10 Definitely Interesting, Possibly Helpful NBA Notes for Friday, February 3rd
This NBA season, I’ll work to uncover some interesting bits of information that might shed some light on players from that day’s slate of NBA games. This is not a picks column, nor is it a “fun facts” article – it’s something in between.
I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it helps you think about today’s NBA plays in a new way as you build your DFS lineups. Here are 10 NBA notes for Friday, February 3rd, 2017.
1. Isaiah Thomas has nine games of 50+ FanDuel points this year (in 45 games played); for the entire rest of his career (434 career games), he had six games of 50+ FanDuel points. Price has skyrocketed, but this is a primo matchup against the Lakers, who rank 26th in DvP against point guards and have nobody to cover the 2016 version of IT2.
2. Prior to January 31st of this year, D’Angelo Russell had never reached double-digits in assists in a game; he’s done it twice since then, and this potentially new facet of his game has contributed to 47.4 and 40.9 points at FanDuel, both of which rank in his top six FanDuel performances of the year. He’ll get little resistance from Isaiah Thomas, whose -4.64 defensive real-plus minus is startlingly bad and ranks dead last in the NBA (for context, Damian Lillard is the next-worst point guard on the slate in DRPM at -2.41). It remains to be seen whether Russell’s recent spike in assists is a fluke or a long-term trend, but his price hasn’t adjusted to his recent production (he’s still $6,100 at FD and $5,900 at DK), putting him firmly in play this evening.
3. Kyle Lowry has 30 points in four straight games; that’s the longest active streak in the NBA, and a career high for Lowry, who has benefited from DeMar DeRozan’s absence even if the Raptors haven’t. This year, he sees better than a 38 percent increase in field goal attempts in games without DeRozan (14.9 to 20.6). The Magic allow the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards, meaning if DeRozan sits again, Lowry presents one of the best floor/ceiling combos on the slate.
4. Devin Booker has 20+ points in 14 straight games, the longest streak of his career; his previous longest streak was four games. Sacramento allows the fourth-most points per game to opposing shooting guards. The downside, as always with Booker, is the absence of anything in other categories; he’ll need roughly 35 fantasy points to reach 5x value tonight (he’s $6,900 at FD and $6,800 at DK), and that’s a number he hasn’t reached in the last seven games.
5. A player who, unlike Booker, has no trouble putting up 20+ points while also filling out the rest of the stat sheet is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis has 11 games of 20+ points, 2+ rebounds, 2+ assists, 2+ steals, and 2+ blocks this season, the most such games in the NBA. Over the entire season last year, no player had more than eight such games. His matchup with Denver is pristine, as the Nuggets’ 112.9 defensive rating is the worst in the NBA this year. The 0.5 FanDuel points per minute Giannis scored in his last game was his lowest output since January 28th of last season. But that was the Jazz, and this is the Nuggets. He should be able to put that one in the rearview mirror.
6. Russell Westbrook has 21 games of 25+ shot attempts this season; no other player has more than 12 such games. His matchup with Memphis is a tough one, but he triple-doubled and put up 57.6 FanDuel points against them on January 11th. The only question, as always with Russ, is whether you can pay his crazy salary. At $11,500 at DraftKings, he’s much more in play.
7. In the last five games Kenneth Faried has exceeded 28 minutes, here are his FanDuel point totals: 38.9, 47.6, 32.4, 33, and 40.4. If Nikola Jokic remains out (he’s currently listed as questionable), Faried should be in line for heavy minutes, and against a Bucks team that struggles to rebound, he’s worth a look even at his elevated price tag ($6,900 at FD, $6,000 at DK).
8. Since the middle of January, Thaddeus Young has really turned it on in the steals department; he’s got 30 since January 15th, with the next-closest player having 21. His opponent, the Brooklyn Nets, play at the fastest pace in the NBA, and they turn the ball over 16.8 times per game, second-most in the NBA. Young’s upside is always limited, but his floor seems safe in this matchup.
9. Nikola Vucevic has three straight double-doubles, and he’s played 30 minutes in three straight for just the second time this year. In his last game against the Raptors (on January 29th), he put up a season-high 57 DK points.
10. Greg Monroe has been on the floor more than 25 minutes in 15 games this season; he’s scored 30+ FanDuel points in 13 of those games (and he just barely missed 30 in the other two, with 27.8 and 28.2 FD points). Of course, minutes is always the issue with any Bucks center, and with the arrival of Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert, those minutes are as in flux as ever. It isn’t clear at time of writing whether Hawes or Hibbert will be available for this game, but if they aren’t and Monroe is expected to see an uptick in minutes, he’s an interesting tournament option at just $5,700 at FanDuel and $5,300 at DraftKings.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for reading! Stats from this article were pulled from RotoGrinders’ Daily Research Console, StatMuse, Basketball Reference, and NBA.com.
Check back for more “10 Notes” NBA articles throughout the year, and feel free to drop a comment below if you want to talk about today’s slate of NBA games.