NBA Daily Plays (Tournament Edition): Friday, Dec. 20th
There are a lot of big tournaments across the industry tonight, so we will continue our Friday tradition of focusing on the high upside players that you can use in these GPP’s. For the major sites, DraftStreet has their $109 qualifier up, StarStreet has their $530 qualifier up, and both FanDuel and DraftKings have major GPP’s going so you have a lot of choices tonight.
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Point Guard
- Ricky Rubio – Rubio is one of my favorite plays across the board tonight for both GPP’s and cash games. He is facing a Lakers defense that is giving up the 4th most FP’s to opposing PG’s this season. Not only that, but the Lakers don’t have a true PG right now and Rubio should be able to take his man off the dribble anytime he wants to. The kicker here is that the line in this game is only at -6 so the Lakers are expected to keep this game close.
- Isaiah Thomas – I’m not sure what it is, but IT2 loves facing the Heat. In 3 career games against the Heat, he has averaged 24 points and 6 assists per game. The best part about those numbers is that he wasn’t playing the amount of minutes that he is now. Thomas will be overlooked thanks to his tough matchup and makes a perfect tournament play. He has the potential to put up 40 FP’s in this one.
Shooting Guard
- Eric Bledsoe – Bledsoe is always one of my favorite GPP plays because he has a high floor and a high upside. He does a little bit of everything on the court and he has a favorable matchup tonight against Denver who has been below average against SG’s this season. Look for Bledsoe to push the tempo and put up big numbers once again. Of the two guards on the Suns, I think Bledsoe is the easy choice.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo – I had to copy and paste his name in here just to make sure that I spelled it right. We will just call him the alphabet to make it easier. He got the start the other night and played well by putting up over 20 FP’s. While O.J. Mayo is expected back for tonight’s game, Coach Drew is sticking with the alphabet in the starting lineup. He should still see 30+ minutes and I like the upside for his cheap price tag.
Small Forward
- Paul George – This is the perfect type of game for George to go off. He is facing a Rockets team that is bad on defense, especially in transition. The Rockets are also a team that is turnover prone and George could force a few steals for some easy buckets. The Vegas line in this game hast the Pacers favored by 7 and I think the Rockets should keep this one close enough that he will see a full complement of minutes. Tonight is the night to pay up for George.
- Nick Young – The Lakers are going to be without Kobe, Blake, and Farmar tonight so there are going to be plenty of minutes and plenty of shots to go around. I’m not sure if Young is going to get the start, but either way, don’t be surprised to see him play 35+ minutes and put up close to 20 shots. Considering his price, he’s probably the top GPP play tonight.
Power Forward
- Paul Millsap – Millsap has really had a breakout year and has topped 40 FP’s on a number of occasions this season. Tonight he gets to face his former team for the first time and you know that he will have a little added motivation since they didn’t resign him in the offseason. I like Millsap to have a monster double-double tonight and the fact that Ayon is still out only helps his value.
- Jordan Hill – Hill is your ultimate risk/reward play tonight. Not only is he prone to foul trouble, but he is facing one of the league’s best players at drawing fouls (Kevin Love). Oh, and did I mention that D’Antoni loves to screw with his minutes? All of that said, Hill has great upside and I think he is going to go on a nice run here in the next few weeks. I have a feeling Hill will be on the winning qualifier teams tonight.
Center
- Andrew Bynum – Bynum can put up fantasy points in a hurry. He can also play 10 straight minutes without doing anything on the court. It seems like he doesn’t quite have his confidence back. That said, he is dirt cheap across the board and has put up over 25 FP’s in 4 of his last 8 games including 2 games over 40 FP’s. He has a great matchup tonight against the Bucks who are extremely under-sized underneath. Bynum could easily top 30 FP’s here which is great considering his price.