This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
With March Madness at full tilt, the NBA decided to schedule a small five-game slate for Saturday. With one game being played early, FanDuel will key in on the four night games for its tournaments. My strategy in a slate like this is to key in on one or two games. Those matchups for me are the Toronto-Dallas game and Minnesota-Portland fixture. The Raptors and Mavericks game is attractive because it's just a one-point spread and the Blazers-Timberwolves game is intriguing because both teams are fighting for their playoff lives. The New York-San Antonio game concerns me because it has major blowout potential and the Washington-Cleveland game worries me because both teams are known to rest players in a back-to-back set. Hopefully that will clear things up for this small schedule and I wish you all the best of luck in your year-long fantasy playoffs, with many semi-finals and championships being decided this weekend.
Damian Lillard, POR vs. MIN ($9,600): Lillard has put Portland on his back recently and he's hard to avoid right now. Not only does he have at least 39 fantasy points in 13 of his last 15 games, he's averaging 53 fantasy points across his last three games. Lillard ranks fourth in the NBA in usage rate across his last 10 games, and Minnesota is a good defense to exploit, ranking 23rd in defensive efficiency.
Ricky Rubio, MIN at POR ($7,400): Rubio has been playing at another level over the past month, as he's really developed into a legitimate scorer. In fact, Rubio is averaging 16.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 1.7 steals across his last nine games. What's equally as impressive is the fact that he's scored at least 30 fantasy points in 16 of his last 18 games. The matchup may be the best part about using Rubio though, with Portland ranking 25th in defensive efficiency.
Seth Curry, DAL vs. TOR ($5,300): Curry got his first start at point guard on Friday and it led to a 23-point, three-rebound and four-assist gem. That's the type of production we could see going forward from Curry, as he played 35 minutes and posted the second-highest usage among players who played at least 12 minutes. That means this offense in his hands right now and it's hard to find a player at $5,300 with that sort of role and potential.
Kawhi Leonard, SAN vs. NYK ($9,100): Leonard and LeBron James are the clear-cut cream of the rop at the small forward position, but we'll recommend Leonard at nearly $2,000 cheaper than James. While James does average seven more fantasy points than Leonard, that's simply not enough with this sort of price discrepancy. Leonard also has the far superior matchup, as LeBron faces a stingy Washington defense, while Leonard squares off against a bad New York defense. In fact, the Knicks rank 27th in defensive efficiency this season.
LaMarcus Aldridge, SAN vs. NYK ($7,300): While the blowout concern is there for me, Aldridge has shown that he can go off in semi-limited minutes. Since returning from a heart condition five games ago, Aldridge has scored at least 32 fantasy points in all of those fixtures in just 32 minutes per game. He should be able to duplicate that feat again here, with the Knicks allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season.
Gorgui Dieng, MIN at POR ($5,000): Dieng has been inconsistent all season, but he's shown to be a value at this sort of price. The former Louisville product has scored at least 27 fantasy points five times in his last 10 games and he's playing some monster minutes. Dieng is actually averaging 36 minutes across his last three games and he should fall into value with that sort of role. It's the matchup that might be most enticing though, with Portland allowing the third-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season.
Jusuf Nurkic, POR vs. MIN ($6,700): Since being traded from Denver, Nurkic has turned into one of the best centers around. In fact, Nurkic has at least 28 fantasy points in 13 of his last 16 games, while scoring at least 40 fantasy points five times. That shows amazing upside and consistency, as Nurkic is the go-to post-man for the Blazers right now. This is a good matchup for Nurkic too, with Minnesota ranking 23rd in defensive efficiency.
Nerlens Noel, DAL vs. TOR ($5,900): Noel got the start at center in Dallas' most recent game and he continues to show how good he can be when given the minutes. Not only does he have at least 22 fantasy points in three of his last four games, Noel is coming off a season-high 33 minutes in his most recent game. That may mean that he's ready to play 30-plus minutes regularly for the Mavs and that would make a talented player like him an unbelievable value south of $6,000.
