Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. The main slate is reduced to just four games, but we still have several circumstances we can take advantage of tonight. Joel Embiid’s absence from the 76ers lineup is the most significant of several injuries that will be impacting teams, while we also have a juicy 241.5 expected point total when the Suns visit the Rockets. I’ll be attacking these situations extensively on tonight’s small slate. With that in mind, let’s dive into some of the better plays at each position tonight.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel 
Point Guard
De’Anthony Melton (MEM): $5,500 at UTA
The Grizzlies’ usual starter, Ja Morant, is due to miss his fourth consecutive game. In the previous three Melton has seen a huge increase in minutes off the bench, nearly 26 per contest, almost double his season average of just over 13. He’s been productive with the additional playing time, averaging 32.6 FanDuel (FD) points over that span, but his salary doesn’t seem to have caught up to his new value yet.
Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. The main slate is reduced to just four games, but we still have several circumstances we can take advantage of tonight. Joel Embiid’s absence from the 76ers lineup is the most significant of several injuries that will be impacting teams, while we also have a juicy 241.5 expected point total when the Suns visit the Rockets. I’ll be attacking these situations extensively on tonight’s small slate. With that in mind, let’s dive into some of the better plays at each position tonight.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
De’Anthony Melton (MEM): $5,500 at UTA
The Grizzlies’ usual starter, Ja Morant, is due to miss his fourth consecutive game. In the previous three Melton has seen a huge increase in minutes off the bench, nearly 26 per contest, almost double his season average of just over 13. He’s been productive with the additional playing time, averaging 32.6 FanDuel (FD) points over that span, but his salary doesn’t seem to have caught up to his new value yet.
Others to consider:
Tyus Jones (MEM): $4,400 at UTA
Jones has actually been starting in place of Morant but hasn’t been very consistent. He’s put up 31.3, 17.6, and 10.7 FD points in each game since Morant’s been sidelined. If you don’t have the salary to fit in Melton, Jones is a viable alternative and possibly even a better option if he hits his ceiling.
Russell Westbrook (HOU): $9,400 vs. PHO
As I mentioned in the introduction, we can’t ignore the huge expected point total in Houston tonight. If the Rockets put up anywhere near their 125 implied total points, Westbrook and his 32.2% usage rate is a triple-double waiting to happen.
Shooting Guard
Devin Booker (PHO): $8,200 at HOU
Booker has been known to go on multiple-game hot streaks throughout his career and he may have kicked off his latest streak Thursday when he exploded for his season-high 68.1 FD points against the Pelicans. Of all the players worth attacking in the projected shootout of the night in Houston, Booker has arguably the best combination of value and upside against a Rockets team that’s been allowing the third-most FD points to shooting guards on average so far this season.
Others to consider:
Donovan Mitchell (UTA): $8,300 vs. MEM
Jazz starting point guard Mike Conley missed the team’s previous outing and is a game-time decision for tonight as of this writing. If he sits again, Mitchell would see an increase in ball-handling responsibility and an increase in his already high 30.6% usage rate. That could pay off in a big way against Memphis, who gives up the third-most FD points to point guards and the second-most to shooting guards.
Furkan Korkmaz (PHI): $3,500 vs CLE
Korkmaz has started the last four games in place of the injured Josh Richardson. He hasn’t seen any huge performances over that stretch, but he has averaged a healthy 24 minutes per game. He’s posted four separate 20+ FD point performances this season, so he’s worth taking the shot on given his minimum salary tonight.
Small Forward
Tobias Harris (PHI): $8,100 vs. CLE
Harris attempted a career-high 28 shots Thursday night on his way to a season-high 33 points. He’ll likely be the offensive focal point of the 76ers again tonight, as Philly will be without starters Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson. He’s averaged 44.1 FD points over his last two games and Cleveland gives up the seventh-most FD points to the position so far this season, so it would appear Harris is in line for another big night on Saturday.
Others to consider:
Kelly Oubre (PHO): $7,300 at HOU
Oubre is coming off his first 50+ FD point performance of the season on Thursday night. He’s been hot and cold all season, but he’s yet another piece in the matchup of the night where every player involved has a good chance of topping their season averages.
Cameron Johnson (PHO): $4,100 at HOU
Bench players have huge value when over 240 points are expected to be scored, and the rookie out of North Carolina has seen a nice uptick in play recently. He’s seen more time on the court and put up more FD points than teammate Mikal Bridges over the past two contests, but still checks in at $200 less tonight.
Power Forward
Al Horford (PHI): $7,600 vs. CLE
Horford is probably the chalk play of the night. He’s averaged 42.1 FD points in the four games without Joel Embiid this year, and that includes an underwhelming 23.6 FD performance to bring down that average. It’s a great matchup for him against the Cavs, who give up the fourth-most FD points to power forwards and the eight-most to centers. He’ll be highly owned tonight, but with good reason.
Others to consider:
Frank Kaminsky (PHO): $5,400 at HOU
Kaminsky has started eight of the Suns’ last nine games; the lone exception was the single game that Aaron Baynes played during that stretch. Baynes is listed as doubtful again tonight, so expect Frank the Tank to get another start. He’s averaged an impressive 32.8 FD points over his last three games; a great value given his salary. Have I mentioned that there’s likely going to be a lot of fantasy points to go around in Houston tonight?
P.J. Tucker (HOU): $5,400 vs PHO
He doesn’t have a massive ceiling, but Tucker has one of the safest fantasy floors in the entire NBA. He’s only logged under 30 minutes of playing time in two games on the entire season so far. He should be a rock-solid play against Phoenix at home tonight.
Center
Clint Capela (HOU): $9,100 vs. PHO
There are only eight teams to choose from tonight and only six of them are starting traditional centers as labeled by FanDuel. Of these limited options Capela easily comes with the most potential, even before considering the game situation against the Suns. He’s topped 53+ FD points in 5-of-16 games he’s started this season, and there’s no reason to think he can’t hit that mark in an enticing matchup tonight.
Others to consider:
Tristan Thompson (CLE): $7,400 at PHI
Thompson is having a career-year, posting personal-best averages in every major statistical category. Now he gets to face a 76ers team without having to battle Joel Embiid. He’ll get an additional bump if teammate Kevin Love, who missed last night’s game due to illness, sits again on the second night of the back-to-back.
Kyle O’Quinn (PHI): 3,500 vs. CLE
He hasn’t seen the court in the past six games, but he has played in all four games missed by Joel Embiid this season. Over those four games, he’s averaged 18.7 FD points. That may not seem like much, but it’s over 5x value for his minimum price tag, freeing up more salary to pay up elsewhere.
Tonight’s slate is perfect to stack a specific game in tournaments. There are only four games to choose players from, and the matchup between Houston and Phoenix is significantly higher than the other three. If it hits as expected (or higher) you’ll want as many pieces as possible. Here’s an example of a game stack lineup with seven of the nine players from either the Rockets or Suns.
PG: Russell Westbrook – $9,400
PG: Tyus Jones – $4,400
SG: James Harden – $12,100*
SG: Devin Booker – $8,200
SF: Kelly Oubre – $7,300
SF: Cameron Johnson – $4,100
PF: Frank Kaminsky – $5,400
PF: P.J. Tucker – $5,400
C: Kyle O’Quinn – $3,500
*I didn’t feature Harden in the main body of the article, but hopefully his ceiling is understood to be the highest on any given slate.
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Aaron Larson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.
