Last night was chaotic to say the least. With my day job, this week is the busiest of the year for me, and I was barely able to form a lineup, but I did manage to make one for a double-up and GPP entry. When I finally got home, I enjoyed dinner with the fam and then realized it was 7:02. That’s never good. Shortly later while I was getting my son ready for bed, I get notification that Kevin Durant is going to play, knowing that Russell Westbrook was in my lone lineup. So, I scrambled to make changes in the 5 minutes before the 8pm games locked, and that also never goes well. I will not bore you with the few changes I made, but let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I used players who I didn’t even talk about in yesterday’s DFS column. When you have to make rushed decisions, they typically go off split second instincts and those generally inSTINK.

Basically this was just a reminder that if you’re not going to be able to keep tabs on player news, injuries, etc… throughout the day and especially the hour before games begin, you probably should just take the night off. Regroup and do this over again tonight. Let’s breakdown this six-game NBA slate.

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Vegas lines and totals

Indiana (+2) @ Washington — 204.5
Boston (+3.5) @ Atlanta — 202.5
Dallas (+3) @ Memphis — ???
LA Clippers (-7) @ Denver — 207
Chicago (-2) @ Portland — 201
LA Lakers (+17) @ Golden State — 213

A lot of 200+ totals tonight, the Warriors/Lakers total is the highest but it also has the by far biggest gap in its spread. I am absolutely worried about a blowout in that one, because there couldn’t possibly be two teams on opposite ends of the NBA spectrum. I will likely go light on the Mavericks/Grizzlies game, but other than that game, I am fine using any of the available options.

POINT GUARD

Damian Lillard ($9,000) – I just haven’t talked myself into paying up for Steph as a top play tonight when I feel the Warriors will runaway with the game. Lillard is a much safer play in my book for cash games, and while he doesn’t have a great matchup, it’s not one to shy away from either. Who am I kidding, none are when it comes to a shooter like Dame. He’ll net you at least 40 fantasy points and his ceiling is waaaaay up there.

Mike Conley ($6,600) – Let’s all get one more share of Conley before his price jumps to $7K for his next game. He’s been real hot the last few games and while his prices is slowly climbing (up $700 over the past four games), he’s still very fairly priced tonight in a pretty solid matchup. I have no issues rolling with Conley as my PG tonight and hitting around 35 DK points while saving a decent bit of money to pay up elsewhere.

Cheap risk option: Mario Chalmers ($3,900) is the other guy I like in this game, and he should have a nice advantage over the Mavs second unit guards. Chalmers has cooled off a bit after start out his first three games with Memphis huge, but he’s still managed 21 and 16 DK points the last two games despite shooting a mere 4/19 from the field. I think he’ll get back on track tonight, call it a hunch.

SHOOTING GUARD

Jimmy Butler ($8,100) – Feeling fresh after three nights off, Jimmy B and the Bulls travel to Portland where Jimmy will see a plush matchup against C.J. McCollum. While McCollum is a great offensive threat, he’s not going to be stopping Butler on the other end whatsoever. I am projecting Butler to dish out around 45-50 DK points tonight, keeping the hot streak from his last two games rolling.

Avery Bradley ($5,500) – HEAT CHECK! Bradley has been good in five straight games and now with Marcus Smart expected to miss a couple of weeks, Avery should remain a starter for the Celtics. With 30+ minutes a night, Bradley should have no trouble hitting above value at this price, even if he does have a decently tough matchup. 38 – 29 – 42 DK points the last three games.

Cheap risk option: Gary Harris ($3,800) has been locked into a zone with his role lately and it’s doing his fantasy owners proud. No, it’s nothing huge, but considering his cheap price tag, going for 30, 23, 23 and 22 DK points the last four games has been a treat. If he can continue this solid stretch tonight, which he at least will play the same kind of minutes in his nightly role, he allows a lot of flexibility elsewhere.

SMALL FORWARD

Paul George ($9,900) – I said I was going to keep riding with Paul George with little to no hesitation until his price went over $10K, well, it’s still under. George’s streak of scoring 26+ points ended after doing it eight straight games, but even with that, he scored 20 and put up 46 DK points thanks mostly to his seven boards and seven assists. George is doing it all right now at all-star level and rookie Otto Porter is in for a rough one on the defensive end tonight.

Al-Farouq Aminu ($6,400) – I basically write him up as a play any chance I get also, so I really don’t need to sell you anymore on why that’s the case. Aminu puts up solid points, boards and mixes in defensive numbers basically every game. Chicago is a nice matchup for the five-year pro, so at this lenient price, I’ll keep ringing this bell.

Cheap risk option: Let me clarify this, I likely will not be punting with a cheap SF tonight, but gun to my head, I would go with Jared Dudley ($3,000) just because he’s the minimum and despite Otto Porter back in action last game, Dudley still received 27 minutes in a close game. 13, 28 and 13 DK points the last three games, so the ceiling is low and so is the floor, but there’s not much else out there.

POWER FORWARD

Blake Griffin ($9,400) – It was a great matchup regardless, but with Kenneth Faried doubtful, Griffin will be defended by Darrell Arthur and the other random Nugget bigs. Blake has had down games for his standards the last two games, but there’s no reason for concern there at all. The mental damage caused by the Clippers collapse against the Warriors last week should be cleared by now. Look for Griffin to remind DFS owners of his dominance tonight with a 50+ DK night.

Paul Millsap ($8,200) – Obviously this is a spot that I am looking to pay up at tonight. Millsap has the occasional dud night, but for the most part he is pretty consistent to hit over 40 fantasy points. The Celtics have been pretty kind to opposing power forwards and with Saps all-around game, he should pose a very difficult matchup for the cluster of average Boston bigs.

Cheap risk option: Darrell Arthur ($3,500) is the chalk cheap play tonight at PF with Kenneth Faried listed as doubtful. Arthur put up a big 33 DK points in their last game that Faried missed, but I wouldn’t be expecting that tonight. Something more along the lines of 23-26 fantasy points seems a lot more realistic, but at this price you will gladly take that and hope for more.

CENTER

DeAndre Jordan ($7,400) – There are a lot of center plays that I am a fan of tonight, but it’s important not to overlook the top guys simply because there are mid-tier options that are catching your attention. The Nuggets have nobody who can stop Dre from having a beastly night in the paint. He should be finishing a lot of alley-oops, swatting several shots and delivering a really nice fantasy night upwards of 50 DK points as long as Denver doesn’t let this game get away from them early.

Zaza Pachulia ($5,700) – Posting 35, 41 and 40 DK points over the last three games, Zaza has been doing the damn thang of late for the Mavs, and that’s been against tough defending bigs in two of those three games. If Pachulia could reel off 41 fantasy points against Gobert, he shouldn’t be concerned at all against Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies who are bottom-5 in the league in DK points allowed per game to opposing centers. Looking for 40 from Zaza again isn’t the way to look at it though, but I think 30+ is what I’ll be looking for.

Cheap risk option: Nikola Jokic ($4,000) was my guy here a couple of days ago and he hit nicely, helping me cash out in a lot of contests. With Faried out again, Jokic should see nice minutes and opportunity again if he avoids foul trouble. Lavoy Allen ($3,700) is another semi-punt option here. He’s put up DK nights of 19 – 20 – 21 – 27 in the last four games with Myles Turner out of the picture.

Cash game rankings:

This isn’t necessarily an order of who will score the most DraftKings 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) Damian Lillard
2) Mike Conley
3) Deron Williams
4) Mario Chalmers
5) Stephen Curry
6) Kirk Hinrich

SG
1) Jimmy Butler
2) Avery Bradley
3) Klay Thompson
4) Gary Harris
5) Will Barton
6) Jordan Clarkson

SF
1) Paul George
2) Al-Farouq Aminu
3) Harrison Barnes
4) Jeff Green
5) Danilo Gallinari

PF
1) Blake Griffin
2) Paul Millsap
3) Darrell Arthur
4) Jordan Hill
5) Nikola Mirotic
6) JaMychal Green (only if Zach Randolph sits)

C
1) Zaza Pachulia
2) DeAndre Jordan
3) Mason Plumlee
4) Nikola Jokic
5) Andrew Bogut
6) Lavoy Allen

As always, stay locked to Twitter and Rotoworld for any late-breaking news the hour before the first game tips at 7 p.m. EST. I’ll do my best to update this article as news breaks throughout the day, but the best way to get the latest is always to follow me on Twitter @BigZack44, where I’ll do my best to break down the implications of any late scratches or lineup changes.

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