This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Jordan Loyd will start Friday's contest for Red Star, and Ognjen Kuzmic will return to action as well.
- ASVEL's Guerschon Yabusele will be available Friday, but Allerik Freeman will not be.
- Baskonia's Luca Vildoza will be available off the bench Friday.
- ALBA's Peyton Siva will not play Friday due to an ankle injury, and Niels Giffey remains out for the German team.
- Ioannis Papapetrou and Georgios Papagiannis will be available for Panathinaikos, but Howard Sant-Roos will not be.
- Red Star's Johnny O'Bryant has been suspended for 10 days and will not play Friday.
THE SLATE
FC Bayern Munich at 
CSKA Moscow
Status Check: Vladimir Lucic (MUN), Nihad Dedovic (MUN), Zan Sisko (MUN), Mike James (CSK), Will Clyburn (CSK)
Best Bets for Success: Both teams will use the same roster they sent out in Round 22, which means two players on either squad get a nod here, rather than the normal one for CSKA and three for Bayern. James' absence leaves a major void in his team's lineup, but Nikola Milutinov and Tornike Shengelia are more than capable of filling it. With Lucic out, Wade Baldwin, and particularly Jalen Reynolds will get a boost.
DFS Darlings: Despite the significant absences, there aren't many appealing value plays in this one. Nick Weiler-Babb and James Gist had their best games of the season Tuesday, but their prices jumped significantly and they won't be facing Khimki on Friday. Daniel Hackett and Janis Strelnieks were CSKA's starting guards Tuesday, but they're both a bit underwhelming at their prices as well.
Status Check: Anthony Randolph (MAD), Nicolas Laprovittola (MAD), Jaycee Carroll (MAD), Niels Giffey (BER)
Best Bets for Success: Walter Tavares took it easy in Madrid's last contest, so he should be plenty rested for Friday's game, and he had one of his best games of the season when these squads squared off in December. ALBA has a few players who could land here, and none of them have a particularly appealing matchup. Luke Sikma, given his track record, seems to be the best option among the bunch. He is due to pick up the pace soon, and he too had one of his best games of the season last time these teams met up.
DFS Darlings: Madrid will be short-handed in the backcourt Friday, so both Carlos Alocen and Sergio Llull should plenty of time on the court. Gabriel Deck isn't the bargain he was Wednesday, but he's done enough lately to at least consider on DraftKings at $7,000. Peyton Siva is still a little cheaper on the same website than he was before missing time with an injury, and he looked to be back at full speed Wednesday. Ben Lammers won't have it easy against Tavares, but he has the ability to return 4x value on DraftKings at $7,600.
Valencia Basket at 
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
Status Check: Guillem Vives (PAM), Joan Sastre (PAM), Ioannis Papapetrou (PAN), Georgios Papagiannis (PAN), Howard Sant-Roos (PAN)
Best Bets for Success: Panathinaikos has three major question marks heading into Round 23, and while they could all play Friday, it seems unlikely any of them will be 100 percent. As such, expect Nemanja Nedovic to remain his club's top option. Should both Papapetrou and Papagiannis remain out, you can put Konstantinos Mitoglou here as well. His DraftKings price will be a bit scary if even one of his frontcourt mates plays, but should he hold onto the role he played the last few Rounds, he will have a prime matchup with Valencia giving up the most points and rebounds to players at the forward spots. The Spanish team's rotation is in flux right now, but with the team still down two guards, Klemen Prepelic gets the nod here. He's been a bit quiet of late, but he should get more minutes and scoring opportunities like he did Wednesday.
DFS Darlings: Martin Hermannsson can fill up a box score when given the opportunity, and he should benefit in the same manner Prepelic will. If you don't want to spend up for Mitoglou but still want to take advantage of Valencia's issues with forwards, Aaron White will be the top option among the rest of Panathinaikos' players at those positions.
LDLC ASVEL at 
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
Status Check: Guerschon Yabusele (ASV), Derrick Walton (ASV), Jordan Loyd (RED), Johnny O'Bryant (RED), Ognjen Kuzmic (RED), Marko Simonovic (RED)
Best Bets for Success: Norris Cole and David Lighty have been the French team's steadiest producers this month, and with both of them averaging over 14.0 ppg over the last five Rounds, there's no reason to turn away from them at this point. It's impossible to pick a top option for Red Star without knowing Loyd's and O'Bryant's statuses, as they're safely their team's best two players. For what it's worth, the Serbian squad's most consistent player of late has been Ognjen Dobric, who averaged 10.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.7 threes over the last seven Rounds. That would make him Red Star's safest option should both his noted teammates remain sidelined.
DFS Darlings: Moustapha Fall's role has been limited of late, but at just $7,200 on DraftKings, he is providing some of the most average value on the board. Landry Nnoko and Antoine Diot both claimed starting spots in their last appearances, and they will have plenty of appeal if they hang onto them. ASVEL is allowing the most points to opposing centers, and Walton's absence leaves open some extra facilitating for Diot.
Zalgiris Kaunas at 
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Status Check: Patricio Garino (ZAL), Steve Vasturia (ZAL), Luca Vildoza (BAS)
Best Bets for Success: Pierria Henry is averaging the most fantasy points among the players who will take the court Friday, and even though he's been a bit inconsistent of late, he put up fewer than 30.0 points on DraftKings just three times over the past eight Rounds. Achille Polonara has been just about as productive as Henry, and he too finished with fewer than 30.0 DraftKings points three times over his last eight appearances. Zalgiris also has a couple players who land in this section in Marius Grigonis and Joffrey Lauvergne. While both have been on a roll, they'll have their work cut out for them Friday, as Grigonis will have to contend with Henry -- the league leader in steals -- and Baskonia has a lot of size to counter Lauvergne.
DFS Darlings: The Lithuanian team has gotten pretty steady production from the rest of its roster, so there isn't a whole lot of value on their side. It's no guarantee he gets enough minutes to make an impact, but Rokas Jokubaitis produced in limited time in Round 22, and the talented youngster could get a chance to back that up. For Baskonia, Rokas Giedraitis and Youssoupha Fall are intriguing on DraftKings at their current going rates.
