A high-scoring weekend has come to an end, and there’s a chance scores may drop a little bit on Monday. There’s one game that DFS owners will most likely be all over, and a couple others that may be somewhat easy to avoid. The Vegas lines should give us a clue which games are which.

Vegas lines and totals

Minnesota @ Charlotte (-9.5) – total of 211.5
Memphis @ Cleveland (-10) – total of 203.5
San Antonio (-6.5) @ Indiana – total of 196.5
Sacramento @ New Orleans (-1.5) – 220
Milwaukee @ Chicago (-6) – total of 208
L.A. Clippers (-4) @ Dallas – total of 210
Orlando @ Golden State (-14.5) – total of 222.5

Kings-Pelicans is a great target Monday, especially with New Orleans continuing to be beset by injuries. The latest Eric Gordon ailment as well as some back issues for Norris Cole could open up some extra usage and value for teammates in a prime matchup. The Warriors might be out for blood after losing to the Lakers on Sunday, so it will be tough to go too big on a late game that could get ugly. A few others project in the middle tier, while Spurs-Pacers and Grizzlies-Cavs seem like ones to avoid on the surface. Let’s see how this analysis holds up in top plays below.

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POINT GUARD

Kemba Walker – After his eight-game streak of scoring 20-plus points was broken by the Hawks, Walker wasted no time starting a new streak. Averaging 29.7 points per game over his past three along with seven assists and five rebounds, Walker is stuffing the stat sheet in addition to scoring. The Hornets should score a lot of points against the Wolves, and Walker will most certainly be the catalyst.

Jrue Holiday – With Eric Gordon injured once again and likely done for the season, Holiday has a chance to step into the starting lineup with the Pelicans backcourt completely depleted. He started the second half for Gordon on Saturday, and with Norris Cole questionable for Monday due to a back injury, Holiday could be in for some serious run. Oh, and he gets a great matchup with the Kings to boot.

Cheap risk option: I played him in cash games Sunday despite listing him as a cheap risk option, and Mario Chalmers is playing well enough that he’s an option again Monday. He’s been playing very consistent basketball and is outplaying his price, but there seems to be an outside chance Tony Allen can make it back to the court vs. the Cavs. That would certainly do damage to Chalmers’ value, so keep an eye on Allen’s status throughout. If he’s out, Chalmers should be a good, cheap play once again with the most advantageous matchup the Cavs offer.

SHOOTING GUARD

Khris Middleton – Middleton’s price continues to rise, and he continues to crush his tag and remain consistent. Jimmy Butler is a great individual defender, but he may be tasked with guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo a bit, as the reality is that Chicago has nobody who can contain the Greek Freak—not many teams besides the Spurs do. I’m not too worried about Middleton on Monday despite the perceived tough matchup, as the Bulls are a poor defensive team overall and the Bucks can create a bunch of matchup issues with their new starting five.

Nicolas Batum – Batum is the ultimate splits player. He scores a whopping 11 more fantasy points per game at home than on the road, by far the largest discrepancy in the NBA and almost twice as much as any other player. Well, the Hornets are at home in a good spot against a Wolves team bleeding points to wing players of late. Much like Walker, Batum has a legitimate argument as the No. 1 player at his position Monday.

Cheap risk option: A very up-and-down player off the bench, Marco Belinelli has recovered from a brutal slump with 16 points in two of his past three games. The Pelicans are a nice matchup for opposing shooting guards, and Ben McLemore continues to fall out of favor in coach George Karl’s rotation. Belinelli is a dark horse for a random 20-point outburst, which would pay off his price on its own.

SMALL FORWARD

Giannis Antetokounmpo – I made the mistake of only having the Greek Freak fifth on my SF rankings Sunday due to a tough matchup with the Thunder, but Giannis is looking more and more matchup-proof by the game. He’s an absolute must-play right now, especially against a weak Chicago wing defense. There’s really no justification for fading him right now with three triple-doubles in his last seven games, and he’s averaging over 60 fantasy points per game in his past four.

Kawhi Leonard – Leonard’s matchup with Paul George and the Pacers is far from ideal, but he’s been playing like a $10,000 player at a nearly $2,000 discount. If he were priced correctly, he wouldn’t be a target in this matchup, but Leonard hasn’t missed value in two weeks worth of games—a month total, but he missed two weeks with an injury. If for some reason you don’t want to play the Greek Freak in a GPP, Leonard is a really good play himself.

Cheap risk option: Sam Mitchell has been focused on giving Shabazz Muhammad consistent minutes off the bench, and the youngster has responded with consistent production. He does little besides score and grab a handful of rebounds (16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds in his past four), but the price is right as is the matchup for ‘Bazz to be a nice cheap play Monday.

POWER FORWARD

Anthony Davis – I’m all over the top Pelicans on Monday thanks to increased usage and prime matchup, and Davis is no exception. He hasn’t been at the top of his game lately and is always an in-game injury risk, but he’s an excellent GPP play and a solid one in cash as well. He’s not the only PF on his own team that is in for a good night, though.

Ryan Anderson – Anderson will still be coming off the bench with the New Orleans frontcourt relatively healthy, but he should get his minutes easily against a Kings team that is very willing to go small. His usage rate jumps above 25 with Eric Gordon out of the lineup, and I think 30 fantasy points is a realistic expectation for Anderson even in a bench role. As is the case with most shooters, he thrives at home and will get to shoot at the familiar Big Easy backdrop. He’s also averaging 27 points per game in two matchups against the Kings this year.

Cheap risk option: After coming through in a big way Sunday, David Lee makes this list once again. The fear here is that Dallas unleashed Lee at Zaza Pachulia‘s expense (10 minutes) on the front night of a back-to-back with the intention to give Zaza 25 or so minutes Monday, which would certainly limit Lee’s upside. He’s been so effective lately that it may not matter, but just keep it in mind.

CENTER

Pau Gasol – The return of Jimmy Butler did nothing to slow down Gasol, and neither did a matchup against the Rockets, who had been stingy of late against centers. The Bucks have a similarly stingy ranking, but Miles Plumlee can’t be realistically expected to slow down Gasol. The center position is surprisingly weak Monday night, and locking in Gasol gets you a nice floor in addition to monster upside.

DeAndre Jordan – There’s a somewhat steep drop from Gasol to Jordan in my opinion, but the Mavs are a nice matchup for Jordan, who has bounced back well from a mini-slump a few games ago. He has two straight huge double-doubles and a third could definitely be on the way, but his recent inconsistencies have me pumping the brakes just a little bit on his projection.

Cheap risk option: Everybody keeps waiting for Cody Zeller to turn into a pumpkin with Al Jefferson back in the fold, but Zeller refuses to go away. He’s averaging just 9.6 points per game in his last five, but he’s also adding 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks to round out some solid value for a cheap DFS play. Four of those blocks came against the 76ers though, so that number is likely an aberration. I’m not expecting anything big but as I said, center is a disaster Monday.

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) Jrue Holiday
2) Kemba Walker
3) Mario Chalmers
4) Kyrie Irving
5) Rajon Rondo
6) Elfrid Payton
7) Stephen Curry
8) Chris Paul

SG
1) Nicolas Batum
2) Khris Middleton
3) Jimmy Butler
4) Zach LaVine
5) Klay Thompson
6) J.J. Redick

SF
1) Giannis Antetokounmpo
2) Kawhi Leonard
3) LeBron James
4) Shabazz Muhammad
5) Chandler Parsons
6) Mike Dunleavy

PF
1) Anthony Davis
2) Ryan Anderson
3) DeMarcus Cousins
4) Draymond Green
5) Jabari Parker
6) David Lee
7) Dirk Nowitzki
8) LaMarcus Aldridge

C
1) Pau Gasol
2) DeAndre Jordan
3) Karl-Anthony Towns
4) Nikola Vucevic
5) Andrew Bogut
6) Cody Zeller

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 updates and advice. I’ll be on a subway car without internet for much of the 6 p.m. hour, but keep your eyes peeled on sites like Rotoworld for updates.

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