Derrick Rose has played well since stepping away for a game and has a quality matchup against the Suns
Here’s a recommended lineup for Saturday’s slate of NBA games on DraftKings.
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Point Guard
Derrick Rose (NYK): $6,400 vs. Suns
Rose has been enjoying a nice week averaging 21 points, four rebounds and four assists which have yielded 34.6 DraftKings points. The Suns allow the 9th most points to opposing point guards in the past five games and the 7th most DraftKings points on the season. Ever since coming back from his mysterious one-game absence, Rose has averaged 16.5 shot attempts, which would be an increase from his season average.
Shooting Guard
Austin Rivers (LAC): $5,900 vs. Nuggets
Rivers and Raymond Felton should benefit the most from Chris Paul’s absence, but Rivers is the more attractive option due to his scoring ability. In Chris Paul’s earlier eight-game absences, Rivers averaged 15.5 points, 3.4 assists and one steal per game. The Nuggets are ranked the 25th worst team in defending the shooting guard position.
Small Forward
Kawhi Leonard (SAS): $9,200 vs. Cavaliers
To say Kawhi Leonard has been on fire his past five games would be a massive understatement. Where to start? Five straight games of 30+ points, nearly two steals per game and two 3-pointers per game. Leonard will be guarding LeBron James, who is averaging the most turnovers per game in his career (4.1), for most of the evening.
Power Forward
Ersan Ilyasova (PHI): $5,800 vs. Hawks
Ilyasova was solid last night with 24 points in 29 minutes and has Joel Embiid sitting out tonight going for him. While he probably won’t blow you out of the water, Ilyasova has put up a consistent 16 points and six rebounds this season and should yield 25+ DraftKings points.
Center
Rudy Gobert (UTA): $6,900 vs. Pacers
Gobert has been an absolute monster lately and it helps that he is scoring more often. In addition to his scoring, he’s averaging 2.4 blocks in his past 10 games. The Pacers allow an average of 2.1 blocks per game so Myles Turner/Al Jefferson should have all they can handle with Gobert.
Guard
Dejounte Murray (SAS): $3,700 vs. Cavaliers
Murray is slated to start tonight. While this is a risky start, the Cavaliers have been struggling and are ranked 10th in guarding point guards. He played 34 minutes last night against the Nuggets and will be competing with Patty Mills for minutes while Tony Parker is out tonight.
Forward
Paul George (IND): $7,000 vs. Jazz
While Paul George hasn’t eclipsed 40+ DraftKings points in six games, he’s due for a breakout. Why not against the NBA’s toughest defense? Kidding aside, George’s value is too good with hope for a mini-breakout or 45+ DraftKings points.
Center
Kyle O’Quinn (NYK): $5,100 vs. Suns
O’Quinn finally got out of his funk and recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Kristaps Porzingis should return to the lineup tonight, but that isn’t a huge concern for O’Quinn’s value. The Suns are giving up the 10th most DraftKings points to centers in the past five games.
Help yourself out by checking out our NBA Optimal Lineup for today’s slate
Danny Stokes is a correspondent at FantasyPros. Check out his archive and follow him @LegionReportNBA.
