FanDuel NBA Single-Game Strategy: Lakers/Magic DFS Preview
Hello Grinders. FanDuel has a solid single-game offering for tonight’s Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers game. Let’s dive in and see what we can make of this game.
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The Spread
The Lakers enter as 9.5-point home favorites against the Magic, so Los Angeles does enter as decent favorites on the NBA odds board. I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised the Lakers aren’t bigger favorites considering they have the best record in the league at 33-7 and the Magic aren’t even a .500 team at 19-21. It’s possible the spread is baking in some of the injury news, which we’ll touch on next.
The Injuries
On the Lakers side, Rajon Rondo has been ruled out with his finger injury, while Anthony Davis is listed as questionable. He did practice with the team on Tuesday but it wouldn’t shock me if they gave him another day off. Kyle Kuzma has been playing well during Davis’ absence, and the Lakers don’t play again until Saturday against the Rockets, which should be a much more competitive game. Again, this is just speculation on my part so until we have more confirmation, Davis is officially questionable.
On the Magic side, Michael Carter-Williams is questionable with a shoulder injury, while D.J. Augustin is doubtful with knee soreness. The Magic did wave backup guard Josh Magette on Tuesday to make room for forward Gary Clark on a 10-day contract. I did find it odd they would wave Magette with Augstin doubtful, which makes me think MCW is pretty close to a return. His return would provide some guard depth behind starter Markelle Fultz.
The Options
This is a harder game to break down because so much hinges on the status of Anthony Davis. Let me just say this – if Davis is somehow ruled in, playing him at your MVP spot isn’t crazy at all considering his ownership may be depressed given he has an injury designation and he’s the highest priced player on this slate. Getting shares of him would be even more crucial if we get the news he’s in way after lock, as I doubt people will be scrambling to jam him in and rework their entire lineups. Here are some plays and stacks I’m considering:
LeBron James + Alex Caruso – With news that Rajon Rondo is out, and if we get word AD is out, I like the idea of pairing LeBron with Caruso and soaking up as much of the guard duties on Los Angeles as possible. LeBron has strangely struggled a bit without Davis lately, despite the fact CourtIQ shows us that when Davis is off the court, LeBron averages 1.63 fantasy points per minute and has a team-high 36.9% usage rate. When you add Rondo, LeBron’s usage shoots up to 39.3% usage and a crazy 1.71 fantasy points per minute. I personally would play LeBron in the MVP spot and differentiate elsewhere in every lineup I made, but that’s just me. The case for Caruso is that he’s coming off a solid 10/6/1 line in 23 minutes and should be in for extended minutes for as long as both Davis and Rondo are out.
Kyle Kuzma – Kuzma is going to be chalk if AD is out, simply because he’s going to see a boatload of minutes and because of recency bias where he’s been playing well. Over his last three games, he’s reached 36.2, 43.4 and 18.6 FD points, which gives you a sense of his floor and ceiling. During this three-game stretch, he has a total of one block or steal, which is not great for FanDuel scoring that heavily rewards defensive stats. Kuzma is especially scoring-dependent, so just keep that in mind as the Magic do rank 5th in defensive efficiency. I know it’s weird for me to be spewing a bunch of reasons on why you should be cautious with Kuzma, but the bottom line is he’s only $9,500 and would be in line for 30+ minutes if this game stays close and Davis can’t suit up. I have no problem if you wanted to make lineups that fade him, but his price tag and minute upside are nice enough where I think he makes for a solid play.
Dwight Howard – If you’re looking for a pivot off the chalky Kyle Kuzma, I think it’s Howard. Howard gets a #revenge game here but more importantly, he seems to be getting the better of the timeshare between him and JaVale McGee. Howard has scored 37.3 and 41 FD points now in back-to-back games, and he’s been thriving with Davis off the court. He’s a strong per-minute producer with upside in FanDuel’s scoring forward that heavily rewards blocks and steals. I don’t mind chasing Howard’s upside as a pivot off Kuzma if you wanted to differentiate your lineups.
Nikola Vucevic – If you play someone like an Alex Caruso for salary relief, jamming in LeBron and another spend up like Nikola Vucevic shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t love the individual matchups for some of the other Magic players, and while Vucevic himself doesn’t have a great individual matchup against JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, he’s their best chance at keeping this game close. He’s now reached 39+ FD points in 10 straight games and he appears to be over his ankle injury. He should also have an easier time down low if Davis can’t play.
Terrence Ross – I’ll just toss this play out there, and it’s more dependent on the status of Michael Carter-Williams. We know D.J. Augustin is doubtful, Josh Magette was sent down to the G-League and MCW is questionable. If MCW gets ruled out or has a minutes restriction in his first game back, that could mean we see more Ross off the bench. The Magic have been running a tight nine-man rotation lately with Ross being the main backup guard so I could see a route to 25-30 minutes here for Ross. He’s also like Kuzma in that’s he’s scoring dependent, but he has averaged 2 steals per game this month.
Thanks for reading, and good luck tonight. May variance be on your side.