NBA Starting 5: Wednesday, December 28th
The Starting 5 Series will provide Grinders a quick look at the day’s top positional plays, analyzed through the lens of our Daily Research Tools.
Tonight is a great 10-game slate, and thankfully no teams are on the second half of a back-to-back, so we can feel confident that players are rested and ready to go.
For today’s edition, I’m going to continue to discuss how I can quickly glance at two of the Research Tools available to identify good situations for my starting five.
First, I always browse the Salary Charts tool to see if I can identify some players that DraftKings has priced lower than FanDuel and I can therefore take advantage of the better pricing. I will then click the Advanced Player Stats tool and focus on their USG%. It’s also nice to glance the peripheral stat percentages available to see if I can expect peripheral points.
Point Guard – Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, $8,100 on DraftKings
I think it’s finally time to play Curry. His price has dropped to the point where you must consider him and is $300 lower on DK than FanDuel, which is nice because we can take advantage of DK’s three-point bonus. The Warriors are 10-point home favorites against a very good Raptors squad and have the highest implied team total (117) in a game with the highest total of the night at 225 points.
Though Curry has struggled this year, he did put up 51.3 DK points vs. Toronto in their earlier matchup (on 11-of-16 shooting along with a 32% USG rate), just behind Durant’s 33.2% USG. I also really like the fact that coach Steve Kerr has come out and said that he is going to put Curry in a better position to get going, so tonight looks like the perfect spot to take advantage of his reduced price point.
Shooting Guard – DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors, $7,800
I really want to attack this game because I love the pace, high total, and think it will be competitive. DDR is my guy for the Raptors; he is priced $800 lower on DK and has a 34.4 True Usage % – the highest tonight at the shooting guard position.
The Warriors currently rank 14th in DVP vs. shooting guards and DeRozan went for 47.5 DK points in these teams’ earlier matchup this year, when he led the Raptors with a 33.8 USG %. He is currently fourth in the league in field goal attempts, sixth in free throw attempts, and fifth in points per game. He simply scores at will and is in line for another big game at a reduced price.
Editor’s Note: Rudy Gay has been ruled OUT for tonight.
Small Forward – Rudy Gay, Sacramento Kings, $6,300
While I can’t blame everyone for looking to DeMarcus Cousins in tonight’s matchup against Portland because of his last monster game against them, don’t forget that Gay didn’t play in that one. I will be taking advantage Gay’s $900 lower price on DK tonight, as he appears to be healthy coming off of a strong performance against the 76ers in his return from injury. He also gets just as good a matchup as Boogie, as Portland ranks 27th in DVP vs. the small forward position.
In his last matchup at Portland on November 11th, Gay put up 56.5 DK points with a 29.7 USG %, just below Boogie’s 33.7 USG %. Look for him to take away usage from Cousins tonight and easily pay off his bargain price.
Power Forward – Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves, $8,700
PF is pretty weak overall tonight, but on DK we can play Towns, as he’s PF eligible and is also priced $400 lower than FanDuel. The matchup is middle of the road, as Denver ranks 14th in DVP vs. the power forward position, but the upside is certainly there.
KAT went for 60 DK points when these two teams last met on December 3rd, when he led his team with a 28.3 USG %. He presents a matchup nightmare for Nokic, Jurkic, Faried, Chandler, and anyone else that the Nuggets can throw at him. He also comes into tonight in great form, averaging over 49 DK points per game over his last eight games.
Center – Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards, $5,700
The Polish Hammer is priced $300 lower on DK and gets my favorite spot to exploit, a matchup against Indiana. The Pacers are currently ranked 16th in DVP vs. the center position, but are the second worst rebounding team in the league. They also rank 22nd in both opponent blocks and steals allowed per game, while being 22nd in total fantasy points allowed.
With Ian Mahinmi out, the Wizards have been running out Gortat for huge minutes, as he’s averaging over 35 minutes per game this season and will do so tonight as long as the game stays competitive. Washington ran him out for 43 minutes in their last meeting and he put up 38.8 DK points. The Hammer eats tonight!