Fansided

NBA Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks for March 22

ByBrian Tulloch|
Jan 29, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket between Houston Rockets guard Corey Brewer (33) and Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 29, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket between Houston Rockets guard Corey Brewer (33) and Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks for March 22

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy column focused on providing analysis for the upcoming NBA FanDuel slate. The purpose of this column is to first identify key building blocks that can be used for any roster construction and then identify pivot points to help differentiate your lineup in hopes of a big pay day!

Tonight’s slate of four games tip off at 7:30pm EST and with many of tonight’s top stars nursing injuries, keeping up to speed on the injury news will be critical prior to tip-off.

First, the Houston Rockets head to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder pitting the two teams with the highest points per game and pace on the fantasy season. The three highest priced stars will take part in this game, however the challenge in building lineups early today will be that Kevin Durant and James Harden are nursing injuries that put their status for Tuesday’s game in jeopardy. If Durant is out, fantasy rule 101 is to play PG – Russell Westbrook, don’t even attempt to get cute and fade, just lock the man in. The latest update as of this morning is that Durant is questionable to play and missed portions of the morning practice so stay tuned!

If all three are active, Durant becomes my top play of the night as Houston is dead last on the season defending SF and he put up 33/12 against them in their last meeting.

Secondly, look to target Memphis against the Lakers, who are dead last on the season in total fantasy points allowed. The Grizzlies were in action last night, so this gives us the ability to lock some players in who’s prices have not yet adjusted and we can take advantage of a great matchup. Similar to yesterday, I am going back to PF – Zach Randolph who put up his second double-double since returning from injury and it is clear the Grizzlies intend to run the offense through him. At $6,900, Randolph presents a very safe floor with his guaranteed minutes and high upside to build teams around. I will also look to utilize SF – Matt Barnes, who returned from a one game suspension, entered the starting lineup and put up a very solid 29.3 fantasy points last night. Additionally, look to utilize PG – Ray McCallum, who has exceeded 6x value the last two games and I expect will not last much longer at the near minimum price of $3,700. With so much value on Memphis and a variety of price points, I plan to utilize Memphis as key pivots to fill out my rosters tonight once I have locked in my must plays.

Two additional players on the slate with mid-tier prices who are locked into major roles and minutes that I plan to utilize tonight are SG – Jrue Holiday and PF – Thaddeus Young. With Anthony Davis out for the season and Ryan Anderson already ruled out, Holiday is going to be tasked with running the Pelicans’ offense, and even though Miami’s defense on the season has been one of the toughest against opposing backcourts, the sheer volume & usage Holiday will carry tonight at $7,700 makes him a great play. At PF, I expect the combination of Randolph and Young to be very popular tonight but both players gives us the ability to lock in solid floors with upside at mid-range prices. Young has averaged 45.1 fantasy points per game over his last three games, the Hornets biggest weakness on the season is defending PF and they come off a fantastic win last night against the Spurs so a letdown in effort against Brooklyn is certainly possible.

Lastly, I will look to utilize C – Hassan Whiteside tonight against New Orleans where my budget allows, as the Pelicans on the season are one of the worst at defending opposing centers and now without Anthony Davis or Ryan Anderson, this could be a monster night for Mr. Whiteside.

Writing these articles early in the day is always a challenge as I expect value will open up closer to tip off as the season winds down and players are late scratches. I recommend building lineups today utilizing some of the key foundational plays and looking to differentiate lineups with one of the superstars in the Houston-OKC game but it will be critical to keep an eye on the injury status of those players leading up to tip off!

Best of luck tonight gamers!