A light eight-game slate Friday, relatively speaking at least, bleeds into a seven-game Saturday slate. There are actually eight games, but with the Heat-Celtics matinee stricken from most major tournaments, I’ll also strike it from the analysis here. Let’s get started by looking at the Vegas lines.

Vegas lines and totals

Minnesota @ New Orleans (-5) – total of 217
San Antonio (-6) @ Houston – total of 212.5
Portland (-3) @ Chicago – total of 207
Detroit @ Milwaukee (-2) – total of 203.5
Golden State (-3.5) @ Oklahoma City – total of 234
Brooklyn @ Utah (-11) – total of 196.5
Memphis (-6.5) @ Phoenix – total of 208

The main event Saturday is most certainly Warriors-Thunder, with a total of 234 and a small spread. This game should be hotly contested and easily reach the 110s on each side, which means tons of fantasy goodness, although most of the worthwhile players in the game are expensive, making it difficult to completely stack. Going with Wolves-Pelicans or Spurs-Rockets isn’t a bad alternative, while Nets-Jazz should be mostly avoided with a low total and blowout potential. Scroll down to take a look at my top plays Saturday.

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POINT GUARD

Stephen Curry – Curry came through at relatively low ownership for me Thursday with a 50-point game—real life points, not fantasy points—and he’s my pick at the top of the PG position. Russell Westbrook is in a great spot too and I have both guys projected over 60 fantasy points, but Curry’s current hot streak has him above 65 for me and he’s also $400 cheaper. If you can find a way to fit both in your lineup, great, but spending nearly 45 percent of your cap on two players leaves little room for error.

Tony Parker – Speaking of hot streaks, Parker has been on a tear since getting some rest for his old body over the All-Star break. The Frenchman is averaging 20 points and 5.2 assists per game in five games since the recess, and Houston is decidedly average at defending the point guard position this season after a few years of stalwart production from Patrick Beverley. Parker still sits with a sub-$5,500 price tag, making him very appealing to fit Curry.

Cheap risk option: There are a few cheap point guard options who recently came into increased minutes and/or usage, but Ronnie Price is easily the cheapest. While a matchup with the Grizzlies isn’t the greatest from a fantasy perspective, hence the risk in the pick, Price has seen over 30 minutes per game in his last two and is averaging almost 30 fantasy points per game. Even his 20-minute game against the Spurs hit value on this price tag, and the Grizzlies are no Spurs.

SHOOTING GUARD

Klay Thompson – I’m not a big fan of shooting guard Saturday, as the only real value belongs to Brooklyn and the Nets have a bad matchup against the Jazz. Thompson is definitely the best play at the position, as the Thunder don’t defend well in the backcourt even with Andre Roberson back in the starting lineup. I’m not sure I’ll pay the price for Thompson just because of positional scarcity, however, but he should return a nice night for those who do.

E’Twaun Moore – After Thompson, this position is just a complete cluster of risk. Moore busted in a bad way Friday in a tough matchup with the Hawks, and it doesn’t get any easier Saturday as Damian Lillard and the Blazers come to town. Moore simply has to be better Saturday, as his usage rate without Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler jumps 32 percent from 15 to 19.8 and his points per minute rise almost 20 percent. The risk is that he struggles and coach Fred Hoiberg limits his minutes, but he may not have that luxury on the second night of a back-to-back. If you don’t want to take the chance, Zach LaVine should start and is a nice option for a few bucks cheaper.

Cheap risk option: As long as Tony Allen remains out of the Grizzlies lineup, throwing it back to to good ‘ol days with Vince Carter should continue to be fun. Carter is averaging almost 15 points per game in his past four, and while the arrival of Lance Stephenson has taken a few minutes off, so have blowouts of the Lakers. If Allen sits again, Carter should play 20-25 minutes and has a good shot to return value like he has in every game since the All-Star break.

SMALL FORWARD

Kawhi Leonard – A star small forward gets to face the Rockets’ pathetic wing defense? Sign me up as quickly as possible for this one. Leonard is easily the top SF play of the night despite Kevin Durant playing in a game with a projected total over 230, and Kawhi should have no trouble posting another 40-point fantasy night, which has been a constant for him since busting out of his lull that spanned much of 2016.

Matt Barnes – Gordon Hayward is also a nice SF option Saturday, but I like to give players in different price ranges when possible. Barnes is inconsistent as a relatively low usage player and his price has climbed back to where it should be, but a matchup with the Suns plays right into his hands. I see no reason Barnes can’t return fantasy points in the high 20s with room for more, as he always has a chance to throw ancillary stats in for a juicy, full line.

Cheap risk option: Don’t look now, but Mike Dunleavy is finally shaking off the rust from months of back problems. In his last three games, he’s averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game with two double-figure performances. Dunleavy’s value is reliant on distance shooting, which is always a risky day-to-day proposition, but he can return solid value on his price if he knocks a few down.

POWER FORWARD

Derrick Favors – I’m mostly avoiding Nets and Jazz players Saturday night, but I’ll make an exception for Favors. Not only has he been consistently beating his price lately, Favors draws a great matchup with a struggling defense against power forwards and gets the “revenge game” factor. Like I said with Mirza Teletovic on Thursday, I’m not one to push that narrative hard at all, but when I already like the play in question, it only adds fuel to the fire. Teletovic went bonkers for 30 and 11 in his “revenge game.” What will Favors, a much better player, do?

Jabari Parker – Parker just hasn’t slowed down since Jason Kidd shuffled Michael Carter-Williams and Greg Monroe to the bench, and his role as a featured offensive option has suited him very nicely. The Pistons play good defense on the perimeter but can be vulnerable to bigs, and Parker’s averages of 22 points and 9.8 rebounds per game since the break indicate a player whose price still hasn’t peaked. Continue to buy low now, and you’re unlikely to regret it.

Cheap risk option: As long as he draws his second straight start, Brandan Wright is worth a flier thanks to his historically solid per-minute production. He’s well below a fantasy point per minute this season, which is rare for Wright, and it’s the main reason he’s in the cheap risk basket here. That, and the fact that Memphis also like JaMychal Green at the center, means you can’t rely on Wright to top 20 minutes of court time, severely capping his upside. If he does draw some extra run, however, he could be a GPP-winning type of play.

CENTER

Pau Gasol – Gasol is the last man standing among the Bulls’ Big Three with Jimmy Butler still out and Derrick Rose doubtful for Saturday. The big Spaniard has been playing sick but still hitting value, and there’s a chance he’s feeling a bit better Saturday after battling the illness for several days at this point. Gasol’s increased usage and a nice matchup against the Blazers make him a very appealing play at center.

Karl-Anthony Towns – Towns has been a very good DFS option of late, and that’s unlikely to change against the Pelicans on Saturday. Alexis Ajinca looks even worse than Omer Asik on the court, which is an impressive accomplishment consider how bad Asik is. Anthony Davis plays a ton of center and the battle between the former Kentucky stars should be a fun one to watch, but Davis hasn’t been a shutdown defender in one-on-one situations this year and the Wolves’ twin-tower frontcourt may prevent New Orleans from playing as small as they like to.

Cheap risk option: Despite playing in the NBA, Steven Adams makes his living as a garbage man, cleaning up misses on either end of the court and picking up easy baskets when they fall into his lap. The thing about a game with 234 projected points is that there will be a lot of shots, and with a lot of shots come a lot of rebound opportunities. Not surprisingly, Golden State allows the sixth-most rebounds to centers on the season and easily the most over the past three weeks at over 20 per game (!). There is playing time risk with Adams, but that’s already baked into his price, and he represents a cheap way to get some exposure to the game of the night.

CASH GAME RANKS

This isn’t necessarily an order of who will score the most fantasy points. Rather, the rankings are aimed to find the best price, value and production combo to help you win cash games, also taking into account potential ownership levels for each player.

PG
1) Stephen Curry
2) Russell Westbrook
3) Tony Parker
4) Ronnie Price
5) Mike Conley
6) Damian Lillard
7) Jrue Holiday
8) Ricky Rubio
9) Donald Sloan

SG
1) Klay Thompson
2) E’Twaun Moore
3) Andrew Wiggins
4) C.J. McCollum
5) Khris Middleton
6) Zach LaVine
7) James Harden
8) Rodney Hood

SF
1) Kawhi Leonard
2) Kevin Durant
3) Gordon Hayward
4) Matt Barnes
5) Mike Dunleavy
6) Tobias Harris
7) Tony Snell
8) P.J. Hairston

PF
1) Derrick Favors
2) Jabari Parker
3) Taj Gibson
4) Draymond Green
5) LaMarcus Aldridge
6) Gorgui Dieng
7) Zach Randolph
8) Thaddeus Young
9) Anthony Davis
10) Serge Ibaka

C
1) Pau Gasol
2) Karl-Anthony Towns
3) Brook Lopez
4) Steven Adams
5) Miles Plumlee
6) Enes Kanter
7) Tim Duncan

As always, I’ll do my best to update this article as news breaks throughout the day if at possible, so follow me on Twitter @christripodi for last-minute updates and suggestions before the first game starts at 7 p.m.

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