DFS Alerts
The Clear Salary Relief Choice On This Slate
Thon has been the main beneficiary of the absence of John Henson. And due to his performances in the past two games, we should expect the minutes to remain there again tonight. If you are playing cash games on this three-game slate, he definitely needs to be in your lineup. However, I do think he makes for an interesting fade in tournaments due to how massive the ownership will be. He hasn’t exactly proven to be a consistent player in his short NBA career. It remains to be seen if he can keep up with this level of production in the playoffs.
Playing Well in a Difficult Matchup
Chris Paul is still an elite defender at this point of his career. All season, I’ve been avoiding point guards against the Rockets because of CP3 and the fact that they have a good rim protector in Clint Capela. For whatever reason, Jeff Teague has been able to overcome this matchup over and over again. In seven games against the Rockets this season, he has averaged 34 fantasy points.
No Reason to Fade
Ricky Rubio has been a monster in this series, averaging 34 minutes and 48 fantasy points per contest. He is coming off of a triple-double in Game 3 and his price is still affordable on both FanDuel and DraftKings. He’s always been a great per-minute producer and now that he’s playing more minutes, he becomes an easy target for DFS. In a two-game slate, it’s hard to make an argument to fade him, even though he’ll be chalk.
Low Owned Stud in a Two Game Slate
Jimmy Butler has slowly worked his way back from injury. He was quiet in the first two games of the series, but played 41 minutes in Game 3 and scored 46 fantasy points. Everyone is going to gravitate to Paul George at small forward, but do we really think George has three times of a better chance at outscoring Butler? I’d argue that it’s pretty close, especially given the differences in matchup. Butler is playing at home against the Rockets, while George is playing on the road against the Jazz.
Time for a Statement Game?
Westbrook has been getting outplayed by Ricky Rubio at times in this series, and you can just tell that he is seething at this point. These are the types of games where a top-end talent (like LeBron James) simply decides to take over. Do we see that from Westbrook tonight? It’s a tough matchup and it generally makes more sense to pay up for the safety of Harden, but I have a sneaky suspicion that we see Westbrook go nuts this evening. Give him a long look as your potential spend up in GPP formats.
An Extreme Risk/Reward Punt Value
Derrick Rose may be a shell of his former self, but at least that’s priced into his DFS tag at this point. He was a key piece of Minnesota’s win in Game 3, playing 21 minutes and providing a nice lift off the bench. There isn’t a ton of cheap value on this two game slate, and Rose is about the only guy down there if you want to scrape the bottom of the barrel. The floor is really, really low here, but he does have the potential to return 20-25 fantasy points if everything goes right. He’s an interesting GPP choice if you are looking to squeeze an extra stud play in there.
Ready to Rebound From a Poor Game 3
Capela and the Rockets did not play well in Minnesota over the weekend, and I think we will see a focus effort out of the Rockets this evening. Towns is the guy that everyone will pay up for at the center position tonight, but don’t sleep on Capela. We know he’s got a lot of upside when he is playing his best basketball. While Towns would be my cash game choice, I love the GPP pivot to Capela to be a little bit contrarian (as much as you can be, anyway) on a two game slate.
Adding the Scoring Punch to his Upside
Rubio has always had some DFS upside as a result of his ability to chip in with boards, assists, and steals on a nightly basis. The hollow element of his game was always his inability to score on the offensive end. That seems to be changing now, as Rubio has taken 18, 16, and 18 shot attempts in the first three games of this series. He’s clearly looking for his shot more as the Thunder dare him to beat them. While that philosophy might change a little bit in Game 4 if the Thunder choose to respect him more, the price tag is still affordable enough to where Rubio is a fine mid-range play on a short two game slate. It’s hard to pay up for Westbrook, Harden, and all the top spends on this slate, so Rubio is a great mid-range pivot in all formats.
Still Under $6,000 On DK, So We Should Keep Playing Him
Wiggins continues to have a great mid tier price tag on DK and FDRFT. We are okay with how scoring dependent he is when the price tag is this cheap. And when he has an efficient shooting night, we see there is plenty of profit potential like in Game 3. Salary relief is extremely difficult to come by on DK and FDRFT; basically everything priced below Wiggins is extremely risky. So I want to plug him in for at least a little bit of salary relief; if nothing else, I know exactly what I am getting out of Wiggins.
Minutes, Minutes, Minutes
I love playing Paul George at these price tags because we know he is going to play a boatload of minutes. We are getting mid 30’s at the worst with room up into the low to mid 40’s. The price tag came down a little after a subpar Game 3 performance, which has me going right back to the well in all formats. I definitely want to lock him in to one of my small forward spots on FD, and he makes a ton of sense on DK and FDRFT as part of balanced builds.
Much Needed Salary Relief On FanDuel
With only two games, salary relief is going to be really hard to come by. Thankfully we still have a great price tag on Favors on FanDuel. The floor is safe because of the condensed rotation for Utah, and the upside is huge if he happens to have a big game on the glass. At an otherwise awful power forward position, Favors should be locked in to one of the spots.
This Guys Is Now Known For His...Scoring?
Quin Snyder obviously wants Rubio to be hunting for his shot in this series. For a guy who only posted a 22.9% usage rate in the regular season, the first three games of this series have been 31.5%, 26%, and 29.4%. When you factor in his assist rate, we suddenly have a guy who is too cheap across the industry. And Utah trimmed the rotation down to about seven guys in Game 3, so I feel confident that he is looking at mid 30’s minutes at the least with room up for more.
George Hill ruled out Sunday, Jose Calderon will start
George Hill won’t play in Cleveland’s game 4 tonight versus the Pacers. Hill is dealing with back spams. With Hill out, Jose Calderon will start tonight for the Cavaliers. He didn’t play in game 3, but since he’s dirt cheap across the industry, he is worth a look tonight. Jordan Clarkson should also get a couple extra minutes on Sunday.
As reported by: Dave McMenamin via twitter
John Henson ruled out Sunday
The Milwaukee Bucks will be without John Henson for their game 4 match-up against Boston. This will be Henson’s second straight game he will miss with a back injury. Tyler Zeller started for Henson in game 3, but finished with just 2 points and 2 rebounds in 19 minutes. Thon Maker played 24 minutes off the bench and finished with 14 points and five block shots. Jabari Parker also benefited with no Henson,he played 30 minutes last game.
As reported by: Gary Washburn via twitter Still The Best Raptors Play
I’ve written Kyle Lowry every game so far and I’m not stopping now. Lowry in the playoffs is getting a huge minutes and usage bump and as awesome as John Wall is on offense he’s a huge defensive liability who lets Lowry get whatever he wants. I fully expect another 40 fantasy point game from Lowry with upside for 60 fantasy points in this spot.
