DFS Alerts
Top Play on the Slate?
Carmelo Anthony is gone, and Russell Westbrook is uncertain to play in the season opener as he recovers from offseason surgery. If we fire up the RotoGrinders CourtIQ tool, we see that Paul George saw a 12% boost in usage to a mark over 40% with those two players off the floor a year ago. He would be the only hope that the Thunder have to be competitive in this game, and he makes for one of the top overall plays on the two game opening night slate.
Andre Iguodala will play Friday
As expected Andre Iguodala will play tonight in game four of the NBA finals. Iguodala suffered another injury last game but it was a different injury from the one that caused him to missed six games. In game three, Iguodala played 22 minutes and finished with 8 points.
As reported by: Jared Greenberg via twitter
I Was in The Game 3 Optimal Lineup
As Kevin Cole pointed out, Jordan Bell was on the Game 3 optimal lineup that no one played in the biggest GPP. Look for his role off the bench to potentially expand if Cleveland plays more Larry Nance in Game 4. Bell will probably be a lock in my teams tonight.
All Hands On Deck
Larry Nance hasn’t played big minutes this series, but what the Cavs have been trying isn’t working, so look for a potential option for the Cavs to try is to give Larry Nance all of Tristan Thompson’s minutes. That would give LeBron a rim runner who can switch more PnRs than Thompson. High risk, but on a one-game slate, there is a high reward if he gets the minutes.
The Cavs' Last Hope
If the Cavs want any shot of winning, they need the Jeff Green that took down the Celtics as the #2 option for LeBron. Since Game 1, Green has been MIA, but if you are looking for a contrarian play with a proven ceiling in these playoffs, Green is your man.
Surprising Production in this Series
Kevin Love has been the second best player on this Cavaliers’ team all season, but he’s been hit or miss in their playoff runs over the last few years. He’s shown up in a big way in this series, scoring at least 41 fantasy points in every game. His price is reasonable on both FanDuel and DraftKings and the Cavaliers are obviously in a must win situation tonight at home.
Top Value Play of the Slate
The big debate the other night was whether to play JaVale McGee or Rodney Hood for the value. I decided to play both and build from there. It was certainly a strategy that paid off, although Stephen Curry’s bad performance didn’t help. Anyway, McGee has started the last two games and has scored at least 15 fantasy points in each. He should see minutes in the teens once again and his price is still dirt cheap across the industry.
Final Game in Cleveland?
With the way LeBron James has played in this postseason (compared to his surrounding cast), he’s basically earned a free pass out of Cleveland if he so chooses. This could be his final game in a Cavaliers’ uniform and something tells me that he’ll make it special for his hometown fans. I’m going to set the over/under at 70 fantasy points and personally I will take the over. James has a high floor and a high ceiling, making him the top play of the slate.
Finals MVP?
I said before Game 1 that the Cavs would not be able to slow down KD, and that has certainly been the case through three games. Even LeBron is not physically capable of defending him when you factor in what he has to do for that team on the offensive end playing close to 48 minutes. No one else on the Cavs roster comes close to standing a chance. Look for KD to be aggressive again tonight as the Warriors try to go for the sweep. He is an extremely safe cash game play.
Still Way Too Cheap
The sites were really slow to bump Hood’s price tag for whatever reason, but I still think he is a lock in all formats. On one-game slates, you are dead to rights if you don’t have a guy this cheap when he goes off even a little bit. So that leaves us locking in Hood again across the industry and differentiating our lineups elsewhere.
Can the King Keep it Going?
If Cleveland wants any chance of staying alive, he needs to have a huge game. He has topped 70 fantasy points (DK scoring) in four of his last five games, and there’s no reason to expect anything less tonight. If the game stays close, he just might play the whole game, as there is no reason to “rest” him for next season if the Cavs lose this game. If you have the salary to fit him in, he’s obviously your highest upside option in tournament formats.
GPP Upside Despite a Rough Postseason
Thompson has been relatively quiet in this series, but we all know he is capable of getting hot from the field on a moment’s notice. His ownership will be in the tank here thanks to his underwhelming postseason to date, making him a really intriguing GPP option in what could be the final game of the season. This is nothing more than an ownership leverage play in tournaments.
Still a Great Value
Tyronn Lue held true to his word and gave Hood 26 minutes of court time in Game 3, and Hood responded by piling up 15 points and six rebounds in that time. He still costs right at $3,000 on both FanDuel and DraftKings, which is an immense value if he is going to get that kind of run again. I wouldn’t expect any fewer minutes in Game 4 after he played pretty well the other night, and I feel somewhat comfortable going with 100% exposure on Hood in this spot.
Andre Iguodala (knee) will play Wednesday
Iguodala is set to make his return from a six-game absence, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, and will play in Wednesday’s Game 3 matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers following his original questionable designation on the injury report with a knee injury. Head coach Steve Kerr didn’t tip his hand on whether Iguodala would reclaim his spot in the starting lineup right off the bat, but Iguodala will reportedly have his minutes monitored, even though he isn’t necessarily subject to a strict minute restriction this evening. Because of this, it seems likely that he will come off the bench, especially with how successful the Warriors have been with JaVale McGee at center thus far in the NBA Finals, but the presence of Iguodala in the rotation will mean less playing time for players like Shaun Livingston, Kevon Looney, David West, and Jordan Bell, while Nick Young could find himself relegated from the wing rotation entirely.
As reported by: Chris Haynes via Twitter
Will This Hit-or-Miss Guard Go Off?
Just when you count out J.R. Smith is when he normally strikes. He made the dumbest of decisions in Game 1 and the MVP chants by the Warriors crowd rattled him in Game 2, but now he’s at home (where typically role players play better), so I can see JR getting hot. This is a boom/bust GPP play, but with Rodney Hood at $1K, he should draw a ton of attention, leaving JR lower owned than you’d think, and his ceiling is still the same.