EuroLeague Primer: Round 25 - Friday

Written by

Maciej Bogdanski

Updated on February 24, 2021 2:55PM EST

PREGAME UPDATES

ALBA's Peyton Siva will be available for Friday's game.

THE SLATE

BER ALBA Berlin at ULK Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Status Check: Peyton Siva (BER), Jayson Granger (BER), Niels Giffey (BER), Louis Olinde (BER)

Best Bets for Success: Friday's slate starts with the game that will most likely be highest-scoring meeting of the day. Fenerbahce have all players fit and rested for Friday's game. They didn't play competitive game in the last eight days, so the obvious picks here will be starters: Nando de Colo, Jan Vesely and Marko Guduric. The last player in particular stands out at just $9,100 on DraftKings, considering he only once scored fewer than 21.0 DraftKings points once since his season debut. Vesely is the second choice here, as ALBA is second in the league in points allowed against centers. ALBA will be without few important players, especially in their backcourt. Injuries to Peyton Siva and Jayson Granger will probably give another start to Maodo Lo, who could put up a good haul of fantasy points against a Fenerbahce defense that ranks in the middle against opposing guards. Luke Sikma, despite being the most expensive ALBA player on the slate, will be a popular choice for fantasy players after recording a double-double with rebounds and assists in his last EuroLeague game against Bayern.

DFS Darlings: Both teams are top-4 in the league in DFS points conceded against forwards, so there's plenty to choose from here. Simone Fontecchio and Danilo Barthel both look like good picks, and the former will continue to see more minutes on the court with Giffey and Olinde out. Looking at the lower-tier choices, Kyle O'Quinn will possibly start increasing his playing time after another good performance in the domestic league. Tim Schneider should also benefit from the absences at the forward spots.

DYR Zenit Saint Petersburg at RED Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

Status Check: Alex Poythress (DYR), Johnny O'Bryant (RED), Corey Walden (RED), Quino Colom (RED), Langston Hall (RED), Landry Nnoko (RED), Duop Reath (RED)

Best Bets for Success: Red Star's team is facing a big challenge in this game. With six players unavailable, and considering that Zenit's defense against guards is the best in EuroLeague, their frontcourt will likely handle a majority of the scoring. Dejan Davidovac and Ognjen Kuzmic would be usually discussed in the next section, but for this game they are both leading choices and bargains in the same time. Jordan Loyd is Red Star's most expensive player for this game, but he's not yet back in form and faces the toughest matchup possible. Zenit won the last matchup by 29 points back in December, and with the road team favored by eight points Friday, it's possible a similar game could unfold. Kevin Pangos and Arturas Gudaitis are the top point scorers for Zenit, and they will most likely continue to produce against the weakened opposition.

DFS Darlings: If Zenit takes a significant lead we could see increased usage of the bench players. K.C. Rivers scored 23 points in the last game and Billy Baron is one of the best backup guards in the EuroLeague. Both are great budget picks. If you are looking for even cheaper options for your lineups, Red Star's young guards -- who in normal conditions wouldn't see much action -- will be valid choices for this game. Aleksa Uskokovic and Aleksa Radanov have already seen EuroLeague but on Friday they have a good chance to improve their stats, even in a tough matchup.

MUN FC Bayern Munich at ASV LDLC ASVEL

Status Check: , Zan Sisko (MUN), Derrick Walton (ASV), Charles Kahudi (ASV), Ismael Bako (ASV)

Best Bets for Success: Moustapha Fall's price on DraftKings as well as his fantasy points in each game have slowly crawled up. ASVEL's big man is on the right course and Friday's game should be another next step in the right direction, especially with Bako unavailable. With Walton also injured, Norris Cole will further establish himself as the leading point guard for French team. He averaged impressive 26.4 DraftKings points over the last five games, and is consistently one of two, alongside David Lighty, top scorers for his club. Bayern's Jalen Reynolds looks like a perfect fantasy pick for this game: he averaged 37.1 DraftKings points over the last three games, and ASVEL concedes the most points against centers. He is a bit pricey but it's not much of a surprise as his lowest fantasy score in the last 10 games was 22.5 points against Real Madrid last month. More affordable players from Bayern's frontcourt, but still with a great chance for big points on Friday night are Vladimir Lucic and Paul Zipser. Lucic is seemingly up to speed after back injury, while Zipser, after scoring 40 fantasy points in the last EuroLeague game against ALBA, performed very well in domestic league.

DFS Darlings: William Howard usually delivers enough points from ASVEL's bench to put him in this section, and he could get even more opportunities on Friday night with Kahudi out. Antoine Diot had two very good EuroLeague games in January, scoring over 25 fantasy points in each. In Walton's absence, he will continue to handle the point guard alongside Cole. On Bayern's side, D.J. Seeley averaged almost 22 DraftKings points over the last three games off the bench.

MAD Real Madrid at PAM Valencia Basket

Status Check: Guillem Vives (PAM), Joan Sastre (PAM), Rudy Fernandez (MAD), Jeffery Taylor (MAD)

Best Bets for Success: Valencia players, after losing to Madrid in last weekend's Copa del Rey quarterfinal, will be rested and ready for revenge. Klemen Prepelic, after his best game of the season against CSKA, can't be omitted in this section. He led his team to an overtime win with 42.8 fantasy points and is on track to continue producing. His teammate, Bojan Dubljevic faces a tough matchup in Walter Tavares, but that didn't stop him from scoring 34.5 DraftKings points in these team's first matchup this season. He seems to be back at full speed now after recovering from his COVID-19- related absence. Valencia concedes the most points in the league to opposing forwards, and Real offers a wealth of choices here in Gabriel Deck, Trey Thompkins and Alberto Abalde. Deck averaged 24 minutes and almost 20 fantasy points over the last 5 games. With Taylor and Fernandez sidelined he is in position for another nice game. Tavares performed admirably in recent weeks, and after playing almost 30 minutes per game in January, he should be recharged after the break. He is priced at $10,400 at DraftKings, the lowest his price has been since December.

DFS Darlings: Martin Hermannsson averaged 22.8 fantasy points in the last four games despite working off the bench. His price reached $7,000 on DraftKings but he's still a good value pick considering how consistent he is. Promising youngster Carlos Alocen will look to continue impressing. His playing time increased significantly in the last four games due to Nicolas Laprovittola's absence, and though the Argentinian is back with the team now his subpar showing last weekend means Alocen will likely still spend plenty time on the court.

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. Maciej Bogdanski plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: kmag115173.