The NBA finally returned from the All-Star break with 12 teams playing on Thursday night. The remaining 18 teams will take the court on Friday night’s nine-game NBA slate. There is a nice collection of options available on Friday’s slate from the high-priced studs all the way down to a few cheap options to round out those DFS lineups. There shouldn’t be too much late-breaking news this first couple of days after the break but be warned that the mayhem will begin soon enough.

Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom defense vs. position (DvP) calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.

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One Stud

Paul George (SF/PF – OKC): $10,800 vs. UTH
We are definitely looking to take our high-priced stud of the night from the Thunder roster with either Russell Westbrook or Paul George. I’ll give George the slight edge since he saves a few bucks and helps fill one of the forward spots. George has averaged 66.4 DraftKings points in two previous meetings with the Jazz while putting up 37.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 4.5 steals per game. He was also crushing it before the break including scoring at least 45 points twice in his last four outings.