NBA FanDuel Top 5 Plays For March 16th
By Bruce Lamb
NBA FanDuel Top 5 Plays For March 16th
Last night started bad and just got worse for my NBA FanDuel teams. DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins got in early foul trouble, and never became a factor. He scored 31.3 FDP’s which didn’t come close to paying off his price. Nemanja Bjelica got hurt after scoring just 8.3 FDP’s. Chris Paul put me out of my misery by coming through with a whopping 18.5 FDP’s. Needless to say, my lineups were way in the back, I was actually surprised some people actually scored less than I did. I did have two bright spots though. Fading James Harden worked out ok as he scored 46.9 FDP’s on a $12K price tag, and Willie Cauley-Stein was a tremendous play scoring 47.7 FDP’s. But by the time he played my lineups were already dead. Welp, so goes it in the DFS world. Back at it tonight with a 6 game slate!
The games tonight all have totals over 200. The lowest on the slate is the Memphis Grizzlies at the Atlanta Hawks at 203.5. The highest total is the Los Angeles Clippers visiting the Denver Nuggets at 224.5. Not far behind that one is the Brooklyn Nets at New York Knicks at 221.5. We also have the Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors at 218. By the way, we have Russell Westbrook and LeBron James playing today as well. For a 6 game slate, this one is going to be a fun one to play!
NBA FanDuel – GPP Spend and Fade
LeBron James – $10,500
I think I may have missed something here. Last time out James had a triple double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a blowout against the Detroit Pistons. He scored 45.2 FDP’s which clearly did not pay off his $11,200 price tag, but he did that in just 28 minutes! Now I get a game that should stay closer, and I get James at $700 less? Ok, sign me up! I know the Jazz are always a team that some are scared to roster players against because of their defense, but this year the Jazz are not THAT team. There have been several huge fantasy games against them, most recently the 70.2 FDP’s that Russell Westbrook put up on them. Kevin Love is still going to be out so James and Kyrie Irving will have to carry the load a couple more games until he returns. I will have plenty of LeBron tonight.
Chris Paul – $9,800
A night after I spent up on him, I’m fading Chris Paul. He has a great match-up against the Denver Nuggets in the highest total on the night. However, if you played him last night, you would notice that his price went up $900 overnight. I think on this slate I can get guys who could outscore him at a cheaper price. Kyrie Irving, Mike Conley, Dennis Schroeder, and Elf Payton could all end up outscoring Paul tonight. This is an example of a player’s price being too much for his upside. Paul would have to get close to 50 points to pay this price off. Over his last 9 games he has scored over 40 just twice, with his highest score in that stretch 51.7. I still want to roster a player from this game, but CP3 will not be that guy.
NBA FanDuel Cash Game Lock and GPP Value
Draymond Green $8,300
The Warriors have really struggled since Kevin Durant went down a few weeks back. In the 2nd half of their most recent game against the Philadelphia 76ers I think they found their mojo. Draymond Green sparked the comeback en route to a 60.6 FDP performance. He played like the Draymond of old, and I think we see more of that moving forward as the Warriors get playoff ready. I am not expecting another 60 point game out of him, but I do expect him to pay off his price in this one. The Magic have given up the 5th most fantasy points to power forwards over the past 4 weeks. There is some concern of a blowout here as the Warriors are the highest favorite at 13.5, but Green will get his points either way. Lock him in your cash games and also sprinkle him into your tournaments.
Jamal Crawford – $4,000
This dude is tough to predict, but when you get him right he destroys is $4,000 salary. I think he could see a few extra minutes tonight in the 2nd half of a back to back. The Nuggets are horrible against both point and shooting guards and Crawford plays a little of both. I have a hunch this game doesn’t stay as close as the spread indicates, so Crawford will be the only exposure I have to it despite the high total. I also think this game falls short of the 224.5 total which could turn out good if you fade most of this game.
NBA FanDuel Top Paymaker
Nicola Vuvevic – $7,700
The center position tonight is not as attractive as it has been lately. The highest priced center is priced at $7,700, and there are four of them. Any of the centers below these 4 all have bust potential (not that any of these 4 don’t). Out of all the centers, Vucevic is the one I feel is in the best spot.
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The Warriors were absolutely abused by Jahlil Okafor and Richaun Holmes their last time out. They both had very nice games. Vucevic is a much better offensive player than both of those guys, and will get a ton more opportunities as the offense for the Magic runs through him. The Magic are playing up in pace in this one, and if they can keep it close Vuc is in for a huge stat line.
The choice of the night is whether or not to roster Russell Westbrook. He will likely be the highest scorer of the night, but if you roster him you need to find the cheap guys that make him fit. I don’t have too much love for anyone under $5k besides Crawford and Caris LeVert, so using Westbrook tonight is going to be tough for me unless some value opens up.
I plan on staying more balanced with guys in the mid to upper tier. I am going to look to get a couple of the cheap Brooklyn guys in my lineup to help LeBron, Draymond, and Vucevic fit. I’ll be playing 75% of my bankroll in cash and 25% in GPP’s. Lock can’t get here fast enough, I need to get the stink of last night off me already. As always, Good Luck…..Let’s Get It!
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