Geoff Lambert takes a look at Tuesday’s 8-game slate and gives you his top plays and values.
This piece is part of our article program that features quality content from experts exclusively at FantasyPros. For more insight from Geoff, head over to GoingFor2.com.
Tonight we have a nice five-game slate to work with, but as you will notice, there are only three games that really interest me from a DFS perspective. Let’s get right to it…
Guards
Trae Young (ATL): $6,700 vs. LAL
Guard is not a place I will be paying up for tonight, and even Young at $6,700 might be too much to spend. However, this game will be played at a ridiculous pace as we have two of the top three fastest-paced teams in the league. Excluding Young’s last game against the Magic, he had a stretch of 17 straight games in which he had attempted at least 12 shots — and shots will be plentiful in this game. Even with that said, Young is more of a high-upside tournament play for me.
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,100 @ PHI
When Kyrie Irving is out of the lineup, like he is tonight, Jaylen Brown‘s usage rate goes up to 25.5 percent, the second highest on the team behind Marcus Morris (per RotoGrinders). In fact, the last three games that Kyrie has missed, Brown has averaged 33.7 DK points, which, at $5,100, would be a steal.
Geoff Lambert takes a look at Tuesday’s 8-game slate and gives you his top plays and values.
This piece is part of our article program that features quality content from experts exclusively at FantasyPros. For more insight from Geoff, head over to GoingFor2.com.
Tonight we have a nice five-game slate to work with, but as you will notice, there are only three games that really interest me from a DFS perspective. Let’s get right to it…
Guards
Trae Young (ATL): $6,700 vs. LAL
Guard is not a place I will be paying up for tonight, and even Young at $6,700 might be too much to spend. However, this game will be played at a ridiculous pace as we have two of the top three fastest-paced teams in the league. Excluding Young’s last game against the Magic, he had a stretch of 17 straight games in which he had attempted at least 12 shots — and shots will be plentiful in this game. Even with that said, Young is more of a high-upside tournament play for me.
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,100 @ PHI
When Kyrie Irving is out of the lineup, like he is tonight, Jaylen Brown‘s usage rate goes up to 25.5 percent, the second highest on the team behind Marcus Morris (per RotoGrinders). In fact, the last three games that Kyrie has missed, Brown has averaged 33.7 DK points, which, at $5,100, would be a steal.
Marcus Smart (BOS): $4,900 @ PHI
While Brown enjoys the second highest overall usage rate on the team when Irving is out, Smart actually sees the second highest increase in usage when Irving is out. His usage goes up a whopping 3.3 percent, only Marcus Morris‘ goes up more (per Rotogrinders). In the two of the last three games Irving missed, Smart put up games of 49 and 39.5 DK points.
D.J. Augustin (ORL): $4,700 @ NO
Augustin just dropped 36.8 DK on the high-paced, defensively challenged Atlanta Hawks, and tonight he gets another matchup with a high-pace, defensively challenged team, the Pelicans. Augustin will continue to log heavy minutes until their latest edition, Markelle Fultz, is ready to return to the court.
Forwards
Jayson Tatum (BOS): $6,100 @ PHI
Tatum is the third member of the Celtics that will benefit from the absence of Kyrie Irving as he scores the second highest NBA points per minute when Irving is out — second only to, you guessed it, Marcus Morris (don’t worry, we will get to him). Tatum is a little more expensive than the other two Celtics I already mentioned and is also more than fellow forward Marcus Morris — the player who benefits the most — but Tatum has the highest upside of the group with 50 DK point potential.
Kyle Kuzma (LAL): $6,000 @ ATL
Fresh off his 46.3 DK point performance in Philly a few days ago, Kuzma and the Lakers take on the high-paced Atlanta Hawks. Kuzma should once again have plenty of opportunities to score in this game as the Hawks play terrible defense. The only worry here would be a blowout, but I don’t think the Lakers are good enough to put the Hawks away that early, and Vegas agrees as it is only a 5.5 point spread at the time of this article.
Jonathan Isaac (ORL): $5,100 @ NO
Isaac has been on a tear lately putting up double-digit NBA point games in six of his last seven games. Tonight he gets a Pelicans team that can’t defend and likes to push the pace, which should allow Isaac to once again score in double figures. It will be interesting to see if the Pels come out flat in this game as their star player, Anthony Davis, was thoroughly booed in his last home game and subsequently benched for the entire fourth quarter. Getting booed by your home crowd has to be deflating to a team, even if the boos aren’t directed at you. If they do come out flat, Isaac could be in for a huge game.
Marcus Morris (BOS): $5,000 @ PHI
Here he is, the man, the myth, the legend. I’ve said his name so many times in this article already, I’d be remiss if he didn’t make it into my top plays. Morris, with Irving off the floor, has seen the highest overall usage, the highest increase in usage, and the highest increase in points compared to when Irving is on the floor. At $5,000, he is as near a lock as there can be in DFS.
Centers
Nikola Vucevic (ORL): $9,500 @ NO
Vucevic is having a career season averaging 20-and-12 while scoring 46 DK points on the season. Tonight he gets a Pels team that has struggled to defend big men all season. The fast-paced Pels will give Vucevic plenty of opportunities to log his fourth straight double-double and he could flirt with 60 DK points tonight.
JaVale McGee (LAL): $4,800 @ ATL
The Hawks are one of the worst teams in points allowed to centers and McGee’s price has not caught up with his latest surge of production since they traded away Ivica Zubac. He has logged 26 and 30 minutes in his last two games, well above his season average, which corresponds to Zubac getting traded to the Clippers. If McGee continues to get 25-plus minutes, his price will continue to rise, use him now before his price is over $5,500.
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