FanDuel NBA Single-Game Strategy: Trail Blazers/Jazz DFS Preview
Update – Nassir Little has been ruled OUT while Hassan Whiteside is now QUESTIONABLE. Monitor Whiteside’s status as his absence would make Rudy Gobert on the other side a stronger play while Caleb Swanigan may be a viable punt option if he starts.
Hello Grinders. FanDuel has a solid single-game offering for tonight’s Portland Trail Blazers vs Utah Jazz game. Let’s dive in and see what we can make of this game.
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The Spread
The Jazz enter as 8.5-point home favorites in a game with a 227 over/under. To be honest I’m a little surprised the Jazz are this heavily favored, although this is the back end of a back-to-back for the Blazers so perhaps that’s also factored into the number. The Jazz are 32-18 for the season but are coming off an embarrassing 98-95 home loss to a Denver Nuggets team that had seven players. The prior game, they also lost to the Jazz (albeit on the road) by 17 points. The Jazz have looked good at times, but they’ve looked somewhat bad lately. I tend to think this game is closer than the UTA -8.5 that it’s opening up with.
The Injuries
Both teams enter fairly healthy, as Nassir Little is questionable with an ankle injury but he’s the only one to monitor. Little hasn’t been much of a factor in the rotation anyway with Carmelo Anthony playing big minutes, so there’s not much at the start of the day we need to monitor from an injury perspective.
The Options
Damian Lillard – It’s hard not to love Lillard in this spot given the way he’s been playing and at just $16,500. Lillard has cooled off substantially over his last two games, having now been under 40 FD points in back-to-back games. But this is also someone who was dropping 70+ FD points routinely just last week, including 72.4 FD points against this Jazz team where he scored 51 real-life points. Yes, regression has suddenly hit Dame hard, but if there’s someone I’m going to spend up on and prioritize, it’s Dame.
Hassan Whiteside – It gets pricey quick if you plug in both Lillard and Whiteside, but I love the upside and floor they both offer. Whiteside specifically will be needed against Rudy Gobert, who he torched last time for 52.2 FD points. I do worry a little that this is a back-to-back for the Blazers as maybe Whiteside doesn’t see massive minutes after playing 36 minutes on Thursday, but I do think a route to low 30 minutes is feasible here. While it seems counter-intuitive to target Gobert, the Jazz are actually allowing the 17th most fantasy points to opposing centers, so they grade out fairly league-average in this department.
Gary Trent – If you spend up for Lillard and/or Whiteside, you’re going to need some salary relief. Gary Trent is my favorite punt option on this slate as he’s now scored 22+ FD points in back-to-back games and reached minutes in the low 20s in five of his last six games. He’s somewhat scoring-dependent but appears to be in good form right now as he nailed a career-high six three-pointers on Thursday. This is merely a price play where you’re hoping to capture some kind of floor with Trent.
Mike Conley – It’s tough to trust Conley given how bad he’s been this season, but I love his price at just $9,500. He’s been starting again and is coming off back-to-back games of 30+ FD points and 30+ minutes. There’s always a chance the bad Conley returns and crushes your lineups, but at $9,500, I see enough upside at this price and role that I think he’s worth taking shots on. He’s going to be needed to help cover Lillard, so he should push for 30+ minutes once again here.
Thanks for reading, and good luck tonight. May variance be on your side.