DFS Alerts
P.J. Hairston, Cody Zeller will not play Friday
With Zeller and Hairston out, Jeremy Lin will start at the 2 with Batum sliding up to SF and Marvin Williams starting at PF. Williams should see upwards of 30-34 minutes tonight, which puts him squarely in play in all formats at his mid-range price tag. The Sixers are 27th against PFs this season (they rank 30th against SFs), so Williams should be in for a nice night assuming this doesn’t turn into a lopsided blowout early on. Jeremy Lin is a nice value target as well.
As reported by: @Hornets
Jeremy Lin starting tonight
The Hornets will be starting Jeremy Lin tonight at SG which moves Nicolas Batum to the 3 and Marvin Williams back to the 4. Lin makes for an elite punt option against the terrible defense of the 76ers. He is near must-start territory with his salary only $4,200 on DK and $4,700 on FD. With the injury concerns that the Hornets are facing, Lin should easily see 28+ minutes if the Sixers don’t get blown out.
As reported by: Hornets PR on Twitter
Martell Webster officially done for the season
Martell Webster had surgery on his hip and has been officially ruled out for the rest of the season. Webster had not been getting many minutes and we saw Garrett Temple step up in Bradley Beal’s absence. Jared Dudley has also been playing decent off the bench for the Wizards in place of Webster. The Wizards also have Kelly Oubre Jr. for additional wing depth should they need it.
As reported by: J. Michael on Twitter Kyle Lowry PG contrarian play tonight
Kyle Lowry could be a solid contrarian pick with most people chasing the big names at PG; Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and even Chris Paul after his monster performance last night. Lowry has averaged about 47 FPs on DK over his last 3 games against the Lakers. The Lakers rank as 27th DvP against PGs so far this season and have given up monster days to the likes of Jarret Jack (18 points, 12 assists), Brandon Knight (first career triple-double), and Rajon Rondo (21 points, 8 assists). Lowry is a guard that likes to score more than those PGs and should get anything he wants tonight. This game does have the potential to be a blowout, so there is some risk involved there.
Terrence Jones probable Friday
Terrence Jones has been listed as probable for Friday’s tilt with the Grizzlies. The matchup is not a favorable one for Jones, but he should see a good amount of minutes if he does not get into foul trouble. Jones has averaged 31.93 FPs on DK over his last 4 games, but at a $6k salary he would need to hit that average to return about 5x. Jones will be an under-owned GPP play only, and likely be a better option tomorrow against the Knicks, with Dwight Howard sitting. The Rockets have also listed Patrick Beverley as out, which should bode well for Ty Lawson. Lawson was able to secure 20 minutes in his first game of the season off the bench. If he comes off the bench again tonight, he’ll have a feisty Mario Chalmers to deal with.
As reported by: Jonathan Feigen on Twitter Blake Griffin performs best with no rest
Strangely, Blake Griffin is averaging more fantasy points per game with zero days of rest. He averages just shy of 44 FD points per game (last season) with no rest, and he averages below 40 FD points per game with 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6+ days of rest. This may have something to due with the Clippers being a relatively old team outside of Griffin, which may be why they rely on him more in these situations. Regardless, he’s an excellent target in any format tonight against Portland, who lacks anyone with the ability to slow him down.
As reported by: Statmuse George Hill questionable Saturday
Hill has missed back to back games with an upper respiratory infection, and it may end up keeping him out on Saturday as well. Monta Ellis has seen an uptick in usage as the starting PG, finishing with a combined 15 assists in those two games despite having his playing time limited on Wednesday due to a blowout of the Sixers. Ellis will remain an excellent target at SG as long as Hill is out. C.J. Miles also offers solid value at SF with both Hill and Stuckey banged up.
As reported by: @Pacers J.J. Redick upgraded to questionable on Friday
Redick has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s game with the Blazers. He wasn’t able to suit up last night, and Jamal Crawford saw an enormous workload (40 minutes), although he averaged just over .5 FPs per minute in that span. Look for Crawford to play big minutes again tonight in a better matchup if Redick can’t go. Both players would be very risky options if Redick were to start.
As reported by: Dan Woike on Twitter Kent Bazemore will not play Saturday, Jeff Teague questionable
Kent Bazemore will not suit up against the Cavs on Saturday, while Jeff Teague’s status is still to be determined. Bazemore’s absence solidifies the playing time for Kyle Korver, while Thabo Sefolosha will also see an uptick in minutes. The Hawks have used Tiago Splitter as a starter with Bazemore out, but Splitter still isn’t expected to see upwards of 20-24 minutes even when he starts.
As reported by: Chris Vivlamore on Twitter Mo Williams will not play Saturday
He sat out last night while Matthew Dellavedova ate up the large majority of the PG duties. Dellavedova played 39 minutes on Thursday and finished with a career high in assists (13), although he shot just 2 of 6 from the field and finished with only one rebound. Still, he was able to hit value across the industry and remains a very solid punt play tomorrow. LeBron will also take on more of a distributing role with Williams out. J.R. Smith’s minutes become slightly more secure as well.
As reported by: NBA.com Timofey Mozgov out 10-14 days
Mozgov will miss about two weeks with a strained shoulder. This is great news for the DFS value of Tristan Thompson, who should be thrown into a large role as long as Mozgov is on the shelf. He’s going to be a very nice punt play until his price lines up with the minutes he’s expected to see. Especially on sites that award a double-double bonus, target Thompson with confidence. Anderson Varejao may also see extra run off the bench, but the Cavs clearly don’t want to overwork him.
As reported by: NBA.com Ricky Rubio expected to play on Friday
Rubio is expected to suit up tonight against the Pistons. While Rubio has looked fresh since missing a few games last week, he’s in a very tough spot tonight against a Pistons team that has allowed the 7th fewest FPs to PGs this season, including allowing the fewest FPs to the position over the last week. Rubio is nothing more than a GPP target at this point. Zach LaVine is unplayable any time Rubio draws the start.
Kobe good to go on Friday
Kobe played 36 minutes Sunday against Detroit, finishing with his best overall game of the season (17-8-9), so he may be finally starting to come around after a dismal start to the season. His shooting is still a concern and he’s likely going to shoot at a low percentage all season, and his presence certainly hurts the value of all of the Lakers guards, most notably Jordan Clarkson and Louis Williams. Kobe is still a GPP-only play tonight against the Raptors.
Derrick Rose will not play Friday
Rose’s absence, in addition to Aaron Brooks’, will leave the starting PG duties to Kirk Hinrich. He’ll almost certainly see upwards of 30 minutes as the lone point guard on the roster, although his usage won’t be very high. Expect Jimmy Butler’s usage rate to rise as he’ll be relied on more as a playmaker, which puts him squarely in play tonight despite a tough matchup. The Warriors are on the second night of a back-to-back and played a thriller on the road last night, so they may be a little lagged tonight. Pau Gasol also gets a bump in value with Rose out, since Hinrich won’t come close to Rose’s typical number of shot attempts.
As reported by: Nick Friedell Dwight Howard will play on Friday
Nothing shocking here, but the Rockets have confirmed that Dwight will play tonight against the Grizzlies. Whenever Dwight sits, it’s a big boost in value to guys like Terrence Jones and Clint Capela (even James Harden to an extent), but those guys aren’t typically strong plays (except for Harden) when Howard is in the lineup. Tonight’s matchup with Marc Gasol isn’t fantasy friendly, and we expect Howard to underperform relative to his salary. Look elsewhere at center in cash games.
As reported by: @HoustonRockets