This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
The NBA has five games going on Thursday, with several important storylines. After saying before Wednesday night's game that LeBron James was likely to sit on Thursday, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has now added Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to the likely (but not yet official) list of those to sit out. The 76ers will be without Joel Embiid yet again, which gives the Magic a shot at a weaker defense. And Isaiah Thomas will be locking horns with Damian Lillard in a match-up of what could very easily be the two worst defensive point guards in the NBA, both of whom are explosive scorers -- hopefully this leads to a shootout. Lots of fun and interesting matchups on the slate, so let's comb through and find some value.
Damian Lillard, POR vs BOS ($8,500): Lillard has an excellent match-up on Thursday against Isaiah Thomas, arguably the worst defensive player in the NBA, and a Celtics defense that has given up the third-most fantasy points to point guards over the last 10 games. Said defense just gave up 26 points and five assists to Darren Collison on Wednesday, so Lillard has the chance to put a big number on the board.
Victor Oladipo, OKC vs CLE ($6,400): Oladipo scored 17 points with seven boards and four assists two weeks ago against the Cavaliers, and this time there is a legitimate chance that the Cavs rest all of their big three of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Oladipo has been playing well of late, with his best game in weeks on Sunday in a 48.1 fantasy point explosion against the Trail Blazers.
T.J. McConnell, PHI at ORL ($5,200): McConnell had a stretch of five games averaging 10.8 APG, but has since followed that with five games of only 4.4 APG. The latter five were against a group of dominant defenses, though, while the Magic have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to point guards this season. This makes McConnell a reasonable bounce-back candidate Thursday.
Gordon Hayward, UTA at DAL ($8,000): Hayward earns this slot by default, on the heels of news that the other high-priced forward options (LeBron James and Kevin Love) may both sit out. Hayward is facing a Mavericks defense that is tough on paper, having allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to small forwards this season, but Hayward just torched them for 26 points, seven boards and four assists less than three weeks ago.
Serge Ibaka, ORL vs PHI ($6,000): Ibaka has been playing good ball of late, with four games of between 36 and 41 fantasy points in his last five outings. On Thursday, he faces a 76ers defense that will be missing its defensive anchor, Joel Embiid, which means that as a unit they will be weaker than their record of allowing the 12th-most fantasy points to power forwards.
Andre Roberson, OKC vs CLE ($4,100): This one is a bit risky, as Roberson is not a consistent producer yet he is coming off back-to-back strong games of more than 30 fantasy points. Those performances were powered by his defense (averaging 11 rebounds and 3.5 combined blocks/steals in those outings), and though he's always a strong defender he rarely notches numbers that large. With that said, if the Cavs sit the Big Three, it could prompt the Thunder to take a bit of pressure off of Russell Westbrook and let others, like Roberson, carry more of the load.
Rudy Gobert, UTA at DAL ($8,000): Gobert is a consistently strong producer, with dominant defensive numbers (rebounds and blocks, especially) that are resilient even in the face of a strong defensive team like the Mavericks, which ranks 19th in fantasy points allowed to centers. Gobert also had an extremely dominant game against these Mavs a few weeks ago on January 20, scoring 27 points with 25 boards, so he certainly has demonstrated the ability to put a big number on the board Thursday.
Tristan Thompson, CLE at OKC ($5,600): Thompson has been playing well lately, grabbing double-digit boards in five of his last seven games. With the Cavs likely sitting LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving tonight, Thompson could inherit more offensive responsibility.
Clint Capela, HOU at CHA ($5,200): Capela was playing well on a per-minute basis in the weeks since his return from injury, even though he was only playing on the order of 20 minutes per game. Over the last three games, he has gotten his minutes back up to around 30 per game and responded by averaging 31.5 fantasy points in those games. On Thursday, he faces a Hornets defense that has been allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to centers this season.
