DFS Alerts
James Ennis III is expected to play
James Ennis will be able to play more than 12 minutes tonight. We don’t know how many more. Probably don’t play James Ennis, and ratchet down projections for Nets wings when Ennis is on the floor. Really not much change for tonight’s game since we don’t know how much more Ennis will play, but we’ll want to monitor this situation for Ennis’ availability going forward.
As reported by: Keith Pompey
Jared Dudley is expected to play
While this might not be earth shattering news and you would be excused for not tripping over yourself to get the inexpensive Dudley into your lineups, it is notable that Dudley was a primary cause of Ben Simmons’ struggles in game 1, and the war of words between the two has done nothing to ease tensions. It is likely no coincidence that Simmons had a much better game in game 2 with Dudley out, and may not reach his ceiling in tonight’s game. This isn’t to say Simmons should be completely off your radar, but expecting a repeat performance of his stellar game 2 might be an unrealistic expectation now.
As reported by: Keith Pompey Yes, I Want to Play this Warrior too
I will keep coming back to Klay in cash games, especially now that Boogie is out and the price remains cheap. He is a Core Play for me on DK at $5,900. On FD ($6,500), he is my preferred option for one of the shooting guard slots, but he just misses Core Play status. The usage was down for a second game in a row in the playoffs, but I am not about to start overreacting to two games. We have a whole season of him putting up a 25.5% usage rate, and it was 27% in the 52 games he played this season without Boogie. So I will continue to buy low here, and it doesn’t hurt that he should play upper 30’s minutes in this pivotable Game 3 on the road.
Needed Salary Relief on FD
This $4,900 price tag on FD for Gay really stands out and is really needed to fit in the Warriors. While he may not be starting (since the Spurs want to match the big Denver frontcourt with Poeltl/LMA), he has still played 26 and 28 minutes in the first two games. At 1.04 FD points per minute on the season, that will do just fine for our cash game builds. The DK price tag ($5,000) isn’t as appealing, but he is still a secondary target for me on that site.
A Small Forward that is Tall...So a Tall Forward
I hate making those titles for these blurbs, but I did enjoy that one! Anyways, all of the things that I said about Steph apply to Durant as well. The matchup is great and he gets a fantasy boost with no Cousins. The $8,400 price tag on DK is eye-opening, and it’d be tough not to lock button that one. And as usual on FD, he is easy to get up to. So I don’t mind the fact that the price tag is more appropriate on that site. Quite simply, I think Steph and KD are the easy starting points in any cash game builds on this slate, and I would want to be way overweight them in tournaments.
The Top Play of the Night
A bunch of Warriors will be top plays tonight considering Boogie is out. But it shouldn’t be overlooked that this is still the best matchup on the slate. The Clippers were bottom 10 in overall team defensive efficiency during the regular season while playing at the eighth fastest pace. With a fantasy boost with no Boogie and the minutes crawling back up in the high 30’s (if he can stay out of foul trouble this time), I don’t think there is such a thing as too much Steph tonight.
Blake Griffin has been ruled out
This is what we were all probably expecting, but you can now consider it official. Andre Drummond… and Luke Kennard I guess will do their best to contain Giannis, but the most likely result here will be another blowout similar to the one on Sunday. The Pistons have announced they are going to have Drummond defend Giannis instead of Thon Maker, which may lead to foul trouble for Drummond and perhaps a better showing from Thon, but yeah this series isn’t looking good for Detroit.
As reported by: Malika Andrews Al Horford is expected to play
Horford is in, and we can now avoid Baynes and Turner, and dial back expectations for Gordon Hayward and Marcus Morris. As for Horford himself, there’s always the chance he has the MJ-esque flu game, and it is likely that he will be lower owned today than most days where he is not sick and at risk of not playing, but there is always the risk that he is not 100% and may not be able to play a full load of minutes ore be as effective in the ones he is playing. If anything, this create some interest in Kyrie Irving who is very adept at running the two man game with Horford.
As reported by: Boston Celtics Al Horford is listed as questionable
Horford seems as though he is closer to playing than not playing, but we still need to wait for him to get through warmups for a final decision to be made. This is huge and definitely something to pay attention to. If Horford were unable to go, that would open things up in terms of the Celtics rotation, likely meaning additional run for Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris, but the real benefactor might be Myles Turner, who would otherwise be stifled by Horford’s interior presence. We will definitely want to pay close attention to how this develops as more news becomes available. It would also potentially increase the usage of Kyrie Irving, who would essentially need to be the entire offense in Horford’s absence.
As reported by: Sean Grande A Solid Power Forward Option on FD
Power forward is a gross position on FD tonight, and we have to roster two of them. That has me looking towards Tatum at what is a very appropriate $6,900 price tag. He is a priority play for me on FD due to those roster restrictions, but he also stands out as a great mid tier play on DK at only $5,600. He is not a must-play in cash games over on that site, but he is absolutely viable in all formats across the industry tonight.
Best Source of Salary Relief Despite a Poor Game 1
With Victor Oladipo off of the court this season, Collison got 1.00 fantasy points per minute. So even though he (and every other Pacer) played terribly in Game 1, these price tags are just too cheap for what should be 30+ minutes. The price on FD ($5,000) plummeted a full thousand dollars from what it was before Game 1. The Pacers have been too well-coached and too mentally tough this season to come out with another performance like they did in Game 1. I expect a big game from Collison, and his salary relief is very necessary on this slate.
The Best Floor/Ceiling Combo on the Slate
Due to a better matchup than Harden, I think Giannis has the best floor/ceiling combination on the slate. That makes him my preferred high-end spend in all formats tonight. He is definitely the safest bet for fantasy production tonight; we saw how much damage he did to this Pistons team in Game 1 in severely limited minutes. That makes me feel great about him from a cash game perspective, even if this game gets out of hand again. And if it somehow stays close? Then he could be a slate-winner for tournaments if you are able to mix and match the right cheap plays.
Al Horford is listed as questionable
This is huge and definitely something to pay attention to. If Horford were unable to go, that would open things up in terms of the Celtics rotation, likely meaning additional run for Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris, but the real benefactor might be Myles Turner, who would otherwise be stifled by Horford’s interior presence. We will definitely want to pay close attention to how this develops as more news becomes available. It would also potentially increase the usage of Kyrie Irving, who would essentially need to be the entire offense in Horford’s absence.
As reported by: Taylor Snow Patrick McCaw has been ruled out
Patrick McCaw is out, not much DFS impact here, but you can feel slightly more comfortable about Fred Van Vleet’s minutes backing up in a combo guard role.
As reported by: Josh Lewenberg Patrick McCaw is listed as questionable
Patrick McCaw might give it a go, but wouldn’t be guaranteed any minutes even if he is cleared to play. He would be behind Fred Van Vleet on the depth chart so it’s unlikely that there would be any DFS impact, regardless of whether or not McCaw can go today.
As reported by: Eric Koreen