Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
HIGH FIVE/low five
Daily Fantasy can be quite the grind! Let us do the grinding for you with “High Five/Low Five”. Each day, we help put you in the money by presenting you with FIVE of the “top-tier” plays, as well as a quick list of FIVE “value plays”. New York Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony flies high as Friday’s top Daily Fantasy Basketball play of the night.
Let’s rip it up.
HIGH FIVE:
Point Guard: Michael Carter-Williams, PHI ($7,800): There aren’t lot of great things to be said about Carter-Williams and his performances lately, although he’s not been terrible. Having been right around or above the 30 FP mark in four out of his last five games, MCW does stand a good chance of besting that tonight and reaching his value threshold of 39 FPs given some of the factors surrounding tonight’s game, such as the 219 over/under that is significantly higher than most of the other games, in what should be a close game. Also to his advantage is the Lakers’ deficiency at defending the PG position. MCW may not end the night as the top scorer at his position, but he represents one of the better locks for reaching value.
Also consider: John Wall, WAS ($9,400)
Shooting Guard: DeMar DeRozan, TOR ($8,300): Tonight, DeRozan locks up with a Clippers’ team that ranks just 26th versus SGs over the past couple of weeks and whom he was having a fine game before leaving with an injury during their last matchup. If you’ll remember, that was the same game that Terrence Ross took over for DeRozan and went on to score 51 points, en route to 62.3 FPs. Now, while 62.3 fantasy points may be out of the question for DeRozan, it does serve to illustrate how easily this Clippers squad can be dominated by even a decent SG, let alone one of DeRozan’s caliber. Roster DeRozan without hesitation.
Also consider: Monta Ellis, Dal ($7,100)
Small Forward: Kevin Durant, OKC ($12,100): It goes without saying that when one player is priced at roughly four grand more than every other player at his position, he’s clearly the top play at that position. That said, I’d like to mention a couple of the options in the tier just below Durant, like Paul George, IND ($8,100) who represents an amazing play tonight for his price, given that he should be heavily counted on tonight with Lance Stephenson out. George has been a little erratic lately from a fantasy perspective, but tonight should be a night that he easily reaches the 40 FPs needed for value, with a good chance at 50 FP upside. Also worth heavy consideration, given his price and enticing matchup in what should be a very close and high scoring game, is Evan Turner, PHI ($6,600). He’s a tough pick to stomach sometimes, but I think that he should provide solid value tonight with 40 FP upside.
Power Forward: Carmelo Anthony, NY ($10,100): Carmelo, as I’m sure you well know, has been on fire recently. He’s topped 40 FPs in eight of his late 10 games, due to him shouldering a much larger share of his teams offense. Speaking of offense, there should be plenty of that to go around tonight, especially for Melo in a game with a 209 over/under that should be close. Among the top priced PFs, Melo is definitely your man.
Center: DeMarcus Cousins, SAC ($9,500): As is the case with Kevin Durant, when one player is priced significantly higher than the rest of the men at his position, he should always be considered as the best bet to be the top scorer at his respective position for the night. Such things are no different for DeMarcus Cousins. However, there is some fine value to be had from the middle tiers, in particular, Spencer Hawes, PHI ($6,700). As previously stated, the Sixers/Lakers game is expected to be close and extremely high scoring, which should benefit any player in that game, Hawes included. Needing only 33.5 FPs to reach value tonight, I think Hawes smokes that and gives you money to spend elsewhere. He’s my favorite play at the C position tonight, and I expect he will be that of many other grinders.
Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
low five:
Point Guard: George Hill, IND ($4,800): With Lance Stephenson being out, George Hill should be George “Hillier” tonight. Looking past his recent three-game skid, Hill was consistently reaching at or near value on his cheap salary, and should be a lock to get back on track tonight, with a value threshold of only 24 FPs. Ignore his recent skid, and don’t be shy about rostering Hill.
Shooting Guard: James Anderson, PHI ($4,600): Not many people love James Anderson. I do. He’s always a sneaky play, and though he often comes with a bit of risk, I think you can throw much of that risk out the window tonight given his opponent and the fact that the game will be so high scoring. Also, Danny Granger, IND ($3,600) should be heavily considered, given that he will see big minutes tonight while starting for Lance Stephenson. Most of the field in your cash games will probably own Granger, and rightfully so, as he represents the best chance at crushing value for his salary. However, if you want to make a bit of a contrarian play and have a little extra cash, Anderson will be a fine option tonight.
Small Forward: Wesley Johnson, LAL ($4,500): If you haven’t figured it out yet, I will be heavily targeting this Sixers/Lakers game. Johnson represents just one more fine play among many in this high scoring contest. For his salary, Johnson is about as close to a “must start” as you will see tonight, and I expect that he will be heavily owned in cash games and definitely exceed value. Expect him to be owned on over 60-70% of rosters tonight. If you chose to go elsewhere, you are doing so at your own risk.
Power Forward: Amar’e Stoudemire, NY ($4,100)/ Jordan Hill, LAL ($3,900): Both these men stand an excellent chance to reach value on their near minimum salaries and given the amount of run that they will both see in what should be high scoring games. Of the two, I probably like Stoudemire a bit more, given that I think his minutes are more of a lock than are Hill’s.
Center: Tyson Chandler, NY ($5,100): Chandler represents the lowest risk among the cheap centers, and because of that he represents my top play here. I also like both of the Lakers’ big men, Robert Sacre, ($3,700) and Chris Kaman, ($4,100), but it’s a bit of a roll of the dice in trying to decide between the two of them tonight and which one will see more minutes. If I had to decide, I’d probably go Kaman among the two, simply because he is the more established player of the two.
Thank you and good luck tonight !!!