NBA Starting 5: Wednesday, November 23rd
Happy Thanksgiving! We get a monster 13-game slate to get the holiday started off right with five teams (Atlanta, Portland, Denver, L.A. Lakers, and Oklahoma City) on the second half of a back-to-back, so as usual, I will try my best to avoid players on those teams until we get further into the season when I will have a larger sample size of data to evaluate.
Today, I’m going to discuss how I can quickly glance at the DvP Cheat Sheet Tool to identify good matchups to attack for my starting five. Basically, I’m looking for high USG% players in good matchups to build my core starting five.
Point Guard: James Harden, Houston Rockets, $11,700
I’m choosing Harden over Russell Westbrook tonight as he’s rested and gets a good home matchup against the Raptors in a game with the second highest total of the night (216.5). Toronto defends shooting guards well, but Harden is more of a point guard this year, where the Raptors allow the 7th most fantasy points per game. Harden’s 39.3% True Usage jumps off the page in what should be a competitive game, as the Rockets are only favored by one point. He is $600 cheaper than Westbrook who’s coming off a B2B and with enough value opening up from injuries in other games, I will be using a stars and scrubs approach and building my lineups around Harden.
Shooting Guard: Tony Allen, Memphis Grizzlies, $3,300
We are going to need value and I cannot pass up the rock bottom price for Tony tonight. Both Chandler Parsons and James Ennis are out with injuries so the Grizz will rely on Allen for at least 30 minutes tonight. He gets a good matchup against the 76ers who allow the 12th most fantasy points per game shooting guards and the 2nd most to small forwards. This should be a sloppy game where Tony really excels so look for him to rack up the peripherals tonight.
Small Forward: Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves, $6,800
I love attacking New Orleans on the wing where they currently allow the 5th most fantasy points per game and they should be tired tonight on a B2B. This is a tremendous bounce back spot tonight as Andrew is coming off of duds in each of his last two games hopefully lowering his ownership. He’s been incredible this year and has a 29.5 True Usage , just 2.6 lower than Lebron’s! Wiggins is a truly gifted scorer and I’m expecting a monster night.
Power Forward: Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers, $7,700
It’s amazing what a little confidence has done for Kevin’s game so far this year! Tonight he draws a stellar matchup against a tired Blazers squad who currently allow the 2nd most fantasy points per game to power forwards. Kevin comes into tonight with 26.5% True Usage and the Blazers have nobody who can cover him. Cleveland is favored by 11-points so there is some blowout risk, but the game does have a nice 216-point total so I’m comfortable with Love in this great matchup.
Center: Alex Len, Phoenix Suns, $5,100
With Tyson Chandler and T.J. Warren still out Alex makes for a nice value play tonight as he should draw another start and get plenty of minutes. He draws a decent matchup against Orlando, currently allowing the 14th most points per game to opposing centers, and Nikola Vucevic is not known for his defense. Len only has a 16.7 True Usage %, but I look for that to increase with coach Earl Watson looking to build for the future. Len will always rack up defensive stats if given the minutes and had 34 DK points in 31 minutes in his last game vs. the Wizards. Last year against the Magic on 3/4/2016 Alex put up 31-pts, 15rebs, 2 blocks, and a steal, so we know the upside is there.