Man, last week was rough. I was beginning to think I was cursed. Everything I touched turned to sh*t. To add insult to injury, players I called out as good plays did really well, I just chose not to play that particular player for some reason. But my lineup came through on Saturday and again on Sunday, so hopefully I can turn this into another hot streak!
Before we jump into tonight’s column, I wanted to mention again one of our Sponsors, NoHaltime. It’s a great daily fantasy app for iOS (droid coming next week) where you create player vs player challenges. It’s so easy to use and set up and if you use my promo code: G42, you’ll get a free cash bonus to play. It’s that easy. Just click the banner below to download the app.
Now on to the tonight’s slate…
NBA DFS Fanduel Lineup Advice and Analysis for 3/28/16
Game Winner My Game Winner will be my top play for the position.
Dunk A Dunk is a second or third tier player with the highest upside.
Half-Court Shot Otherwise known as a “punt play”.
Pass A player deemed a Pass is someone I’m avoiding — or “passing” on.
Point Guard
Game Winner Russell Westbrook @ TOR $10,600
His price tag is pretty steep, but I think he offers the highest upside of all the 10k and over guys on tonight’s slate. The Raptors will be the third straight tough defense he has faced, the Spurs and Jazz being the other two, but he put up 48 against Raptors the last timed he faced them. I think 48 is his floor and you can hope to get 60-plus from him tonight.
Dunk Ricky Rubio vs PHO $7,300
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Rubio was a mainstay in my column last year until he got injured, but this year has been very up and down. He seems to finally be hitting his stride, having dished out double-digit assists in eight of his last ten games — including 23 assists against the Jazz in his last game! Only the Lakers are worse than the Suns in points allowed to opposing point guards.
Half-Court Shot Tim Frazier vs NY $4,000
There are a ton of HCS’s at the point guard position tonight, but I’m going to be a homer and pick Frazier. No, I don’t live in New Orleans, but I’ve been a fan since 1988 when they first came into the league as the Hornets. The Pelicans just have no one left to play, so Frazier will get a ton of minutes. I wonder if the Pelicans are kicking themselves for cutting Ish Smith early in the season?
Pass Chris Paul vs BOS $9,600
Paul has three straight games and four of his last  with under 40 fanduel points, the Celtics present the biggest challenge defensively of any of those previous five opponents. That doesn’t bode well for him.
Shooting Guard
Game Winner C.J. McCollum vs SAC $7,000
Dare I say McCollum is back? Well, don’t jump the gun just yet. Yes, he did have 45 fanduel points in his last game, but if you watched this game as I did, he missed a ton of open shots. Some from 5-10 feet away. But the good news was, he was aggressively attacking the basket and not just settling for the three. If he can keep up that aggression against a weak Kings defense, he should be able to reach value fairly easily, and if his shot starts to fall…fantasy gold
Dunk Zach LaVine vs PHO $6,100Â
LaVine had a tough go of it in his last game against the Jazz, but that’s to be expected sometimes from a second-year player facing a tough defense. The Suns, well, let’s just say they are anything but tough. I see LaVine in the 30-plus fanduel point range tonight.
Half-Court Shot Norman Powell vs OKC $3,700
A fellow DFS friend of mine mentioned Powell as a good punt option for Saturday night. I nodded my head and smiled while thinking, “Who the hell is Norman Powell?” With two straight games of 20-plus fanduel points at the minimum price, I know who he is now and if Terrence Ross misses this game, I’ll have some exposure to Powell.
Pass Jimmy Butler vs ATL $8,000
There is some speculation that Fanduel uses previous ownership percentages in their algorithm to decide a player’s price tag. That is the only reason I can think of as to why Butler is still 8k. Dummy’s like me keep predicting his breakout, and dummy’s like you (no offense) keep playing him. At $8,000 he needs to hit 40 fanduel points to reach value, something he hasn’t done since coming back from injury eight games ago! sidenote, now that I’m passing on him, he will most likely have his breakout game tonight
Small Forward
Game Winner Kevin Durant @ TOR $10,300
Thanks to three sub-par games against the Spurs, Jazz, and Rockets, Durant’s price tag has dropped from $10,700 to $10,300. Meanwhile, the Raptors have struggled to defend the small forward position over the last three weeks. This smells like a bounce-back game for Durant.
Dunk Carmelo Anthony @ NO $8,700
Melo put up 43 fanduel points against the Cavs, a professional basketball team, the other night. He should have no trouble dropping 50 on the New Orleans AAU team tonight.
Half-Court Shot Maurice Harkless vs SAC $4,000
In three consecutive starts, Harkless has hit value in all three, and now he gets the high-paced no defense Kings. I’m looking for his biggest game of the year tonight. The caveat being him getting his fourth straight start.
Pass Rudy Gay @ POR $6,400
Do I need to explain this one?
Power Forward
Game Winner Paul Millsap @ CHI $8,200
Assuming Millsap plays (laceration), which I expect him to, he will be one of my top plays. The Bulls do not have any front court defenders that will be able to slow down Millsap and I expect him to pick up where he left off in Detriot before getting his head cut open, a game in which he had 57 fanduel points in 29 minutes. That’s nearly 2 fanduel points per minute played!
Dunk Gorgui Dieng vs PHO $6,500
I don’t love the mid-tier players at power forward tonight. The only other one I even considered was Derrick Favors, but I like the pace of this game more and I expect it to be a close game. The Jazz should handle the Lakers easy enough, so that’s why I ruled Favors out. Before his dud against the Jazz, Dieng had two straight 40 fanduel point games against high-paced bad defensive teams. The Suns are the poster boys for high-paced bad defensive teams.
Half-Court Shot Willie Cauley-Stein @ POR $3,900
After his 40 fanduel point game against the Suns, I almost played him last night against the Mavs but I wanted to see him do it one more time before risking it. Well, he had 30 last night, so I’ve seen enough. The Blazers are very soft on the front line and don’t have a ton of depth. With Boogie drawing so much attention, look for WCS to have another big game.
Pass Dirk Nowitzki @ DEN $8,000
There is a stat a read somewhere, and unfortunately, I’m unable to find it, but it was something to the effect of, “Teams playing the second game of a back to back in Denver (because of the altitude) have a 35% drop-off in production from their season averages.” Now, that stat also includes every role player to ever play a back to back in Denver, and doesn’t take into account that Denver hasn’t been very good for most of their existence, so blowouts could have some effect on those numbers, but 35% is a lot! Not to mention Dirk is old. No Thanks. (it always feels weird calling a player old when they younger than me)
Center
Game Winner DeAndre Jordan vs BOS $8,300
To be clear, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t consider playing DeMarcus Cousins or Karl-Anthony Towns, but Jordan, at his price tag, has been too good to ignore. With two 50 fanduel point games in his last three and a great matchup with the Celtics, Jordan could easily have another 20 rebound game. sidenote I recommended Jordan as a top play for both of those 50 points games…and didn’t play him myself, ugh!
Dunk Jonas Valanciunas vs OKC $6,100
As much as it pains me to not be able to feature Biz Markie Biyombo in my columns anymore with J Val back in the lineup, I can’t ignore the production Val has put up. He was one rebound shy of having back to back double-doubles two nights ago, and in the one game he played OKC this year, he put up a double-double. Needless to say,I’m expecting a double-double tonight. Can I fit in double-double one more time? I just did.
Half-Court Shot Jusuf Nurkic vs DAL $4,300
I took a chance on him last night, and thanks to a huge 4th quarter, he helped my lineup cash. It’s worth noting that Kenneth Faried has been active the last two games but has not seen the court. I think Denver is already looking to see what they have for next year, and may be showcasing their talent for potential trades in the offseason.
Pass Pau Gasol vs ATL $8,600
His minutes restriction is the only thing keeping me away from Gasol.
The 6th Man (other plays I like)
- PG Goran Dragic vs BKN $6,800
- PG Raymond Felton @ DEN $4100
- PG Damian Lillard vs SAC $8,500
- SG John Jenkins @ MIN $3,600 *GPP only
- SG Devin Booker vs PHO $6,600
- SF Evan Turner @ LAC $6,200
- PFÂ LaMarcus Aldridge @ MEM $8,000
- C Karl-Anthony Towns @ POR $10,900
- C Kosta Koufos @ POR $3,800 *if DeMarcus Cousins is out
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