This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Team Analysis
Defense to Avoid: Oklahoma City Thunder, vs ORL. This is a tale of two teams. The Thunder have the third best defense in the NBA by defensive rating while the Magic have the second worst offense by offensive rating. Plus, the Thunder are eighth in the league with an SRS of +5.72 and they're playing at home, while the Magic are dead-last in the NBA with an SRS of -10.82 and on the road. This speaks to a great defense against a terrible offense in a game with huge blowout potential.
Offense to Use: Portland Trailblazers, vs DEN. The Trail Blazers are a bit above average offensively (13th in Orating) while the Nuggets are a bit below average defensively (19th in DRating), they are both in the top third of the league in pace, and they are within the same range in SRS. This speaks to a reasonably competitive game in which the Blazers should be able to do pretty much what they want on offense with enough possessions to rack up some solid volume.
Teams on Back-to-Backs:
First game: Thunder, Magic
Second game: Nuggets, Lakers, Timberwolves, Suns
C.J. McCollum, POR vs DEN ($7300): Outside of the mauling that the entire team took from the Clippers, McCollum has been in the zone this week. In his other three games, he has averaged 33.7 points, 4.7 assists, 3.7 boards and 2.3 steals per game. Plus he faces a beatable Nuggets defense at home Sunday.
Emmanuel Mudiay, DEN
Team Analysis
Defense to Avoid: Oklahoma City Thunder, vs ORL. This is a tale of two teams. The Thunder have the third best defense in the NBA by defensive rating while the Magic have the second worst offense by offensive rating. Plus, the Thunder are eighth in the league with an SRS of +5.72 and they're playing at home, while the Magic are dead-last in the NBA with an SRS of -10.82 and on the road. This speaks to a great defense against a terrible offense in a game with huge blowout potential.
Offense to Use: Portland Trailblazers, vs DEN. The Trail Blazers are a bit above average offensively (13th in Orating) while the Nuggets are a bit below average defensively (19th in DRating), they are both in the top third of the league in pace, and they are within the same range in SRS. This speaks to a reasonably competitive game in which the Blazers should be able to do pretty much what they want on offense with enough possessions to rack up some solid volume.
Teams on Back-to-Backs:
First game: Thunder, Magic
Second game: Nuggets, Lakers, Timberwolves, Suns
C.J. McCollum, POR vs DEN ($7300): Outside of the mauling that the entire team took from the Clippers, McCollum has been in the zone this week. In his other three games, he has averaged 33.7 points, 4.7 assists, 3.7 boards and 2.3 steals per game. Plus he faces a beatable Nuggets defense at home Sunday.
Emmanuel Mudiay, DEN at POR ($5900): Mudiay has also played well outside of a blowout loss over the past week, averaging 24 points, 5.7 boards, 3.7 assists and 2.0 combined steals/blocks in the other three games.
Lou Williams, LAL at MIN ($5400): Williams just continues to consistently produce off the Lakers bench. He's now scored 21 points in consecutive games, adding 2.5 of everything else (rebounds, assists, steals and treys) over his last two outings.
Kevin Love, CLE vs CHA ($7600): Love is the least heralded of the Cavaliers' Big Three, but he is quietly playing consistently strong basketball. He has scored at least 14 points in every game this season on his way to an average of 21 points. Furthermore, he has five double-doubles including three in a row, and is facing a Hornets team that ranks 27th in the NBA in production allowed to opposing power forwards.
Andrew Wiggins, MIN vs LAL ($6600): Wiggins has been on fire this week, averaging 29 points with 5.3 boards, 3.7 assists and 3.0 treys in his last three games. He seems to be finding his level as the second Timberwolves star next to Karl-Anthony Towns.
Domantas Sabonis ($4000) or Andre Roberson ($3700), OKC vs ORL: Sabonis and Roberson are both low-priced players that have the ability to throw in a starter-level game here and there. Sunday could bring good opportunities for either/both of them, since they'll be playing a relatively weak Magic squad in a matchup that may allow for additional minutes.
Karl-Anthony Towns, MIN vs LAL ($8300): Towns has been playing at a superstar level, averaging 26 points with 9.6 boards, 1.8 assists, 1.6 treys and 2.4 combined steals/blocks over his last five games. The Lakers don't have anyone that can slow him down.
Mason Plumlee, POR vs DEN ($5200): Plumlee is just a consistent producer across the board that finds ways to fill up the box score. He notched eight points, seven boards, seven assists, two blocks and two steals against DeMarcus Cousins before fouling out Friday. With his passing ability and corresponding assist totals, he almost always puts up a positive number.
