DFS Alerts
Dennis Smith Jr. (personal) out Wednesday
Smith Jr. remains away from the team and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a personal matter. Even with Elfrid Payton sidelined with a strained hamstring, head coach David Fizdale still wasn’t ready to commit to Frank Ntilikina as his starting point guard for tonight’s contest, but either way, Ntilikina should still have a solid minute floor as the only natural point guard left on the Knicks active roster after logging 22 minutes in Wednesday’s win, even with Payton playing well into the third quarter before leaving with the aforementioned injury.
As reported by: Marc Berman via Twitter
Cheap King Getting Run
Nemanja Bjelica has a great price tag on both sites. He also offers power forward eligibility at the thin position on FanDuel. In the last game against Denver, he played 35 minutes and attempted 11 field goals. Anywhere near that type of game action makes this a highly investible piece on this slate tonight.
Breakout Game Coming Soon
Gordon hasn’t been spectacular this season, but he has played over 36 minutes in each of the last two games and is averaging over 14 field goal attempts per game. His issue is that he hasn’t shot above 38% in any game. Once those shots start falling, Gordon will be a great play at this price.
Back on Track
The hand-wringing was out in full force as the Warriors lost their first two games of the season, but they steadied the ship with a solid road win in New Orleans where they put up a healthy 134 points in regulation. Stephen Curry dominated his way to a 26/3/11 line in that game, and he should put up gaudy stats as the year goes along now with Kevin Durant out of town and Klay Thompson injured. The efficiency might take a dip, but that is of little concern tonight in a favorable matchup against the Suns. The combination of either a gimpy Ricky Rubio or Tyler Johnson is not going to be able to slow Curry down, and he is one of my favorite plays on the slate.
Continuing His Blazing Start
It has been a ridiculous start to the 2019-2020 season for Karl-Anthony Towns. He currently ranks 2nd in the NBA in points per game, 4th in rebounds per game, and 1st in…. three pointers made per game. Yes, that’s right. The 6’11” big man is 15-for-29 from behind the arc through three games, and that is simply an amazing mark. As long as he stays healthy, he is going to be the star of the fantasy season, and he should thrive in a heads up showdown with Joel Embiid tonight. Ride the wave.
Under The Radar Value
Believe it or not, Davis Bertans is starting to carve out some fantasy relevance in Washington. He is averaging nearly 30 minutes per game in the early going and fits well with their offensive system. Bertans will never be a massive usage player, but he is still priced in the $4,000 range on FD/DK, making him a solid value if you are looking to fit in some studs. This should be a high scoring game against Houston, as we have a Vegas total around 230, and Bertans is one of the better point per dollar values on this large slate.
Kyle Anderson (calf) and Ja Morant (ankle) available to play Tuesday
Anderson has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers despite dealing with a sore left calf, while Ja Morant is also good to go, as expected, after being listed as probable with a sore right ankle. Anderson has been one of the primary reserves for off the bench for this Memphis squad, but he continues to be an extremely low-usage player that relies on peripheral statistics to provide fantasy value, which limits his overall ceiling. As for Morant, he is coming off of the best game of his young career in Sunday’s win, and he leads the Grizzlies with a 30.2% usage rate while averaging 1.14 FanDuel and 1.21 DraftKings per minutes.
As reported by: Grizzlies PR via Twitter Other tagged players: Ja Morant Anthony Davis (shoulder) will play Tuesday
Shortly after head coach Frank Vogel’s alarming comments that Davis might not play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, he’s been upgraded to available despite dealing with right shoulder soreness. There’s been no word of potential minute restriction, and Davis was never even listed on the Lakers’ injury report, so it appears safe to assume, as safe as it can be at least, that he’ll be a full-go this evening.
As reported by: Bill Oram via Twitter Anthony Davis (shoulder) now a game-time decision Tuesday
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel disclosed during his pregame media availability that Davis will be a game-time decision for Tuesday’s matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies due to right shoulder soreness. Vogel did disclose that Davis will test out his shoulder during pregame warmups, but he was extremely vague on the severity of the injury, stating “Davis might not play, but he expects him to in all likelihood”.
As reported by: Dave McMenamin via Twitter Dwight Powell (hamstring) available to play Tuesday
As expected, Powell will be available to play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets after missing all three games to begin the season with a strained left hamstring. However, it appears that Powell will be subject to “somewhat” of a minute restriction, according to Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle, though his exact role in the rotation is still to be determined. It now seems even more unlikely Powell would start in his first game back from a hamstring ailment, but it’s still certainly in his range of outcomes, and his mere presence on the bench is a hindrance to the projected fantasy values of Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith, and the other Dallas rotational players.
As reported by: Brad Townsend via Twitter Evan Turner (Achilles) officially out Tuesday
As expected, Turner won’t play in Tuesday’s matchup against the Miami Heat due to left Achilles soreness. Turner has recorded fewer than 11 minutes in both of the Hawks’ previous two games, which uncoincidentally aligns with an increase in playing time for Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, and Cam Reddish, all of whom were on minute restrictions to begin the season. As of now, there has been no indication that any of the remaining active Hawks will be rested on the second leg of a back-to-back set, but if they end up being limited, there could be extra minutes available for the likes of DeAndre’ Bembry and Jabari Parker off the bench.
As reported by: Chris Kirschner via Twitter Dwight Powell (hamstring) listed probable Tuesday
Powell has been upgraded from questionable to probable on the latest version of the Mavericks’ injury report for Tuesday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets due to a strained left hamstring that’s kept him sidelined for all three games this season. However, it appears that Powell is well on his way to making his season debut in tonight’s contest, though his exact role head coach Rick Carlisle’s rotation is still to be determined. It would seem extremely unlikely Powell would start in his first game back from a hamstring ailment, but it’s certainly in his range of outcomes, and his mere presence on the bench is a hindrance to the projected fantasy values of Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith, and the other Dallas rotational players.
As reported by: Brad Townsend via Twitter Discounted Stud
LeBron James and Anthony Davis should battle it out tonight for high scorer on this slate. James checks in at a $1,000 discount on Fanduel and $600 price break on Draftkings. That’s enough for me to lean slightly towards LBJ for cash games if I have to make that decision. For the season LeBron is playing 32 minutes per game, despite 2 early season blowouts in the favor of the Lakers. The Lakers have the slates 2nd highest team total, sitting at 115 currently.
Lack of Depth at Power Forward
We have the typical lack of depth at power forward on FanDuel where we are forced to take two players. Bam Adebayo fills one of those spots for us nicely and checks in with a fair price tag of $7,800. He started off only getting 24 minutes in the blowout in the first game of the season, but exceeded 31 minutes in each of the next two games. That has caused his FanDuel point totals to skyrocket up to 46.6 and 43.3 over those games. Bam is squarely in play for cash games at a thin position on FanDuel tonight.
Salary Relief in Cash Games
Bembry has a price tag that allows you to roster star players in cash games, and that’s the best approach on short slates like tonight. He is averaging 24+ minutes per game this season and grabbed 6.7 rebounds in those contests. Bembry averaged 1.3 steals per game last season and is doing the same thing this year, averaging 1.7 per game. It’s a tough matchup, but this salary relief will help us squeeze in LeBron, Davis or whichever stars we want to combine tonight.