DFS Alerts
Lock and Load Upside
Collins drew his first career start the other night and did not disappoint, racking up 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals with the Hawks extremely thin in the frontcourt. The per-minute production has been there all year; it has just been the fouls that have been an issue. If Collins can stay out of foul trouble, he is capable of routine 35-40 fantasy point games with the upside for more. He will draw another start this evening with both Luke Babbitt and Mike Muscala out, and he played 38 minutes on Wednesday. The sky is the limit.
Eric Gordon (calf) and Ryan Anderson (illness) officially ruled out Wednesday
Gordon and Anderson have both officially been ruled out and won’t suit up for tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets’ after they were briefly listed as doubtful on the Houston Rockets’ injury report with right calf tightness and an illness respectively. With Anderson unavailable, P.J. Tucker will draw the start at power forward and immediately becomes an interesting punt option against the Paul Millsap-less Denver frontcourt. While Tucker and Trevor Ariza should be the largest beneficiaries from a playing time standpoint, James Harden has seen a sizable 5.2% usage rate differential with Gordon and Anderson off the court this season, leading the Rockets with a 43.8% usage rate. That said, a large portion of the sample size came with Chris Paul sidelined with a knee injury, so expectations should be tempered to some extent with Paul now available and expected to see his minute workload increase to around 28 minutes this evening.
As reported by: Jonathan Feigen via Twitter Other tagged players: Ryan Anderson
Wilson Chandler (lower back) will play Wednesday
Chandler has been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets after previously being expected to play with lower back pain that had forced him to miss one game. Chandler will almost certainly reclaim his normal starting spot at small forward in his return, though head coach Mike Malone has declined to reveal who will remain in the starting lineup between Kenneth Faried and Will Barton with Paul Millsap now expected to miss at least three months of action. Based on the matchup, Barton seems to be the likeliest candidate to start at least one more game, but he remains the preferred option of the two in daily fantasy formats regardless of starting status. As for Chandler, he should be viewed as nothing more than a tournament option coming off of an injury, as the Rockets have actually been a respectable defense against small forwards so far this season. Still, Malone will likely continue to roll with small-ball lineups more often in Millsap’s absence, possibly making Gary Harris a sneaky beneficiary as well, along with Chandler, who could see more time at power forward.
As reported by: Ally Sturm via Twitter Kevin Durant (ankle sprain) will play Wednesday, as expected
Durant has been cleared to play and will suit up for tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after previously being upgraded to probable from questionable on the Golden State Warriors’ injury report with a sprained left ankle. Obviously, a mid-day upgrade was a great sign of Durant’s availability for Wednesday’s contest and this news was ultimately expected. His return to the lineup will send Omri Casspi back to the bench to resume his typical reserve role and is demoted back to daily fantasy irrelevancy. Even coming off of an injury, Durant will likely pick up decent traction from an ownership standpoint given the revenge narrative and the massive fantasy performance he put on in his return to Oklahoma City last season. However, the Thunder now have Paul George at their disposal to defend Durant, an individual matchup he has historically deferred usage to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, making him an interesting tournament fade on Wednesday’s massive 14-game slate.
As reported by: Anthony Slater via Twitter Norman Powell (hip pointer) available to play Wednesday
Powell has been cleared to play and will be available for tonight’s game against the New York Knicks after previously being listed as questionable on the Toronto Raptors’ injury report with a right hip pointer. However, head coach Dwane Casey has yet to clarify who he plans to start at small forward between Powell and OG Anunoby and there has yet to be any official word of a minute restriction for the former. With Anunoby seemingly have earned more playing time in Powell’s absence, it’s probably best to avoid both forwards in daily fantasy formats until we get a better idea of how this rotation will shake out with everyone now healthy. Additionally, Delon Wright is still dealing with a dislocated right shoulder that has kept him sidelined for two straight games and is expected to miss at least another month of action.
As reported by: Blake Murphy via Twitter Trevor Booker (ankle) ruled out Wednesday; Tyler Zeller will start
Booker has been ruled out and won’t suit up for tonight’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers after previously being listed as questionable on the Brooklyn Nets’ injury report with a sprained right ankle he sustained in Sunday’s loss. Booker had been held out of the team’s practice on Tuesday and, according to head coach Kenny Atkinson, will be considered day-to-day moving forward. Tyler Zeller started the second half in Booker’s place on Monday night and has been confirmed as the starting center for Wednesday’s matchup, while Quincy Acy and Jarrett Allen should also mix in the rotation at center as well. The player to hone in on with Booker officially unavailable seems to be Allen Crabbe, as he has really seen his usage and production skyrocket since Atkinson made a change to his starting lineup last week, evidenced by a +5.4% usage rate differential with Booker, D’Angelo Russell, and Jeremy Lin off the floor this season. Not only is he seeing the extra usage, but Crabbe has also averaged 32 minutes of playing time over the course of the Nets last three games, a rarity for Nets players in recent years with Atkinson at the helm.
As reported by: Tom Lorenzo via Twitter Other tagged players: Tyler Zeller Marcus Morris (knee) a game-time decision Wednesday; Aron Baynes will start
Morris is a surprise late addition to the Boston Celtics’ injury report for tonight’s game against the Miami Heat due to a lingering knee issue and is considered questionable and a game-time decision. However, the Celtics and head coach Brad Stevens have already announced that Aron Baynes will take his spot in the starting lineup regardless of Morris’ availability, sliding Al Horford over to power forward. Baynes now becomes a viable punt option in tournaments on a slate loaded with them, but even if Morris is eventually ruled out, he still probably doesn’t crack the upper tier of high priority options given his lack of position flexibility on DraftKings and position scarcity on FanDuel, where we can only roster one center.
As reported by: Gary Washburn via Twitter Other tagged players: Aron Baynes John Collins will start for Luke Babbitt (back) on Wednesday, as expected
Babbitt and Muscala have both been ruled out and won’t suit up for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers due to lower back spasms and a sprained left ankle respectively. The only other player on the Atlanta Hawks’ injury report is Isaiah Taylor, who will remain out with an eye injury, but head coach Mike Budenholzer will still be left with a significant void to fill at power forward with two of his main rotation pieces sidelined. John Collins started the second half of Monday’s loss for the injured Babbitt and has been confirmed as the starting power forward for Wednesday’s matchup. Tyler Cavanaugh had been ahead of Ersan Ilyasova in the Hawks rotation up until Monday’s contest and saw just two minutes of playing time compared to Ilyasova’s seven, limiting their overall fantasy floor and ceiling. So, needless to say, they can be avoided in daily fantasy formats on Wednesday’s massive 14-slate.
As reported by: Brad Rowland via Twitter Patrick Beverley (knee surgery) will miss the rest of the season
Beverley will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a microfracture and meniscus injury to his right knee. Beverley had already been ruled out for Wednesday’s game earlier in the day and was reportedly sent back home to Los Angeles where he underwent the aforementioned surgery. Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari also remains unavailable for the eighth straight game due to a strained left glute and is still expected to be out at least another week. The absence of Beverley should allow Sindarius Thornwell to re-enter the Clippers starting lineup but he still possesses a low floor and ceiling combo despite his expected minute workload. This means that Lou Williams will continue to come off the bench in a sixth-man role, though is only a site-specific play at $5400 on FanDuel for Wednesday’s slate. With Beverley and Gallinari off the court this season, Blake Griffin and Austin Rivers have been the main beneficiaries from a usage standpoint, as each player owns at least a +2.2% usage rate differential in the aforementioned scenario, but neither has really capitalized in terms of per minute production to this point but the matchup with Atlanta is exploitable enough to possibly get them back on track.
As reported by: Adrian Wojnarowski via Twitter Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore knee) ruled out Wednesday
Antetokounmpo has been ruled out and won’t suit up for tonight’s game against the Phoenix Suns due to a sore right knee despite never appearing on the Milwaukee Bucks’ injury report prior to now. The current plan is for Antetokounmpo to return for Saturday’s contest, so the team just seems to be taking a cautious approach to his knee soreness and the injury is not at all considered serious in nature. The Bucks are also without John Henson, Matthew Dellavedova, and Mirza Teletovic, which opens up two spots in their starting lineup and a plethora of minutes in the frontcourt. Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker are the likeliest candidates to draw the starts in Antetokounmpo and Henson’s absences, though the latter has yet to play more than 24 minutes or eclipse 20 fantasy points in any game this season and there is really no telling whether that changes tonight, relegating Maker to a tournament-only option. There is not a tremendous sample size with Antetokounmpo and Henson off the court this season in conjunction with the short time Eric Bledsoe has been in Milwaukee, but Khris Middleton has seen a massive +11.0% usage rate differential in the aforementioned scenario and leads the Bucks with a 36.8% usage rate, making him an elite option in all formats for Wednesday’s 14-game slate.
As reported by: Matt Velazquez via Twitter A Stackable Game that Nobody is Talking About
One of my favorite games in the entire slate is the Clippers-Hawks game. It doesn’t have the highest total, but both teams are playing short-handed and both teams have struggled defensively over the last two weeks. The game has a low spread, so we can expect it to stay competitive throughout. Taurean Prince has been playing well recently and could see a minutes bump tonight with both Luke Babbitt and Mike Muscala ruled out. The best part is that Prince is still affordable on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
Revenge Knows no Bounds
Russell Westbrook holds a grudge as well as anyone I have ever seen. Kevin Durant has clearly moved on from their separation, but you can tell that Westbrook is still scorned. The Warriors made quick work of the Thunder last year, so Westbrook never got his revenge. He has a much better chance tonight, as he has a better team around him. Westbrook is coming off of his best game of the season and he should be able to keep it rolling in a pace-up game against the Warriors.
Time for a Breakout
We’ve yet to seen Blake Griffin have that monster fantasy outing that many of us were expecting after Chris Paul left the Clippers. His season high in fantasy points is 53. I’m going out on a limb tonight and predicting his best game of the season. He draws an excellent matchup against the Hawks, who are ranked 26th against power forwards and 27th in rebounding differential. The usage, minutes, and matchup are all lining up for a big night from Mr. Kia (perhaps formerly Mr. Kia?).
Kevin Durant (ankle sprain) upgraded to probable Wednesday
Durant has officially been upgraded to probable on the Golden State Warriors’ injury report for tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after previously being listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle. Obviously, a mid-day upgrade like is a great sign of Durant’s availability for Wednesday’s contest and we should now operate under the warranted assumption that he will suit up. In fact, Durant even told reporters following shootaround that he plans to play. His return to the lineup will send Omri Casspi back to the bench to resume his typical reserve role and returns back to daily fantasy irrelevancy. Even coming off of an injury, Durant will likely pick up decent traction from an ownership standpoint given the revenge narrative and the massive fantasy performance he put on in his return to Oklahoma City last season. However, the Thunder now have Paul George at their disposal to defend Durant, an individual matchup he has historically deferred usage to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, making him an interesting tournament fade on Wednesday’s slate.
As reported by: Warriors PR via Twitter Major Upside In This Pace Up Game
I’ve probably played Anderson more than anyone this season, and he continues to crush value. He was chalk the other night, and I would expect him to be popular again tonight. He’s played at least 30 minutes in five of the last seven games, and has over 26 fantasy points in five of his last six games. He’s the type of guy that can fill the stat sheet, and in a matchup like this, I think he has amazing upside with a high floor. He’s still under priced to me, and I’m going to play him at a high percentage tonight.
