Yahoo NBA Expert Picks: Thursday, February 15th

Each day when there are two or more NBA games, our daily fantasy basketball experts will provide their top plays for Yahoo. These picks will help you find the best values and top overall plays to build a foundation for all types of contests. Our top-ranked experts will also provide the reasons for their picks, so you can make informed decisions when setting your lineups.

Thursday, February 15th

Tonight, we have the last (degenerate) two-game slate before we all go crazy for the next week due to the All-Star break. The Lakers are the only team on the second half of a back-to-back. Let’s have a look at some of my favorite plays for the slate.

Point Guard

PG: Isaiah Thomas, Los Angeles Lakers, $21 – I had a rough night last night, due to having IT2 and Rondo both in my main lineup and was on my way to a very good night until the double ejection that destroyed me. Well, the good news is that Thomas is well rested for the back-to-back and should be extremely motivated to prove himself after all the abuse he’s taken this season and falling victim to Rondo’s antics last night. An eruption game is coming and I promise, he’s going to have some big games with this fast paced Lakers squad. This is the game I prefer to target, as the Lakers have given up 269 points over the last two games and scored 240. The Wolves are hit-or-miss on the defensive end and with the All Star break a day away I can definitely picture them letting up some in this game. The matchup is good, as the Wolves rank 26th in overall defensive rating, 20th in DVP vs. the point guard position, and have trouble defending spot up shooters. They allow plenty of usage, threes, twos, and tons of assists to opposing point guards, telling me that Isaiah will have plenty of opportunity for good numbers tonight. Thomas got up 12 shots (8 from three) along with a 28.6% usage in 30 minutes against the Mavs the other night and I like him a lot tonight in this spot.

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About the Author

kirkdiese
Chris Kirkwood (kirkdiese)

Chris Kirkwood (aka kirkdiese) graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in Economics. He’s been steadily climbing the DFS rankings since 2014, and in 2015, decided to pursue it full time. A 2016 FanDuel WFBC finalist and 2019 DraftKings FBWC runner-up ($350,000 prize), Chris is consistently one of the top-ranked Grinders in the industry. He considers NBA, MLB, and MMA his best DFS sports and makes a habit of watching every NBA game with his dog Phil (named after Phil Ivey). Follow Chris on Twitter – @Kirkdiese