Yahoo DFS Basketball: Friday Picks

Yahoo DFS Basketball: Friday Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.

Friday's 10-game slate gives us a variety of options from which to choose at each position, including Blake Griffin at a bargain price against the Magic, not to mention Trey Burke, who's looking to continue his hot streak against the Clippers. They, along with three others, are featured below.

Guards

Trey Burke, NYK at LAC ($15)
Coach Jeff Hornacek opting to rest his veterans following the season-ending ACL tear to Kristaps Porzingis has led to Burke seeing more run over the past three games. During this stretch, he's averaged 23.3 points, 6.3 assists and 1.0 steal in 27.0 minutes (38.0 fantasy points). While his first game of the stretch against Orlando yielded his best performance (43.8 fantasy points) and he's trended downward over the past two (40.0 and 30.2, respectively), it's worth noting that those two tilts were against Boston and Golden State. Friday, he'll be going up against a struggling Clippers squad, which means he could be in for another high-value game.

Zach LaVine, CHI vs. DAL ($28)
LaVine has been cleared to play a full complement of minutes since the beginning of February, leading to some impressive outings. In the six games this season that the combo-guard has seen at least 30 minutes, he's averaging 36.8 fantasy points by way of 24.2 points, 4.7 boards and 3.8 assists. Friday's matchup plays into LaVine's favor also, as the Mavericks have allowed the most fantasy points to shooting guards over the past 10 contests, including the second-most points and most steals.
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Forwards

Taurean Prince, ATL vs. GSW ($16)
In the four tilts since Ersan Ilyasova's last game as a member of the Hawks, Prince has been asked to carry a bigger offensive burden, seeing his shot attempts rise from 10.6 to 15.0 per game. Along with that, he's seen his fantasy points per game go from 23.2 to 29.8 by averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals. Going up against the defending-champion Warriors won't be easy, though Prince's minutes and output likely wouldn't be affected by a blowout, as he may end up running against a second-unit. For his price, it's arguably worth the risk.

Blake Griffin, DET at ORL ($31)
Griffin's price has fallen off a cliff as a result of his recent production. From the second game of the season until the All-Star break, the big man was priced in the $40-plus range. Over the past three contests, however, he's seen his price drop to $39, then $35, then $33 and now $31, as he's averaged just 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists across 31.0 minutes. That said, the first two contests were against top-tier Eastern Conference teams -- Boston and Toronto -- and the Pistons' most recent game was a blowout victory against the Bucks where Griffin saw just 25 minutes. He looks to be in an ideal spot to break his bad streak Friday, as the Magic are one of the worst teams in the league, averaging a third-worst 110.2 opponent points per game.

Center

Alex Len, PHO vs. OKC ($19)
Aside from Monday's game against New Orleans where Anthony Davis essentially fouled out Len single-handedly, Len has played well lately in the wake of Tyson Chandler's (neck) absence. When excluding Monday's dud, Len has averaged 32.2 fantasy points in 29.0 minutes. The Suns' opponent Friday, the Thunder, have been especially stingy when it comes to allowing fantasy points to centers, giving up the second-least to the position over the past 10. But, considering how low Len's price is relative to his upside, the impact could be lessened. Overall, the risk likely is only worth taking in GPPs.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Alex Barutha plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel Username: unclestosh99, DraftKings Username: Roto_Alex.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alex Barutha
Alex is RotoWire's Chief NBA Editor. He writes articles about daily fantasy, year-long fantasy and sports betting. You can hear him on the RotoWire NBA Podcast, Sirius XM, VSiN and other platforms. He firmly believes Robert Covington is the most underrated fantasy player of the past decade.
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