NBA Tournament Plays: Friday, 10/31
What’s up Grinders? There are some huge tournaments going on tonight around the industry, a $150K on FanDuel for a $25 entry and a $100K on DraftKings with a $27 entry. With so much money on the line, let’s talk some high upside GPP plays for tonight.
POINT GUARD
Brandon Knight – Knight exploded on opening night for the Bucks against the Hornets, and now gets the best matchup on the board, getting to play at home vs. the Sixers. He will be matched up against Tony Wroten for most of the night (pun intended), who just let Donald Sloan put up 16 points with 10 rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes. Knight is the epitome of a GPP play, and could be the guy to take that takes you to the top.
Tony Wroten – Opposing Knight in a game with a 201 O/U (the Bucks are 8 point favorites), Wroten will be doing his best to keep the Sixers close in this game. Wroten showed last year he is capable of huge fantasy nights, and started this year off with another great performance. He is the only proven commodity in Philly, and should have no trouble generating fantasy points a variety of ways tonight.
SHOOTING GUARD
Kobe Bryant – SG is a wasteland tonight, which has me thinking of paying up at the position, and finding value elsewhere. It’s the battle of LA tonight as the Clippers take on the Lakers, and you know Kobe is going to get his in this game. Kobe had a great game last time out, scoring 31 points (11-25 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 7-7 FT) and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. That was against the Suns in a game the Lakers got blown out, which may happen tonight as the Clips are -12 favorites. Kobe will get his, and I like paying up for him tonight.
Eric Bledsoe – Bledsoe was on his way to a huge game vs. the Lakers last time out before getting ejected in the third quarter. He ended up with 16 points, nine assists, six rebounds and just one turnover in 26 minutes. Tonight he gets to play the Spurs in a 206 O/U game that projects to be a close the whole way. Bledsoe is capable of completely taking over a game scoring wise, but what gives him enormous upside is the ability to contribute in every category (4.7 reb, 5.5 ast, and 1.6 stl per game last season). The SG spot is very weak tonight, so I advise spending up on at least one of these two guys.
SMALL FORWARD
LeBron James – How can you not consider the best player in the NBA coming off a bad game, which will greatly decrease his ownership for tonight. LBJ couldn’t live up to the moment last night in his home opener putting up a dud of a game. Tonight he gets to take on Chicago in a game that should remain close throughout. The matchup, his dud of a game last night, and his price, will all keep people from selecting LBJ tonight, which allows you to get the best player in the game with very low ownership.
Kawhi Leonard – After missing the Spurs first game of the season, Kawhi is back for tonight’s game, and is poised to become one of the breakout stars of the season. We saw in the Finals last season what Kawhi is capable of when unleashed, and the aging Spurs would be wise to let Kawhi play as much as he can to rest the aging veterans. Kawhi is reasonably priced around the industry tonight, and makes a top tier GPP play for me, since he contributes in all categories.
POWER FORWARD
Nerlens Noel – One of the trends last season was to take bigs against the Bucks, and with no changes in the Bucks frontcourt this season, that trend continues tonight with Noel. He has tremendous upside if he can manage to get 15+ points, as he a monster on the glass and shot blocking. Priced to own throughout the industry tonight in a great matchup, look to Noel for some huge upside tonight.
Marcus Morris – Morris gets a few more games of run while P.J. Tucker finishes out his three-game suspension to start the season. In his first game this season, Morris was raining buckets as he poured in 21 points with very little else. Tonight vs. the Spurs he should be able to add some more reb/ast/blk/stl in 30+ minutes for the Suns.
CENTER
DeMarcus Cousins – Cousins really improved his consistency last season, becoming one of the top Cs in the game. He has great GPP appeal as the Kings offense has very little firepower outside of Cousins. He can rack up rebounds and blocks with the best of them, and has the ability to take over a game on offense and is a threat to score 30+ points every game. This game has a 202 O/U with Portland a -5 favorite, so it should remain close, meaning DMC gets a full four quarters to rack up those points.
DeAndre Jordan – While Jordan didn’t do much last night against the Thunder, I’m looking for a much more fantasy relevant output tonight vs. the Lakers. Jordan’s GPP appeal comes from his shot-blocking ability (He was third in the league last season in blocks per game at 2.48), and his rebounding (first in the league last year at 13.6 reb/game). He’s going to have some huge lines this year where he puts up 20+ points, 15+ rebounds and 4+ blocks, which has me eyeing him tonight with a reasonable price across the industry.