to the wire.
Teams on Back-to-Backs:
First game: Jazz
Second game: Nuggets, Bucks, Kings
Guard (premium)
DeMar DeRozan, TOR vs SAC ($8300): DeRozan continues to hang out at the top of the league in scoring, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan to score more than 30 points in the first five games of a season. He faces a Kings defense weak enough that a risk worth considering is that the Raptors might blow them out and have DeRozan sitting down the stretch. Giannis Antetokounmpo is another great option, but his price is significantly higher than DeRozan's and he's on the second half of a B2B. In the early games, Damian Lillard would be another option here.
Guard (moderate)
Avery Bradley, BOS vs DEN ($6000): Bradley has been consistenly putting up big numbers, which is why his price is consistently climbing. And the Nuggets stink on defense, particularly against perimeter players. Early-game honorable mention to Derrick Rose, coming off his excellent game in Chicago on Friday.
Guard (affordable)
Marcus Smart, BOS vs DEN ($4600): Smart is the least expensive of a quartet of affordable guards that could fit onto a competitive line-up: J.J. Barea, Matthew Dellavedova and Ty Lawson are others of interest. Smart has only played in two games this season, but even as he shakes the rust off he has been productive. With injuries to the Celtics frontcourt, Smart has played 31 minutes per game and the Nuggets, as mentioned above, aren't great on defense.
Forward (premium/moderate)
T.J. Warren, PHO at LAL ($6700): Warren has produced consistently across games, and is settled in as one of the leading scorers on the Suns. He is fresh off hitting the game-winning dunk in overtime in his last outing, and faces a Lakers defense that is not intimidating on Sunday night.
Forward (affordable)
Devin Booker, PHO at LAL ($6100): Booker finally exploded in his last outing, notchting 38 points with four boards and three assists against the Pelicans. He hit the 3-pointer that tied the game with under 20 seconds left, then came back and hit the baseline jumper as time expired to send the game to overtime. His confidence should be high, going against a beatable Lakers defense.
Forward (affordable)
Amir Johnson, BOS vs DEN ($4400):Al Horford has been declared out for Sunday, which means that the opportunity is still there for either Johnson or Tyler Zeller to step up. In Horford's first absence, Johnson exploded for 23 points, six boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks in 30 minutes against the Bulls. He came back to earth in the next game, but the potential is there and the Celtics will need Johnson's size to match-up with the Nuggets' large frontline.
Center (premium)
DeMarcus Cousins, SAC at TOR ($10,100): Cousins is the only truly elite center going on Sunday. He is coming off his worst outing of the year in a blowout loss to the Bucks, and should be looking for revenge against an admittedly tough Raptors squad. Prior to Saturday's clunker he was coming off consecutive games with 30+ points, seven boards and four assists.
Center (moderate)
Jusuf Nurkic, DEN at BOS ($6000): Nurkic has been consistently productive, averaging a solid double-double at 15.2 points and 10.6 boards with 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals. On Sunday he'll match up with Tyler Zeller, as the Celtics are missing Al Horford, which also works to Nurkic's favor.
Center (affordable)
Tyler Zeller, BOS vs DEN ($4300): Zeller is another Celtic getting more opportunity than usual due to injury, in this case to Al Horford. In his last outing starting for Horford he scored 11 points with 10 boards, six assists and two blocks in 28 minutes against the Cavaliers. Like Amir Johnson, Zeller's size will be required against the Nuggets' large frontline.
